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UCP tables legislation that would allow Albertans to 'fire' MLAs, city politicians

The process for recalling municipal and school board officials would take fewer steps

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Albertans could soon have the power to recall their MLA, city council member or school board trustee under new legislation tabled Monday by the UCP government.

The proposed law, Bill 52, includes separate standards should constituents wish to give their elected official the boot, depending on the level of government in question.

“At the end of the day, ordinary Alberta voters are the boss in our democracy and if they lose faith in their elected representatives, they can hold them to account in between elections,” said Premier Jason Kenney as he announced the proposed legislation, dubbed the Recall Act.

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He said it would allow voters “effectively to fire their elected representatives if they break public confidence.”

The process for recalling an MLA would include three steps.

If an Albertan feels the provincial representative in their constituency “is not upholding their responsibilities,” they could apply to the chief electoral officer for a petition to recall that official. The application must include a statement about why they believe the MLA should be recalled, along with an undetermined application fee.

No criteria have been set out for review of that reasoning, but Kenney said he wasn’t worried about potential “abuse” of the law, noting mechanisms would prevent “frivolous efforts to reverse the result of elections.”

Once the completed application is submitted, the chief electoral officer would issue a petition. The applicant would then have 60 days to gather signatures from 40 per cent of eligible voters in that constituency.

To sign the petition, an individual must have lived in the constituency for at least three months. The applicant could have volunteer canvassers, who must also be residents of that constituency, assist in gathering signatures.

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If the recall petition meets the defined criteria, a vote would be held to determine if the MLA should be recalled. If the recall vote is successful, by a simple majority, the MLA would no longer hold office and a byelection would be held.

Each MLA could only face one recall vote per term, while just one petition for their recall could be active at a time. Only constituents could commence a recall application, as sitting MLAs would be prohibited from using the tool against one another.

The process could only begin at least 18 months after and up to six months before an election.

Kenney said the bill seeks to “strengthen democratic grassroots accountability in Alberta.” He said he expects to see the law take effect “later this year” and “well before six months prior to the next election.”

Fewer steps needed to recall city politicians

The process for recalling municipal and school board officials would take fewer steps.

If an eligible voter feels a councillor or mayor who represents them is not upholding their responsibilities, they could notify the chief administrative officer in their municipality of their intent to start a recall petition for a fee of $500.

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The chief administrative officer would then publish a notice of the petition on the municipality’s website. The petitioner would have 60 days to gather physical signatures.

While only eligible voters could sign the petition, the applicant must gather enough names to represent 40 per cent of the entire population of the municipality or ward in question — a figure which includes those both eligible and not eligible to vote.

If the petition is successful, the chief administrative officer would make a declaration at the next council meeting to remove the councillor or mayor.

For school board trustees, Albertans could apply to the secretary of the school board in their region, also for a $500 fee. The petitioner would then have 120 days to gather signatures from at least 40 per cent of the eligible voters in that school district.

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Unlike the rules for MLAs, no recall vote would take place following a successful petition to remove a council member or school board trustee.

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For many municipalities across Alberta, running a recall vote and subsequent byelection would be too prohibitive to the process, according to provincial officials.

Kaycee Madu, Alberta’s justice minister and solicitor general, said the province simply has more resources than municipalities.

“At the provincial government, we have more capacity,” he said.

Asked what chance he placed of a successful recall campaign taking place in a city the size of Calgary, Mayor Naheed Nenshi replied, “zero.”

“It’s hard for me to imagine anyone being organized enough and disciplined enough to be able to get that number of signatures,” said the mayor, calling the 40 per cent threshold a “pretty high bar.”

“It strikes me as the actual implementation of this will be very difficult.”

Nenshi also said the different rules for provincial and municipal politicians “doesn’t make any sense.”

“What’s good for the goose should be good for the gander here,” he said.

“I continue to wonder what the government’s motives are on this. Do they actually want people to do recall or do they just want to tick off a box?”

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Mount Royal University political scientist Duane Bratt also questioned the double standard.

“If you are going to replicate systems across orders of government, then you should replicate all those steps,” he said. “Why force a recall referendum in one case and not in another?”

But Bratt praised the petition threshold, calling it an “appropriate” figure.

“It should not be easy to recall someone,” Bratt said.

“This is like the nuclear option. This is something that is so egregious that you can’t wait until the next election, you’ve got to replace this person right now. If that is the case, then there should be an army of people out there ready to go door-to-door to gather signatures to toss this person out. If it’s not, that’s what general elections are for.”

An applicant would be responsible for all costs associated with gathering signatures. However, they could accept contributions toward their petition. There would be limits on how much Albertans and third parties, such as political action committees, can spend on promoting or opposing the petition to recall an MLA, as well as guidelines on how the donated money must be spent.

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The Alberta government looked to B.C., the only province with existing recall legislation, as a model when developing Bill 52.

The proposed law follows through an election promise by Kenney, who stated in February 2019 that the provision would be “a positive mix in our democratic system.”

Anger over international vacations taken by UCP MLAs around Christmas — despite the province’s longstanding advisory against foreign travel amid the COVID-19 pandemic — sparked renewed calls for recall legislation earlier this year.

— With files from Madeline Smith

shudes@postmedia.com
Twitter: @SammyHudes

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