The Alberta Municipalities Caucus is looking to reimplement the council code of conduct for municipalities for around the province.
President of AbMunies Dylan Bressey, says one of the key take aways from the meeting was that the Minister for Alberta Municipal Affairs, Dan Williams, made an announcement for an item that AbMunies has been advocating towards for years.
“Highlight of the week was that we welcomed Minister Williams, where he made an announcement that we are going to see some legislative changes this legislative session. That will re-introduce council code of conducts, that is stuff that we have been calling for.”
Bressey says that following the announcement, they will be working with the Minister regarding regulations around the code of conduct.
“Our biggest focus over the next couple of months is going to be working with the Minister on regulations to implement the municipal government act changes, that he has announced. We’re going to be working with the Minister to make sure they are implemented in a way that works for all communities.”
Bressey added that the code of conduct will help hold councilors accountable when they misbehave.
“There will be a process in place for a councilor makes a complaint against another councilor. There would be a third-party investigator that would look into it, and would make recommendations to councils to whether or not sanctions are warranted.
“The vast majority of councils don’t need them because their high-functioning governance teams. However, in those rare cases where things do get off the rails, it’s really important to have this tool for accountability.”
Premier Danielle Smith was also in attendance, leading to more conversations about the future of municipal finances, according to Bressey.
Bressey says the group is going to continue working on their property taxes reimagined campaign, that looks at the cumulative impact that municipalities are facing.
From March 26 and 27, the Alberta Municipalities held one of their annual meetings with 450 different municipal government leaders, in Edmonton.
