It was a intense 60 days in Carbon as a group of residents petitioned to remove Mayor Bryan Peever and Councillor Trina Anderson through the Alberta recall legislation. However, it was all for naught, as the petition fell short by a handful of signatures.
The province passed an amendment to the Municipal Government Act in 2022 that allows electors to petition to recall an elected official. This includes MLAs, municipal officials and school board trustees. Recalls can be instigated 18 months after an election.
After a petition has been verified, the recall petitioner has 60 days to collect signatures. The recall petition must be signed by 40 per cent of the population of the municipality.
The named representative of the petitioners was village resident Marie Kooiman. The 60-day collection period expired on June 26, and she announce on social media they were about seven signatures short of forcing a recall.
Despite not making the threshold, a petition with 190 signatures represents almost 40 per cent of the village, demonstrating many community members have concerns and has also raised awareness of civic politics in the community.
A notice of recall can only be submitted once per council member in a term.
While the petition fell short, the face of the Carbon Council will change in the near future as a by-election will need to be scheduled to replace councillor Brian McHugh, who submitted his resignation last month.
In June the Village of Ryley became the first municipality in Alberta to successfully use the new legislation to remove a councillor.
