Municipal Affairs shared an embargoed copy of the Chestermere inspection report with city council for review and comment.
City council has until Dec. 9, to provide any feedback to the Minister of Municipal Affairs, Rebecca Schulz.
Based on the responses from city council regarding the report, Schulz will determine the next steps.
“After considering any input from Chestermere City Council and making any appropriate adjustments, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs will share the report with Chestermere residents through a public meeting. Until that has happened, unfortunately, we cannot comment on the reports’ contents,” Municipal Affairs Press Secretary Kayla Gamroth said.
She added, “We remain committed to doing our due diligence by respecting the established process for municipal inspections and ensuring procedural fairness for all those directly affected.”
The review and inspection was first initiated after Municipal Affairs was made aware of concerns and irregularities within municipal governance and administration.
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 into the management, administration, and operations of the City of Chestermere, and determine if any legislative contraventions or improper conduct has occurred.
The inspection addressed issues identified 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 Municipal Government Act (MGA).
A municipal inspection under the MGA is used to identify significant concerns with the governance, management and administration of a municipality, and take corrective actions if necessary.
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.
Throughout November, city council will review and make corrections to the inspection report, and continue to work with Schulz, the City of Chestermere website said.
“I want to reassure the residents of Chestermere that the mayor and council they voted in on Oct. 18, will remain. Municipal Affairs explained explicitly that they do not have the authority to remove a member of council as the result of a municipal inspection. That said, unfortunately, the Calgary Herald and CBC repeatedly reported wrong information that caused unnecessary distress to our residents and staff,” Mayor Jeff Colvin said. “I, along with my fellow councillors, are looking forward to putting this report to rest and continuing the important work we were voted in to do for the residents of our beautiful city.”
This is a continuing story. Watch for follow-up stories.
