Alberta’s Premier Danielle Smith constantly criticizes Trudeau for crossing the line and intruding into our provincial affairs.
Anytime Premier Smith feels the feds are ‘treading in our backyard,’ she comes out guns a-blazing.
Her attacks on Ottawa have won her many fans in Alberta.
But Albertans also want our municipal, provincial and federal political leaders to act fast on local matters like housing to help ensure everyone has a place to sleep at night.
So when municipal and federal get together and cut deals to bring tens of millions of dollars to seven cities, what does Premier Smith do?
She introduces legislation she jokingly calls the “stay-out-of-my-backyard bill,” which, if passed, will allow the UCP government to kill federal deals with municipalities.
Essentially, Bill 18, the Provincial Priorities Act, would allow Smith to reject any monies granted to Alberta municipalities by the feds that “does not align with the province’s priorities.”
The irony is that while Smith wants the feds to stay out of our province’s affairs but, when it comes to Alberta municipalities, not only is she forcing her way into municipalities’ backyards, she’s setting up a lawn chair and a lemonade stand, ready to dictate the neighbourhood block party playlist.
Smith wants total control, not only over how cities, towns, and counties get their money but also over how municipalities govern themselves
The latter is where Bill 20, Smith’s latest brainchild, comes into play.
If you have yet to hear of it, prepare for an earful.
The Boss of Everything!
The proposed Municipal Affairs Statutes Amendment Act would give Smith’s cabinet the ability to fire mayors and councillors, overturn bylaws, introduce party politics to municipal elections, and even postpone elections if it sees fit.
Phewf.
Those are just a few of the changes included in Bill 20, which would make more than two dozen amendments to the Local Authorities Election Act (LAEA) and the Municipal Government Act (MGA).
The Minister of Municipal Affairs, Ric McIver, spoke about the changes at a press conference.
“Through this legislation, we are ensuring the local elected officials and councils are accountable to the Albertans who elect them and make decisions that are clearly in Alberta’s interest,”
Last we checked, local elected officials were already accountable to the Albertans who elected them – they just weren’t being held accountable for making decisions in alignment with the provincial government’s ‘interest’.
Instead, they were accountable to the residents of the municipality.
Reaction from Municipalities
Here’s what local politicians have to say.
“I see Bill 20 as an attack on local democracy,” Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi told CBC Edmonton’s Radio Active. “This is going to undermine local decision-making, and it’s going to hurt our communities.”
Calgary Ward 8 Councillor Courtney Walcott questioned the province’s motives behind the legislation.
“I think the provincial government wants to be the central government, which is always ironic, of course, because there’s so many accusations [by the province] of socialism and communism,” he told Global News and added, “Is this really just a matter of the province trying to institute some type of control over municipal elections because they really can’t handle the fact that municipal councils tend to be independent, and the end result is they don’t play the party line as much as they wish we would?”
And Edmonton Councillor Aaron Paquette wrote on social media, “Bend the knee or be fired? Is this democracy?”
The outcry from local leaders since the bill has been tabled is loud and clear.
The public’s response to the bill before it was moved forward was just as loudly against the idea, yet the province still tabled the bill.
Tyler Gandam, president of Alberta Municipalities and the mayor of Wetaskiwin, has been extremely vocal in opposition to the legislation.
“I can’t say this strongly enough – Bill 20 will fundamentally redraw the blueprint of our local democracy and alter how people’s local needs are met and who represents them,” he said in a press conference.
In an interview with CBC, Gandam questioned the move to give the cabinet the authority to remove a councillor or repeal a bylaw. “I’d like to see an example of why this needs to be in the legislation. It’s taking away our ability to govern and represent our residents.”
Municipalities are telling Smith to ‘stay out of our backyards,’ but Smith isn’t listening. She wants provincial interests to dictate municipal decisions.
What’s good for the goose apparently isn’t good for the gander in this case.
The Fight Against Partisan Politics
Alberta Municipalities, which represents 265 municipalities has also been fighting the provincial government’s attempts to allow political parties to engage at the municipal level.
The provincial government conducted a secret survey last fall, asking Albertans to give their opinions on various potential changes to local elections and councillor accountability.
The results, obtained through a freedom of information request, showed that almost seven in ten respondents were firmly against the introduction of political parties to municipal elections, with only one in ten actually in favour.
Alberta Municipalities commissioned another public survey on the same topic and got similar results.
Essentially, Albertans are firmly against allowing partisan politics in municipal elections and it’s not even close with opponents outnumbering supporters 7:1.
This means that provincial bigwigs have been aware of Albertans’ distaste for their new policies and have chosen to proceed with them anyway.
“It tells me that they’re not listening to Albertans,” Gandam said.
Other Repercussions
Other big changes to political rules are buried in Bill 20. The new legislation gives corporations and unions the ability to donate directly to political candidates, even though that measure was initially removed in 2015 to prevent private influence on provincial candidates.
Andrew Knack, city councillor for Ward Nakota Isga Knack told CBC he sees the whole thing as a step backward.
“What about if there was a change in provincial governments and the NDP came into power, and then you had a, you know, relatively conservative councillor from a village who spoke up in criticism of legislation,” Knack said. “Would they have to be fearful of losing their job just because they spoke up? This is the way it’s written right now. Sounds like it’s very much about intimidation and silencing.”
Smith’s legislation will likely impact councillors’ decisions since the province could repeal or change any bylaw made at the municipal level or even remove a council member.
“My most fervent wish is that this authority is never ever used. We don’t want to intervene in municipal matters,” Minister McIver told press conference reporters
So, then, why introduce the bill if you never plan to use your powers?
