Airdrie’s Mayor Peter Brown reacted to the Province’s Bill 20 that was recently tabled, and while it’s still unclear how it will impact municipalities exactly, he said it’s not all bad.
Some municipalities have spoken out against the new legislation and Alberta Municipalities (ABmunis), which represents most municipal governments across the province, called it a "power grab."
Brown noted a couple of positive things to come out of the new legislation would be mandatory orientation training for councillors, as well as the exemption of non-profit subsidized affordable housing from property taxation.
He added that enabling the provincial cabinet to require a municipality to amend or repeal a bylaw may have some benefit in some instances.
“I believe this legislation dates back to when COVID was in play and municipalities were doing different things as it related to the masking bylaw,” he said.
Brown doesn’t believe the Province would have the capacity to look into hundreds of municipalities’ future and past bylaws to change them.
While there are some upsides to the changes, Brown does have some questions about what’s being proposed. The bill would prohibit automated voting equipment, such as electronic tabulators, something Brown said he was a proponent of in the past. He added he’s never received complaints on this.
“From my understanding from the province, they want to go back to the tried and true method,” Brown said, talking about in-person voting and counting that is supervised and scrutinized.
He felt voting via a phone was a great way to involve young people as they’re not always taking the time to vote.
“Before the regulations get put in, they are going to be having some communication with municipalities and give them an opportunity to speak,” he said.
The bill would also allow the provincial cabinet to more easily remove local representatives, “if in the public interest, or to order a referendum to determine whether the councillor should be removed.”
This is something, Brown pointed out, that recently happened in Chestermere.
Last December, the Alberta government fired the Mayor of Chestermere and half its councillors for failing to act on Municipal Affairs' demands to fix their way of doing government to bring it in line with established accountability norms.
Brown does not believe the Province to oust just any elected official.
“It's not lost on me that every one of us that are elected officials in municipalities under the current legislation, (that) we serve at the pleasure of the provincial government,” Brown said.
He added if the Province went on to remove elected officials because they don’t like them, then he would agree that would be overreach.
ABmunis said this legislation might intimidate or silence legally elected officials from criticizing the provincial government, but Brown said it certainly won't silence him or anyone else at the municipal level that are critical about this new legislation.
He added that the details in the regulations will make these changes much clearer.
The bill would allow municipal donations from corporations and unions, and eventually political parties would be allowed at the municipal level-- starting in Calgary and Edmonton as part of a pilot project in 2025.
Brown said this notion isn’t new in Canada as other jurisdictions already allow municipal political parties.
“I was living in British Columbia where municipalities had political parties,” Brown said. “I never saw the tie between the two when decisions were being made. No one referenced one or the other. No one voted as one. They were still individuals on council making decisions; so I guess I'm on the fence a little bit.”
While Brown has seen this party system at work, he said candidates can also continue to run as an independents.
With more engagement to come forward, Brown said he’s cautiously looking at the 133 page document and hoping that some things are removed while others become more detailed.
