Alberta’s Minister of Municipal Affairs (MA) will not proceed with a municipal inspection of Rocky View County (RVC).
According to a Jan. 29 County press release, Minister Kaycee Madu, in a letter to Reeve Greg Boehlke, said a petition calling for the inspection “failed to demonstrate any significant and broad community concern that would warrant provincial intervention.”
“In his letter to Reeve Boehlke, Minister Madu said any decision over a municipal inspection is not made lightly, and that as a result of his department’s review of the matter, he would not be proceeding with an inspection of RVC,” the release stated.
Boehlke said he was not surprised by the outcome, and felt the minister’s decision vindicated the County.
“MA knows that there’s problems, and they also know where the problems lie,” he said. “The lack of initiative that they’re taking is well-founded. They know that the issue here is three disgruntled councillors and a few of their followers, but it’s not the general way the County’s being ran (sic).”
The petition was delivered to Madu Nov. 15, with a total of 4,595 signatures – slightly more than half the amount needed to trigger an inspection under the Municipal Government Act (MGA)
While the petition failed to collect signatures from the required 20 per cent of electors, proponents of the petition, including organizer Janet Ballantyne, held out hope the minister would act of his own initiative.
Ballantyne was also notified of Madu’s decision by a letter, and said it was disappointing but not surprising, given that the petition did not meet submission criteria.
“We remain extremely proud of all the work everyone did during the petition,” she said.
The petition requesting the minister undertake an inspection “of the management, administration and operation” of the County was launched September 2019, around the same time Couns. Kevin Hanson, Crystal Kissel and Samanntha Wright held open houses in their divisions relating to sanctions imposed on them in June of that year. While the petition was incited by those sanctions, Ballantyne told the Rocky View Weekly in November 2019, “it’s nowhere near the only reason why we feel there should be an inspection in the County.”
“There are very many decisions the council has been making over the last while that are very questionable,” she said at the time.
As stipulated by the MGA, those behind the petition had a 60-day window to gather the approximately 8,000 signatures needed to prompt the inspection.
Although an inspection will not go forward, Ballantyne said the petition went a long way in highlighting concerns some residents have.
“Getting out to people has created a great sense of community and shown people that their problems are shared by many across the County,” she said.
