Province proposes ditching codes of conduct

Posted on April 24, 2025 by Sunny South News

By Al Beeber
Southern Alberta Newspapers

The Alberta government is introducing legislation which would eliminate the need for municipal councils to have formal codes of conduct.

That change is included in proposed amendments the government intends to make through the Municipal Statutes Amendment Act, 2025 which it says is intended “to modernize and streamline municipal processes in the Local Authorities Election Act, the Municipal Government Act (MGA) and the New Buyer Protection Act.”

A proposed amendment would repeal the requirement for councils to have formal codes of conduct and also prevent them from developing their own codes.

The government believes that these municipal codes of conduct have been weaponized between members of some local councils “resulting in mistrust, dysfunction and failure to serve Albertans.”

Municipal Affairs minister Ric McIver said the government is also looking at the creation of an independent ethics commissioner for municipalities.

The MGA presently requires every municipality to pass a council code of conduct, said McIver, “with the idea of setting standards for respectful behaviour and remedies when those rules are violated. Unfortunately, in some cases we’ve seen these codes become weaponized amongst council members. Instead of promoting harmony, codes of conduct have sometimes been used by council members to harass or sideline their colleagues over political disagreements.”

The minister also stated that council codes of conduct when misused or abused “can create a chilling effect on legitimate debate and discussion of important issues and they can be used to silence dissent on council.”

And there have been some instances where the courts have actually overturned council sanctions, finding them to be unreasonable or disproportionate or based on a lack of procedural fairness, he added.

“Most importantly, this type of dysfunction can result in council members losing track of the job they’ve been elected to do,” he said.

The minister said new legislation won’t mean councils will have “free rein to misbehave” but rather a more impartial and better system is needed to deal with conduct issues when they can’t be misused for political gain or personal rivalry.

Municipal Affairs will be working with the province’s municipalities to develop a new approach to councillor conduct and accountability, he said.

An ethics commissioner has been asked for by municipalities, McIver said. Such a position would be “an impartial official or body that can handle serious complaints about councillor behaviour when those things arise,” he said.

If a council member is really acting egregiously, then the issue can be addressed by a neutral party outside of local politics and dealt with through sanctions or recommendations that are consistent across Alberta, he said.

“When a local council falls into chaos, it’s the residents who suffer,” he added.

“By eliminating the flawed code of conduct system now, we prevent further misuse while we work on better solutions,” the minister said.

Another proposed amendment under the provincial legislation is intended to strengthen protection for builders and buyers of new homes. The act would safeguard the investments in homes by enhancing protections to ensure those homes are built to meet safety and construction standards.

“Proposed amendments would streamline owner-builder applications, offer greater flexibility in warranty exemptions and enable the creation of an advisory group for homebuyer protections. This approach will strengthen consumer protection and improve affordability by making existing programs more effective, efficient and user-friendly while providing a safety net that helps protect all parties in the event of construction defects,” says the government.

In the future, other changes to regulations will introduce builder competencies and establish a system to resolve disputes.

And an amendment to the act would give better opportunity for visually impaired Albertans to vote. While the province is still disallowing electronic voting machines, it intends to let municipalities use “elector assistance terminals” which don’t actually count ballots and don’t replace paper ballots. McIver said such terminals will allow people to vote with dignity and secretly.

“This will help ensure council members are held accountable at the polls, every four years, by the voters who initially elected them. They may also be recalled by a petition of electors,” the province said April 8.