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EDMONTON — Alberta’s government says it’s soon instituting universal provincewide rules to regulate behaviour among local municipal councils.
The move comes after Premier Danielle Smith’s United Conservative Party government prohibited councils last year from using their own codes of conduct, saying those codes were being misused to silence dissent.
Municipal Affairs Minister Dan Williams announced Thursday that he’ll propose legislation in the coming weeks to bring provincial third-party oversight to serious ethics complaints in an effort to prevent abuses and boost public trust in local leaders.
Williams said the majority of councillors behave appropriately, but if someone steps out of line, a new “accountability framework” would help address concerns before they escalate.
“I’m not looking to be a policeman or come down with a hammer. That is not the role here,” he told reporters.
But he said there has been “an increase in the breakdown of civility” and that a patchwork of inconsistent rules around the province has in some cases resulted in councils and administration being hindered from doing their jobs.
“There are 330 different councils. There will be conflicts that escalate past that civility, just as there are in any political forum. So in those circumstances, this tool will help,” he said.
Williams said his legislation would also publish the salaries of municipal officials in the name of transparency.
Earlier Thursday, the premier told Alberta Municipalities members gathered in Edmonton that her government isn’t going to ask local leaders to “do anything we don’t already do.”
“We have a Sunshine List (of) anyone making over $130,000,” Smith said.
Williams’ predecessor in municipal affairs, Ric McIver, first broached the plan to overhaul council oversight last spring, when he introduced legislation that repealed local codes of conduct and put an end to ongoing complaints or sanctions that weren’t before the courts.
The upcoming legislation from Williams would include creating a third party to investigate serious breaches, relieving municipal administrators of the responsibility of resolving conflicts.
Under the framework, Williams said complaints would be directed to an independent body elected by the municipality “from a roster of appointees by the province,” with municipalities covering investigation costs.
“We want to make sure that when there are complaints coming forward, that they’re legitimate and not frivolous and vexatious,” Williams said.
The minister would have the power to initiate investigations and to reject the recommendations of any appeal commissioner — who would also be selected from a roster of provincial appointees. Williams said if the provincial government initiates an investigation, the province would pay.
In serious circumstances, including when a councillor has a financial stake in the matter, they could be removed from the job.
Dylan Bressey, president of Alberta Municipalities and a city councillor in Grande Prairie, said they’ve been calling for the re-institution of codes of conduct and are pleased to see independent investigators as part of the plan.
In the interim, between the province axing formal codes of conduct and Williams’ announcement, Bressey said there have been a few instances in which no tools were available for councils to address inappropriate behaviour, and “that had huge impacts.”
He said it can become especially destructive if that behaviour leads to staffing turnover or expensive human resource disputes.
“We’re going to be thankful to have tools available to us again,” Bressey said.
He noted that previous codes of conduct had challenges, including the need for a chief administrative officer to lead internal investigations.
Opposition NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi said the UCP government has passed three separate pieces of legislation interfering in the way that municipal councils work, because they “couldn’t get it right the first time.”
He said Smith’s government softened ethics rules for itself and the premier was found to be in contravention of the Conflicts of Interest Act in 2023.
“Now they want municipal councillors to abide by a higher standard than they hold themselves to. This is the fox guarding the hen house,” Nenshi said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 26, 2026.
Lisa Johnson, The Canadian Press
