After reviewing an embargoed copy of the draft municipal inspection report, city council rejected the findings in a special meeting called Friday.
City council received an embargoed copy of the draft report in November and had until Dec. 9 to review and provide feedback to the Minister of Municipal Affairs, Rebecca Schulz.
The ministry of municipal affairs has yet to release the findings of the draft report publicly.
After the special meeting, Mayor Jeff Colvin and councillors Mel Foat, Stephen Hanley, and Blaine Funk passed a resolution rejecting and opposing the draft report.
City Councillors Shannon Dean and Sandy Johal-Watt opposed the motion but were defeated by a majority vote.
Councillor Ritesh Narayan was not present for the entire meeting and did not vote.
The governance review and inspection was first initiated after municipal affairs was made aware of concerns and irregularities within municipal governance and administration.
In March, a letter was sent to the city informing them that department officials would review the municipality to have a better understanding of issues and determine if any further intervention was necessary and if further action was required.
After the preliminary review of the City of Chestermere was completed, an inspection was ordered by the previous Minister of Municipal Affairs, Ric McIver.
An independent contractor was appointed to carry out the inspection of the management, administration, and operations of the City of Chestermere, to determine whether any legislative contraventions or improper conduct had occurred.
A municipal inspection under the Municipal Government Act (MGA) is used to identify significant concerns with the governance, management and administration of a municipality, and take corrective actions if necessary.
The inspection addressed issues such as members of council acting alone and outside of a council resolution, members of council performing administrative functions and duties, code of conduct infractions, improper council meeting procedures and conduct, and the sale of municipal property not in accordance with the MGA.
An inspection report does not result in the dismissal of members of council, or a municipal Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), however, under specific conditions of the MGA the Minister of Municipal Affairs could take action to dismiss council members or CAO.
The City of Chestermere issued a rejection of the draft inspection report on Saturday, suggesting municipal affairs rescind or redo the report.
“Without supporting evidence for the overall scope of the inspection, with a process that did not follow both the Public Inquiries Act and the Principles of Natural Justice and Procedural Fairness by Cuff & Associates, the City Administration is declining and rejecting the draft Inspection Report,” the city-run website Chestermere Today said.
The city declined to respond to the draft report based on “Breaches to the principles of Natural Justice and Procedural Fairness.”
The website indicated all evidence was not disclosed to the City of Chestermere prior to the submission of the draft report, the city did not have an opportunity to respond to the evidence, the city was not able to provide a rebuttal to the evidence, and the city has a reasonable and legitimate expectation that the statutes within the Public Inquiries Act be followed as per the MGA.
The website also suggested the draft report was bias against the city.
“The City of Chestermere had the right to have an unbiased minister deem if an inspection was or wasn’t necessary after a preliminary review. We also had the right to have an inspector who did not have any prior professional dealings with the councils of the City of Chestermere,” the website said. “It is evident that Cuff & Associates were provided with a pre-defined outcome by municipal affairs, which demonstrates bias when conducting an inspection at the City of Chestermere.”
The website said the draft report has “Caused undue stress to our residents and staff, but it has come at a huge financial cost to the city.”
The draft report has impacted the audit process, and the city bank, and created challenges in receiving grants.
“We, the administration of the City of Chestermere, request that municipal affairs weigh all information carefully before making future decisions that will fundamentally impact our residents, staff, and municipality,” the website said.
“We are aware of the recent motion discussed at Chestermere City Council, and their response to the investigation report,” Municipal Affairs Press Secretary Kayla Gamroth said. “We are continuing to uphold the process under the MGA and will review their feedback.”
Chestermere residents can expect to receive an update from municipal affairs in early 2023.
This is a continuing story. Watch for follow-up stories.
