Power petition has a lot more signatures than other big-issue movements

By COLLIN GALLANT on February 3, 2021.

cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant

An online petition calling council members to support public ownership of the city’s power plant is growing steam, but it’s unclear how the effort will be viewed, according to a local political scientist.

More than 3,600 people had signed the petition at website Change.org as of Tuesday afternoon, about six days after it was launched by local advocate Alison Van Dyke.

That’s more interest than was registered on similar high-profile petitions to twin Highway 3 in the region or pause selection of a supervised consumption site.

That is three-and-a-half times the number of Hatters who called on the city to avoid a mask bylaw in December, or, who in 2017, called for a reversal of changes to the Medicine Hat transit system.

Medicine Hat College political science instructor said such petitions don’t have a legal standing, but should be considered by politicians to take public temperature on an issue.

“A petition would have more of a hearing than social media chatter, which can get into the extremes,” he said, adding that if a petition has a “succinct question” and remains respectful, “I would think that it should have an influence.”

Mayor Ted Clugston didn’t address the petition during comments after Monday’s council meeting, which he opened by announcing that social media rumours about a sale announcement that night were false.

The city hasn’t outlined a public feedback process for the review, which administrators and elected officials say could result in an offer by the private sector to buy the power plant.

Clugston did say a press release announcing officials were seeking “strategic alternatives” to maintaining ownership was a nod to public engagement in a commercially sensitive area.

He also complained he had been attacked on some social media channels on the issue.

“I probably had 200 messages just this afternoon, swearing at me, calling me an idiot, why would we sell the power plant tonight?” he told reporters.

“That’s frustrating because it wasn’t even on the agenda. We wouldn’t just walk in (and announce a sale out of the blue), and in some ways (after the initial press release) it’s turned into a big community debate, which in some ways we were hoping to have, but the nastiness isn’t helpful.”

The petition, titled “Keep Medicine Hat utilities publicly owned and operated,” allows for limited comments, though the News cold not find anything vulgar. It includes links to some city documents regarding the process and News’s coverage of the issue.

Van Dyke said it is up to local government to make a full case and strategic options and background to their decision making, and so far that hasn’t happened.

Other prominent Hatters have said the issue should be paused until after the October election, but felt the idea of a city-wide plebiscite would be complex and potentially difficult.

Firstly, it would require the witnessed signatures of at least 10 per cent of the legible electors in a municipality, and must include a clear question.

Secondly, local referendum rules in Alberta are set by the province, which limits issues that can be addressed on a petition to mostly borrowing bylaws and minor local improvements, like lane paving.

If an official petition meets the hurdles, municipal councils can either abandon the bylaw or put it to a binding referendum with 90 days, but on some matters the vote can be delayed to coincide with a general election within a one-year time frame.

Groom said in Canada, only B.C. has legislation that forces the province to address official petition campaigns, but it’s rarely been engaged.

How politicians view issue campaigns and petitions depends on their views, their electoral plans and “how strong they are in their positions,” he said.

The power plant sale itself, he said, is an obvious issue where emotions could rise, and that’s compounded when people feel they don’t have an official outlet.

“It’s a real sore spot with people,” he said. “And people get their backs up because it’s a big issue.”