Premier Danielle Smith addressed 25 delegates to an economic development gathering at the Esplanade on Thursday, telling the crowd the Medicine Hat region is a promising place to conduct business expansion.--NEWS PHOTO COLLIN GALLANT
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Premier Danielle Smith told reporters Thursday there may still be a chance the province will mediate a fractured working relationship on the Medicine Hat city council, perhaps instead of a full inspection of local procedures.
The Brooks-Medicine Hat MLA also said the ministry will consider providing more clarity on penalties allowed to municipal leaders, while saying some initial work on a Municipal Affairs inspection is underway.
“(Minister Ric McIver) is going to do some work in the fall and we’re going to get a report that makes some recommendations in the spring,” Smith told reporters Thursday after local economic development meetings in Medicine Hat.
“Council has asked for an inspection, and there are a few steps before you get to that. An inspection gauges whether the council is acting in a way that’s in compliance with the Municipal Government Act. This seems to me to be a personality conflict, and I think (McIver) is hoping to provide some mediation to be able to solve some of those issues.”
In August a judicial review overturned sanctions placed on Hat Mayor Linnsie Clark by other councillors, and last month, council voted 6-3 in favour of asking the Ministry of Municipal Affairs to examine city procedures related to the dispute.
That’s after an offer of help was laid out in a meeting between Municipal Affairs and council in late July.
A majority of councillors told the News they felt Clark had held up an offer of mediation, while Clark in court documents says she felt the all-council meetings with a governance consultant and the ministry were attempts at intimidation.
Provincial officials have mainly avoided getting involved directly in the specifics of the dispute.
“I’ve been watching it and what the court had to say,” Smith said Thursday. “When you have these sorts of issues the penalties have to be reasonable, and essentially stripping the mayor of all of her powers and pay isn’t (in the court’s opinion)”
“We think that we may have to do some regulation in that area, I’ve been talked with Minister McIver about whether there’s a roll we can play in establishing parameters about what appropriate sanctions are.”
Smith, also the MLA for Brooks-Medicine Hat, said changes to the MGA could arrive in the spring but gave the timeline of the procedural audit.
“(McIver) also sent in someone to see if they can come in and get council to work more collaboratively. It sounds like there are some relationships that have broken down. I don’t want to prejudge that process.”
The year-long controversy has also produced a unanimous endorsement from council to engage an outside contractor to act as an integrity commissioner, who would handle complaints among councillors,
Medicine Hat also supported a motion to its provincial lobbying association, AB Munis, to ask for more provincial resources for training and dispute resolution.
A main accusation of Clark’s is that city manager Ann Mitchell acted contrary to an organizational bylaw when she undertook workforce changes, including several layoffs, in mid-2023 before council had voted to change a flow chart outlining corporate structure.
She challenged Mitchell on the point at an August 2023 meeting when the amendments arrived at council. After nine minutes of pointed questions, councillors moved to vote on the changes, and later Coun. Shila Sharps filed an accusation that Clark breached code of conduct.
Six months later, council voted to accept a report on the incident and sanctioned Clark with some of the harshest penalties allowed under the Municipal Government Act.
A court review saw most sanctions removed, including a 50 per cent reduction in pay, but it didn’t alter the finding she had breached the code of conduct by mistreating staff.
