Municipal Affairs launches online survey on electoral reforms
By Medicine Hat News on February 5, 2020.
Potential recall of municipal councillors, mayors and school board trustees, as well as campaigning and financing in local elections are the subject of an online survey launched by Alberta Municipal Affairs Tuesday. Last month, Minister Kaycee Madu told reporters that his office would review a set of changes in 2017 relating to local elections and propose changes this year, ahead of the next set of municipal elections in late 2021. “Albertans expect local elections to be fair, transparent and inclusive,” said Madu in a statement on Tuesday. “While this will not be a wholesale review like the one in 2018, we are looking to Albertans for feedback on areas that can be improved before the next round of municipal and school board elections. Topics and question in the survey relate to campaign financing, donation limits, potential spending limits and the campaign period (which is currently one year and relates to fundraising). The rules affect candidates as well as third-party advertisers that can register campaigns to promote particular issues. A final question asks Albertans to rank their level of support for including a new framework for voter recall of an elected official. The government states it will also hold stakeholder sessions with municipal and school elected officials as well as advocacy groups during the review period that will end on March 4. A link to the online survey can be found at the government’s website (www.alberta.ca) under the “open engagements” tab. 8-7
