The Village of Hussar has joined the call to keep political parties out of local elections. At the Tuesday, March 5 Regular Meeting, council members were presented with a Request for Decision about the Alberta Municipalities (ABmunis) resolution they have underway to keep this from happening.
Last year, ABmunis asked Albertans to complete a short online public survey, conducted by the Government of Alberta, in relation to the Local Authorities Election Act (LAEA), and their mission to keep local elections separate and prove that Albertans are not supportive of political parties interfering with them.
“Provincial party affiliation should have no bearing on local Municipal governance or elections. Everyone has their own thoughts and preferences in political parties but at the local municipal level as a councilor, in my opinion you can't let that influence how you govern your municipality. As local elected officials we have to work effectively and respectfully with whichever party is in power at the time,” Hussar Mayor Les Schultz tells the Mail.
ABmunis has concluded from the results of the survey, conducted by Janet Brown Opinion Research in September 2023, that Albertans explicitly do not want the encroachment of political parties at the local level. The Government of Alberta has yet to commit to casting aside any plans to leave local elections independent, although the vast majority, almost 70 per cent of Albertans, are not in support of the interference.
“Sixty-eight per cent of respondents indicated that they would prefer to see municipal candidates run as individuals. Only 24 per cent of respondents would prefer to see municipal candidates run as members of a political party. Sixty-nine per cent of respondents think that political parties would make municipal governments more decisive and less effective,” it states about the survey results in their message to Hussar Council.
Alberta’s Premier Danielle Smith mandated a letter to Minister of Municipal Affairs Ric McIver instructing him to work, alongside with Minister of Justice Mickey Avery, to review the LAEA and recommend amendments that will “strengthen public trust in and the integrity of our municipal election laws.”
