Changes to the Municipal Government Act (MGA) have meant the implementation of new bylaws and policies for the City of Cold Lake.
Although council is not opposed to implementing a Code of Conduct Bylaw, they did express concerns over certain details during their corporate priorities meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 16.
According to the bylaw, which hasn't been approved by council, councillors aren't allowed to meet with applicants, developers, or special interest groups where an application or submission has been filed with the city. This has to do with cases where council has a decision-making role in the approval process.
The bylaw also includes scenarios where legal action has either been initiated or is expected.
For Coun. Bob Buckle, the wording of the provision was unclear.
He believes the terms go against the true “function of a councillor.”
“The way that wording is right now, it will basically say there is nothing outside of these chambers, everything has to be done in these chambers in order to satisfy that provision,” Buckle expressed. “I guess, it's the contradiction of responsibilities and roles of a councillor that I am having with the wording.”
City administration brought the bylaw before council for feedback, allowing for plenty of time before the July 23 implementation deadline.
Because this bylaw is completely new to municipalities, there were none to compare to or use as a guideline, said Linda Mortenson, general manager of community services for the city.
“We can't stress enough how important this document is,” expressed CAO Kevin Nagoya.
Under the new bylaw, Cold Lake residents and councillors can launch a complaint about the conduct of council or a specific councillor.
Anyone submitting a formal complaint will have to fill out a form, and specify which item in the Code of Conduct Bylaw the councillor, or council as a whole, has violated.
The complaint would come before council, and they would vote on whether or not the person in question was breaching the code of conduct.
Mortenson wants to articulate in the bylaw that the process can't disqualify council.
The code of conduct also covers gifts. Council agreed they should keep the provincial government's standard, and disclose any gifts over $200. In the case of invitations or tickets to events, that number jumps to $400.
“You have to remember, this is a living bylaw. There's going to be issues that come up and we're going to have to amend the bylaw. You're going to see that happening, because this is something really new for all municipalities. You're going to see so many policies out there,” Mortenson explained.
Council discusses Public Participation Policy
Changes to the MGA are requiring municipalities to create a policy surrounding public participation.
The city currently doesn't have one in place, and the policy discussed on Tuesday was presented for feedback, not a decision.
“The policy mostly covers stuff we already do. It's just put more in writing,” noted Mortenson, adding any decisions or bylaws put into place by council can't be challenged based on this policy.
The proposed policy covers five key concepts: inform, consult, involve, collaborate, and empower.
“This policy is pretty much what you do today,” continued Mortenson.
These two items will be voted on during a later meeting.
