Acting Mayor Len Phillips says Rocky Mountain House was instrumental in paving the way for Bill 50 — a new provincial bill that could take code of conduct enforcement out of the hands of municipal councils.
Acting Mayor Len Phillips says Rocky Mountain House has long advocated for reform, pushing for an independent, arms-length body to take over the investigation of council conduct complaints — a responsibility that until now has largely remained in the hands of local councils themselves.
“There’s no question in my mind that the Town of Rocky Mountain House was the front leader in this,” he said. “We advocated with ABmunis to have this independent body created. And you know, with ABmunis’ help, that resolution was brought forward and it looks like the minister has obviously paid attention to it because they’ve addressed it in Bill 50.”
“This is something that the Town of Rocky has advocated for — changes on how the code of conduct complaints should be handled,” said Phillips. “And you know, we’ve asked for an independent office of integrity to meet this purpose, and I think we’re hoping that Bill 50 will allow exactly for that.”
While the full regulatory details have yet to be released, the province has indicated that municipalities will no longer be required to maintain their own code of conduct bylaws, a move Phillips says is both welcome and overdue.
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“We’re just hoping that the province will look at what the Town of Rocky’s resolution was and create that independent body to help serve municipal councils, so that code of conduct investigations are taken to a third party and away from council’s realm.”
Phillips believes a resolution brought forward by the town of Rocky Mountain House, which passed with 77.1 per cent support at last fall’s Alberta Municipalities (ABmunis) Convention in Red Deer, played a key role in getting this issue onto the provincial agenda.
Edmonton City Councillor and ABMunis board member, Andrew Knack announces voting results for ‘Independent Office of Integrity for Local Government’ resolution Sept. 26 in Red Deer. (94.5 Rewind Radio/Jordan Rein)
“We are grateful to the minister [Ric McIver] for laying out the framework that will see this become a reality,” Phillips added. “We’re always looking at ways that council should work collaboratively and cooperatively and govern in a good way. Code of conducts are counterintuitive to that because it just creates conflict on council when you’re trying to police it.”
The 2024 resolution called for an Independent Office of Integrity to serve in an “advisory, educational and investigative role” for municipalities. The resolution emphasized that the current system places councillors in the awkward role of judging their peers, undermining cooperation and creating unnecessary friction.
In recent years, Rocky Mountain House council has grappled with a number of code of conduct complaints, including some lodged against former mayor Debbie Baich in 2022 and 2023.
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Phillips also said the move should help reduce conflicts of interest between council and administration.
“Anytime you have a CAO that has to inject themselves into a council decision like that, it’s just inherent conflict,” he said. “It’s inherent for council. It doesn’t unify council, let’s put it that way.”
When asked what happens in the interim before the provincial model is fully implemented, Phillips acknowledged the situation is still unclear.
“You know, that’s uncertain at this point simply because the province has introduced Bill 50, and now we have to see exactly how that’s going to transpire for municipalities,” he said. “So in the interim, I honestly don’t know how future code of conducts would be dealt with, because it’s now changed. Our bylaws are now, in essence, going to have to be repealed because the province has mandated that.”
Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi says the proposed bill could mean there could soon be no rules governing the behaviour of councillors and mayors.
Nenshi says the bill tells voters that the government doesn’t trust them.
Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver says the change has to be made because codes of conduct were being weaponized to silence dissent on municipal councils.
McIver added, it doesn’t mean councils will have free rein to misbehave, adding that a more impartial system is needed that can’t be misused for political gain or “personal rivalry.”
~ with files from the Canadian Press
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