Alberta to set provincewide standards for municipal leaders

Municipal leaders were told about new legislation that will establish a framework to handle conduct issues by local leaders. Connor Hogg reports.

Alberta has proposed changes to the Municipal Government Act in an effort to strengthen standards of conduct for municipal officials.

Changes include an added councillor accountability framework that will create a standard code of conduct.

“While some municipalities previously had adopted their own local codes of conduct, they created a patchwork of different rules across the province, rules that didn’t always include robust guidelines or clear recourse mechanisms, and sometimes they even resulted in costly, inconsistent, drawn out situations where complaints were made,” said Dan Williams, Minister of Municipal Affairs, at a press conference Thursday.

The proposed framework would establish defined standards of conduct for elected officials that would cover issues of pecuniary or personal money, interest, unauthorized use of municipal assets, confidentiality of information, egregious behaviour as a councillor, and threatening behaviour or improper use of influence.

If passed, amendments to the act would allow the minister to initiate investigations into a municipality’s conduct.

“My job is not to be a mayor or a reeve. My job is to be the Minister of Municipal Affairs,” said Williams. “That means overseeing the system … things like accountability, transparency framework. Not one municipality can solve these problems. It’s going to have to come from a provincial and coordinated way.”

Complaints will be directed to an independent third party appointed by the province with municipalities covering investigation costs unless initiated by the province. Grievances involving money that could result in disqualification may go to court if necessary.

Alberta Municipalities president Dylan Bressey said they have been calling for a reinstitution of code of conduct for councils.

“Previous code of conduct did have some challenges, including the need for a chief administrative officer to lead investigations, which often presented challenging circumstances,” said Bressey. “So we’re very excited to see a third-party investigation be a big part of this accountability framework.”

Williams said penalties would be similar to the previous framework, but would ultimately be based on recommendations made by the investigator.

Official Opposition and NDP leader Naheed Nenshi welcomed the consequences for councillors who misbehave as long as the municipalities are involved.

“There do have to be consequences, but they have to be negotiated with municipalities,” said Nenshi.

Municipalities under stress

Several municipalities are under stress due to internal and external factors.

Premier Danielle Smith heard some of those concerns at the Alberta Municipalities conference which kicked off in Edmonton Thursday.

“Over the past five years, more than 600,000 people have moved to Alberta, which is more than 10 per cent of our population,” said Smith during her opening remarks. “That kind of growth, of course, puts real strain on everything from housing to community infrastructure.”

Rural Municipalities of Alberta president Kara Westerlund projects there will be a $25-billion rural infrastructure funding deficit by the end of this year.

The province has raised property tax increases in an effort to help municipalities pay for infrastructure like roads and bridges.

Some municipalities are experiencing other financial strains, one being the Town of Gibbons which is under a viability review by the province following several years of financial and governance challenges.

The town, about 30 kilometres northeast of Edmonton, is at its allowed debt ceiling of $13 million and all of its reserves are depleted.

The review will evaluate the town’s long-term viability and determine next steps, which could include raising the property taxes or dissolving Gibbons to its partner county.

“I appreciate that some municipalities are challenged right now. So are we as a province. That’s the nature of the fiscal situation we’re in,” said Williams. “I want to be there as a province, but I will not hide from the conversation about viability.”

Amendments to the Municipal Government Act are expected to be tabled soon, added the minister.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Connor Hogg