MOUNTAIN VIEW COUNTY - The Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA) – which represents 69 municipalities including Mountain View and Red Deer counties – has completed its analysis of the provincial government’s plans to eliminate code of conduct bylaws, with association officials echoing local concerns.
Under Municipal Affairs Statutes Amendment Act (Bill 50), municipal councils “cannot regulate conduct or create codes of conduct for councillors or non-councillor committee members via bylaw or resolution.”
The bill is currently in the debate stage in the legislative process.
The government says it plans to create a provincial integrity commissioner to play a role related to council governance and conduct issues.
Existing municipal code of conduct bylaws deal with matters such as conflicts of interest, interactions between councillors and staff, and allegations of improper influence by elected officials.
Mountain View County Reeve Angela Aalbers has voiced concerns with the elimination of code of conduct bylaws.
“While we recognize that no system is perfect, the unilateral removal of this important governance tool without first engaging local governments in meaningful dialogue, is concerning,” Aalbers told the Albertan.
Following its recent analysis of Bill 50, RMA officials issued a position paper, stating, in part, that removal of codes of conduct bylaws will create a situation where, “Municipalities will lack enforceable tools to address problematic behaviour by council members, particularly occurring outside of formal council meetings.
“There is intermittent mechanism for accountability, which is essentially concerning given the unknown timeline for the creation of a potential provincial integrity commissioner and the repeal undermines municipal autonomy and self-governance by removing a mechanism to address internal issues at the local level.”
The RMA also voiced concerns vis-a-vis the creation of the provincial integrity commissioner position.
“Nothing is known about the timing of the engagement process, the likelihood of such a body actually being created, responsibility for costs associated with such a body, or what, if any, internal municipal processes will replace codes of conduct as a local tool to identify and direct governance or conduct concerns to the integrity commissioner.”
In putting forward Bill 50, municipal affairs minister Ric McIver said, “In recent years, municipal codes of conduct have been weaponized between elected members of some local councils in Alberta, resulting in mistrust, dysfunction and failure to serve Albertans.”
The Alberta Municipalities Association (ABmunis), which represents towns and cities across the province, has also recently undertook an analysis of the legislation and issued a position paper on the matter.
“The removal of codes of conduct for councils undercuts the autonomy of municipal governments to manage internal challenges with damaging behaviour by elected officials,” ABmunis officials said.
