City Notebook: Kenney’s cabinet shuffle puts Madu in difficult spot
By COLLIN GALLANT on August 29, 2020.
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant Alberta has its ninth Municipal Affairs Minister in 10 years – 10th if you go by calendar years – after a mini cabinet shuffle this week. The task of ironing out the mountain of problems in linear tax assessment, in cities funding and a variety of other grudge matches between the province and cities is now in the portfolio of new minister Tracy Allard. She takes over from Kaycee Madu, who takes over the Justice Ministry in time for a complete review of the police act, trouble with Crown prosecutors and growing unhappiness about the costs of rural policing. Left-leaning commentators in the province described the move for Madu as a case of “falling upwards” considering his management of the relationships, which many say is key to working between different levels of government. An alternate explanation is that Madu, whose oratory style is relentless and who has yet to blink in any of the many tussles with favourite targets of the United Conservative playbook (namely Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi and other big spending city hall types), is the right man for the job as Premier Jason Kenney sees it. As the Solicitor General, Madu (who was born in Nigeria), became the first black man to hold the position in Canada at a time when representation matters in discussions about racism in policing. He’ll also push home changes to the Local Authority Elections Act that he drafted to the dismay of most elected leaders and bamboozlement of local democracy advocates. Taking a moment to reminisce, the Progressive Conservatives used to have an unofficial minister in charge of getting into fights with people. Thomas Lukaszuk comes to mind. Madu is obviously a guy who can play hardball, and he had several turns at bat over the last year on files the UCP certainly wanted to bring home. Mayor Ted Clugston, who’s often noted the parade of Municipal Affairs ministers, said this week he likes working with Madu, who he felt was accessible. For her part, Allard appears to have a softer touch, and has already made a personal appearance in hail-damaged north Calgary whereas previously the provincial comms team ran laps tweeting out that the availability of private insurance meant the province had little role to play. Of note is that the first-time MLA from Grande Prairie is well known to Medicine Hat’s chief administrative officer, Bob Nicolay. The pair were neighbours when Nicolay was the city manager in Grande Prairie three years ago. Also in Edmonton The Alberta fiscal update brings grim news that oil and gas royalties will bring about half as much government revenue the AGLC will on handling fees for beer, wine and cannabis. There’s a joke in there somewhere, but who’d laugh? Speaking of pot Economists estimate that legal sales of marijuana outpaced illicit deals for the first time in July, which means Canadians might have been more comfortable going to a store, rather than having their dealer show up at their house. Though illegal sales are estimated, its now believed that 50.5 per cent of spending is captured by legal, recreational or medical sales. A look ahead It’s back to school on Monday, which is traditionally a relief for parents, but also the end to halcyon days of summer. Back to work, as they say. The next city council meeting is set for Sept 8 (after Labour Day). After this week’s special session of the Alberta Legislature, that body will not resume sittings until Oct. 26. The House of Commons is back with a Speech from the Throne on Sept. 23. 100 years ago “Rum running runs riot in Estevan,” the News reported in Aug. 1920 following police reports that the town resembled “an international resort” with autos showing plates from every American state. “A wave of prosperity has swept Estevan since the trade reached its present status,” with police estimating a carload of liquor could net the driver $2,500 in Minneapolis. Locally, coal mine magnate J.B. Swan reported that an “experimental plot” he owned at the corner of First Street and Sixth Avenue produced two bushels of barley on one-13th of an acre. The Medicine Hat Public Library announced success with a pilot project that allowed cardholders to obtain two books concurrently – a break with the one-book policy. Rumours circulated from Ottawa about the impending retirement of Secretary of State and Medicine Hat MP Arthur Sifton as the former Alberta premier had suffered months of “indifferent health.” Collin Gallant covers city politics and a variety of topics for the News. Reach him at 403-528-5664 30-29
