Opinion: Sorry, But I Regret to Inform You I’ll Pass on the Invite to Your Party

If you talk to the average Albertan, they likely will be able to name the two major political parties currently at the top of the heap in the Legislature. They may also be able to identify their County or City Councillor, MLA, or MP. But to suggest that people are thinking about the inner workings of political strategy is simply not true. Most folks are hoping to pay their bills and live a good life. They don’t want to or simply can’t be that involved in day-to-day political decision making and they count on elected officials to make their lives better. I would view the pervasive low voter turnout for elections of all three orders of government indicative of the comfort level people have with the decisions of government (overall) and the choices voters have(overall). The content of certain social media accounts suggests otherwise, but in general, Canadians find municipal elected officials the most trustworthy and likeable.

You may have heard that the Government of Alberta has proposed the introduction of political parties into the municipal government sphere. How that will be implemented is yet to be seen, but the mere suggestion has drawn criticism from both the Rural Municipalities of Alberta and the Association of Alberta Municipalities (as well as regular Albertans).

In the Premier’s Mandate Letter to the Honourable Rick McIver, Minister of Municipal Affairs, there are many specific references to the campaign promises of the last provincial election and to the work which keeps Councils busy. There is however no reference to the need for or any anticipated community improvement gained by attaching party affiliation in municipal elections.

A study conducted in September 2023 by Janet Brown Opinion Research in partnership with Trend Research for Alberta Municipalities found more than 68% of Albertans would prefer to see municipal candidates run as individual

independents. It is a conundrum to guess what problem the province is trying to solve by including partisanship into the municipal electoral reality.

It is often said that local government is the government of proximity. Namely, councillors are representatives of the order of government closest to the people they represent. As a municipal councillor, I’ve experienced this firsthand in very tangible ways. When I decided to run in 2010, I relied on name recognition from many years of volunteering, community service, and personal relationships to amp up my campaign. I’ve often joked that the two major donors for my local campaigns were my husband and my parents (all four campaigns were small money spends, taking out ads in local newspaper and radio stations and making up signs and pamphlets, an experience echoed in the majority of municipal elections across the country). It was an accessible and fairly affordable process. Adding a political party to this scenario would remove transparency in a way that would damage the autonomy of local decisionmakers. Councillors, mayors, and reeves are generally trusted by their community to make the important decisions that affect them too. Increasing the number of outside influencers with money and interest in affecting local decision-making changes the very nature of municipal government being closest to the people.

Councils sit around their tables, charged by the Municipal Government Act, to shape communities, govern, and plan for growth. Councillors come from various points of view and experience and ideally in the words of my colleague Danny Breen, the Mayor of St John’s, Newfoundland Labrador, are “…hard on the issues, and easy on the people.” Debate can be lively but local leaders are passionate about solving their community challenges and building bridges (literally!) without deficits (the only order of government that must) in a way that provincial and federal governments can not. In fact, most of my municipal friends view MLA’s and MP’s as fettered by the scope of their responsibility and separation of their role from their electorate, layered on top of the requirements of party politics.

And despite what might sometime happen, reeves and mayors are on equal footing with the rest of Council. While Mayors and Reeves have some additional duties to chair meetings and speak on behalf of Council, this is very

different than a Premier or Leader of the Official Opposition who appoint Whips to carry out party policy positions. There are so many times where my council mates and I have brokered our starting positions and arrived at a consensus decision. Left or right on the political spectrum, we each have the goal of making our community better and the colour of my pajamas is irrelevant to my role as a Town Councillor. No Mayor or Reeve is in charge of the Council that sits around the table the day after a municipal election. In this way, the party system does not fit with the role or the culture of local government. Municipal governments are community builders and that happens effectively when there are no outside influences from political parties.

During my time on Council people have approached me at the grocery store, while I’m dropping off my kids at school, or even showing up at my door while I’m still in my pj’s…not kidding. And when they have decided these everyday places are the best place to talk to me, it’s usually to share their displeasure with snow removal, recycling, or recreation programming as well as their frustration with provincial and federal concerns. The immediacy of access to local decision makers and personal relationship is one of the most challenging and most rewarding aspects of municipal governance but it is a delicate balance to be both responsive and not burdened or sometimes even in danger by an electorate that is increasingly angry.

The majority of municipalities in Alberta are small and therefore most councillors are marginally paid and for the most part volunteers. Offering themselves up to the public sphere and providing leadership in very fractious times equates to talented and devoted leaders being attacked and challenged in new and bizarre ways. There are record-numbers of Mayors and councillors resigning across the country and the addition of political parties will not make the job more appealing as a recruitment technique. Most municipal officials like the fact that they can listen to their neighbours and hear from a variety of points of view before they arrive at the Council table with an open mind ready to debate an issue. Alberta’s MGA could certainly use a glow up, but adding party colours and the divisive nature of federal or provincial parties is not something to admire. I would suggest it should be avoided.

This weekend Premier Smith was quoted as saying that she is in favour and to expect the spring session of the Legislature to bring in legislation around partisanship - especially in the largest municipalities. She views it as local leaders being more transparent because she believes Calgary or Edmonton governors are making decisions that are political and ideological and not what they campaigned on. Even if the implementation of political parties happens first in the big cities, it feels like over-reach, it feels like control, and it feels unnecessary. And again, what problem is the province trying to solve: it looks like they are creating a whole new suite of problems.

Making local elections partisan suggests that the provincial government is trying to change the very way local leaders interact with the public. And I would say not in a way that makes Albertans lives better or more productive. It does not make the job more appealing or easier as a Councillor to have an external influence or source of funding. Nor does it make Towns, Counties, Municipal Districts, or Specialized Municipalities more effective to have outside voices with money or partisan points of view to determine where a park should be built or how the sewer main fits in to the multi-year asset management plan.

This is one party I will choose to decline to attend.