Premier Danielle Smith says her government could consider parameters for appropriate code of conduct sanctions. (Photo: Pattison Media)

By Eli J. Ridder

Preliminary work for Medicine Hat provincial audit has begun

Oct 11, 2024 | 10:27 AM

Preliminary work for an expected provincial audit of Medicine Hat city hall was revealed by officials on Thursday to have already begun.

The process could produce a series of recommendations that Premier Danielle Smith said will come by spring 2025.

Council at its first meeting in September voted to formally request a municipal inspection from Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver with the aim of finding any deep-rooted issues and to provide an opportunity for a much-needed reset.

McIver informed council on Sept. 25 that he would carry out a “scoping exercise” to make sure the inspection will be completed before the 2025 municipal election and to help inform his choice of an independent inspector, his office confirmed to CHAT News.

Interviews with members of council and senior city staff who are part of the ministry’s preliminary work have already started, according to Coun. Shila Sharps.

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Smith, speaking after a business networking event in downtown Medicine Hat, said McIver’s ministry will produce suggestions next year.

“He’s going to do some work throughout the fall and then make some decisions. We’re going to get a report that will make some recommendations in the spring,” she told reporters.

The premier, who also serves as MLA for Brooks-Medicine Hat, implied an inspection may not be required but that McIver may instead try to mediate.

“An inspection gauges whether or not 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,” she said.

“So, I think he’s hoping that he can provide some mediation to be able to solve some of those issues.”

Sharps said that, so far, every member of council but one has been interviewed by ministry officials who ask a set of predetermined questions.

“We’re waiting on the last person to get their last interview in, which I believe is only the mayor,” Sharps told CHAT News.

The councillor said the inspection was a certainty but it’s the way the municipal affairs minister goes about it that has yet to be determined.

“The inspection will happen, 100 per cent,” she said.

Council found Clark failed to treat city manager Ann Mitchell with “courtesy, dignity and respect” during an exchange with Mitchell at a public council meeting in August 2023 — a finding that a Calgary judge described as a “reasonable decision and logical in light of the evidence.”

The judge also reversed many of the sanctions placed on Clark that limited her mayoral powers and cut her salary in half, writing the restrictions had “no rational connection with the breach of the code.”

After watching what happened in Medicine Hat, Smith said the.Alberta government could put in rules for sanctions.

“I’ve been talking to minister McIver about whether or not there’s a role for the province to play in establishing some parameters about what (an) appropriate sanction is for code of conduct violations,” she said.

Smith hopes the audit will help build collaboration at Medicine Hat’s divided council.

“I am hopeful that, having gone through this process, that everybody is able to work together a little bit more collaboratively.”

READ MORE: Lethbridge News Now.

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