Why a provincial government just fired nearly the entire city council of this Canadian city
It was months in the making, but on Tuesday, Alberta’s Minister of Municipal Affairs, Rick McIver, pulled the trigger and dismissed the majority of Chestermere City Council, including the mayor and three administrators.
Chestermere, a city of about 22,000 people located roughly 20 km east of Calgary, will now be run by a provincial official administrator and an interim chief administrative officer until a by-election is held sometime in 2024.
“I do not underestimate the magnitude of my decision and its significance for the affected
parties and for Alberta’s municipal sector in general,” McIver said in a letter.
“I take my role as Minister and the legislative powers that come with it very seriously.”
In total, three councillors, including Mel Foat, Blaine Funk, and Stephen Hanley, and Mayor Jeff Colvin were dismissed.
Where it started
Complaints about the administration and governance of the City of Chestermere began to trickle in to the Minister in January 2022.
The Ministry said it followed standard practice and recommended people take their concerns to council, which was elected only months before in 2021.
But then more people, who the Ministry said were “significant,” raised concerns, and McIver asked the mayor to provide his perspective on these concerns during a meeting on a separate matter on February 17, 2022.
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The mayor gave a detailed perspective a week after that.
“Given the severity of some of the concerns raised, on March 10, 2022, as Minister
I directed Municipal Affairs staff to undertake a preliminary review to determine if an
inspection under section 571(1) of the Municipal Government Act (‘MGA’) was
warranted,” McIver said in his letter.
How we got here
The preliminary review found multiple concerning allegations, and on May 9, 2022,
McIver ordered an inspection of the City of Chestermere’s management, administration, and operations.
The inspection ended in September 2022 and resulted in a 215-page report, which was released in March 2023.
The findings within it highlight that the City of Chestermere was managed in an “irregular, improper and improvident” manner.
A number of specific issues were also found, including:
- An improper process for handling code of conduct complaints
- Improper and irregular contact between council members and staff
- Improper and irregular treatment of staff by members of council
- Irregular and improper actions in both hiring and terminating of CAOs and others
- Creating an irregular, three-CAO model to administer the municipality
- Irregular and improper council member actions to complete administrative duties
- Creating a strategic advisory group that created a less distinct separation between
administration and council - Irregular and improper mayor’s actions to include only certain council members in
discussions and information sharing - Late filings of audited financial statements
Where we are now
After that, the province issued 12 binding directives through a ministerial order that required the City of Chestermere to take action to address key areas of concern.
Rebecca Schulz, who was the Minister of Municipal Affairs at that time, later met with council members and senior administration, citing concerns with their progress on a number of those directives.
At that time, they were given until the end of September to respond and address those concerns in writing.
After reviewing the City’s response and finding it insufficient, McIver, who again became the Minister of Municipal Affairs in June 2023, issued notice of his intention to dismiss all seven members of Chestermere City Council and three chief administrative officers, pending a period of time to allow councillors and CAOs to respond in writing.
On Tuesday, he followed through with his intention but spared three councillors: Shannon Dean, Sandy Johal-Watt, and Ritesh Narayan.
The three councillors will not have any power or say in governance until the by-election is held.
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