Members of Lacombe city council listen to Councillor Cora Hoekstra (left of centre) explain her notice of motion on Oct. 23, 2023. (City of Lacombe)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

province considering changes

Lacombe city councillor fighting to keep municipal elections non-partisan

Oct 26, 2023 | 3:10 PM

A Lacombe city councillor is taking the lead for central Alberta in advocating to the province against potential changes which could lead to more partisan politics on the municipal government level.

Councillor Cora Hoekstra introduced a notice of motion earlier this month, and it was unanimously approved by council on Oct. 23.

The notice of motion reads:

THAT Council direct Administration to draft a letter to the Honourable Ric McIver, Minister of Municipal Affairs, outlining concerns about amending the Local Authorities Election Act to allow for more political party influence in municipal politics. Further, that the letter requests information on the rationale and desired outcomes of any such amendments.

The letter comes in response to Minister McIver telling delegates at the recent Alberta Municipalities convention that the province is considering introducing political parties to municipal elections. Said consideration is in relation to McIver’s mandate letter from Premier Danielle Smith, which directs the minister to review the Local Authorities Election Act (LAEA), and make recommendations for any necessary amendments to ‘strengthen public trust in and the integrity of our municipal election laws.’

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Janet Brown Opinion Research conducted a public survey on behalf of Alberta Municipalities in early September.

According to the survey:

• 68 per cent of respondents would prefer to see municipal candidates run as individuals. Only 24 per cent would prefer to see municipal candidates run as members of a political party.
• 81 per cent agree that municipal officials who are part of a political party would vote along party lines and not necessarily in the best interest of the community.
• 69 per cent think that political parties would make municipal governments more divisive and less effective.

During the convention as well, members voted on a resolution entitled B11: Maintaining Non-Partisan Municipal Elections, with 94.6 per cent voting in favour of Alberta Municipalities asking the province to refrain from introducing partisan politics into municipal elections.

“I like being non-partisan in terms of municipal politics because you can respond to the citizens in a way that you can listen to their opinions and not have another influencing body behind you saying that this is the decision you have to make,” Councillor Hoekstra said Oct. 24. “You can truly respond to the citizen.”

Councillors Reuben Konnik and Thalia Hibbs voiced strong support for Hoekstra’s sentiment.

“[Minister McIver] needs to hear from hopefully every municipality that this is not a good idea. The beauty of municipal politics is that we are all independent, so to speak. We’re here to do what’s best for our community and listen to our ratepayers,” said Konnik. “Partisan politics will interfere with that, and I fear citizens won’t be heard. In fact, there’ll be hidden agendas. I’m totally uncomfortable with that direction.”

Hibbs’s first question upon hearing this was being considered was ‘Why?’

“I chose to stay with municipal politics because it’s non-partisan. There’s no party line to toe,” she said. “The accountability around this table rests with each individual member. We’re not beholden to anyone else.”

Hibbs added that she attended a conference recently and felt ‘disturbed’ when a councillor from another municipality was introduced with their party name.

Mayor Grant Creasey said the letter will be beneficial in that they’ll hopefully receive some clarity around the reasoning, and information about the pros and cons seen by the province.

In a post to its website, Alberta Municipalities says:

“We recognize that there is currently nothing preventing candidates from running as slates or parties, other than a historic lack of success. However, changes to legislation could make it easier for parties or slates to raise funds, and we know from previous reviews of the election rules that Albertans want to see less money involved in local elections, not more.” – ABMunis board of directors

Scott Johnston, press secretary for the Ministry of Municipal Affairs says in a short statement, “We are currently engaging our municipal partners on proposed changes to the Local Authorities Election Act. We will be reaching out to Albertans for input in the coming weeks.”