City councillors tell the News they welcome changes and a new direction with regards to conduct rules for municipal elected officials but say they didn't use Medicine Hat's to attack the mayor.--NEWS FILE PHOTO
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Code of conduct disputes – like one that seemingly gripped Medicine Hat city hall for the past 18 months – will likely be handled by the province’s Ministry of Municipal Affairs going forward.
That comes with specific reference to the Hat from Minister Ric McIver, who on Tuesday outlined a raft of proposed changes to Municipal Government Act.
If passed, they would immediately end requirements that cities, towns and counties enact and enforce their rules for the behaviour of elected officials.
It would also prevent them from passing new ones, with McIver stating the processes had been “weaponized” in political disagreements, while the province will explore creating a provincial integrity commissioner to “referee” disputes that arise.
That sort of independent dispute resolution system was unanimously supported by all City of Medicine Hat council members last fall as a code of conduct issue filed against Mayor Linnsie Clark dragged on.
Most councillors contacted Wednesday said they welcome improvements to the system, but took issue with the implication they “weaponized” the code.
Clark told the News on Wednesday that the results of a successful judicial review of heavy sanctions placed on her speak for itself.
“I think the sanctions were unreasonable and a court found them to be unreasonable,” she said. “I’d say they were extreme and they were found to be extreme by a court.
“I find hope (the province has) left open hope for a provincial integrity commission, which is quite necessary and would be very helpful in the future.”
The changes could also require administrators to better respond to information requests, said Clark, who has spoken often about feeling stifled in her requests.
Coun. Allison Knodel said taking the complaint process outside the council group would avoid appearance of conflict of interest, but she disagrees with the language from McIver that implies local council “weaponized” the rules.
“I don’t think that it’s clear cut, and to say ‘weaponize’ assumes that you’re doing something to intentionally harm or go after another person,” she told the News. “It’s my belief every council member is doing the best they can.
“If it looks like the (codes of conduct) have been weaponized to those on the outside (of the process) there’s a problem with getting that information out there (in the public) due to privacy concerns.”
Councillors often cited privacy legislation as hampering a wider understanding of the dispute that became public in March 2024, about six months after an exchange between Clark and city manager Ann Mitchell resulted in a code of conduct complaint filed by Coun. Shila Sharps.
It led to a third-party report that found Clark had “maliciously (injured) the professional or ethical reputation of the city manager during their exchange” in August 2023 when Clark led a long line of inquiry about Mitchell’s authority.
Council accepted that report’s findings and seven members voted to cut Clark’s pay in half, remove her from chairing council, bar her from entering staff areas or act as a spokesperson of council.
Clark’s appeal heard by a King’s Bench resulted in most being reversed, though correspondence between Mitchell and Clark is still copied to all members of council. The two sides are not in agreement on costs, the News learned this week.
Sharps has forced the issue of finalizing court decisions at council in recent months, and even proposed some of Clark’s informational requests at council.
“I still standby filing the complaint,” Sharps told the News on Wednesday, stating publicly disciplining an employee was offside.
“I don’t believe in retrospect that (Clark’s) intention was to chastise (Mitchell), maybe to question and it went off the rails a bit.
“Clearly the sanctions did not align with the decision according to many.”
Several councillors say the code itself had value and they were surprised by the government’s move to eliminate them.
“I know there has been a challenge with a few councils but I think it is something that should be maintained,” said Coun. Darren Hirsch.
“The Medicine Hat breach of the code was supported by a judge when it was appealed so I’m not in agreement” with the implication that the code was “weaponized.”
Coun. Robert Dumanowski told the News in a written statement that he appreciated the government was attempting to improve the system and said “clear and fair standards … are essential to maintaining public trust.”
But, there have been instances across Alberta where the codes caused friction.
“In our own experience, there were extenuating circumstances that made the process less effective than it ideally should have been,” he wrote.
