Alberta municipal leaders say partisan politics have no place in local elections

Alberta's municipal leaders are renewing their concerns over the UCP's desire to see provincial politics play a part in municipal elections.

Despite opposition from Albertans and Alberta Municipalities, Premier Danielle Smith voiced her continued support Friday for legislation that would add political parties to municipal ballots.

Smith spoke about the changes at the Alberta Municipalities leader's caucus.

The advocacy group represents more than 300 Alberta cities, towns and villages, and 94 per cent of elected officials in its membership have voted against any such legislation.

Tyler Gandam, Alberta Municipalities president, said it's against the best interest of communities to add political parties at the local level, and would only bring the divisiveness of federal and provincial politics into council chambers.

"Which colour pyjamas I wear at night for a political party I might align with I don't feel is relevant to why we're spending more money on infrastructure, or the parks, or the roads and sidewalks that we're going to repair or replace," Gandam said.

Two 2023 surveys, he added, suggest most Albertans are also against the idea.

"We had conducted an independent survey for Albertans and about 70 per cent were not in favour of it. The province also conducted a survey and also found that about 70 per cent of Albertans were not in favour of it," Gandam said. "So I am not sure why this is going to improve how municipalities (are) able to govern and create better communities."

No details have been released on what new legislation would look like or when it would be tabled.

However, Smith suggested Friday that rules may be targeted only at larger cities where she believes governments are more partisan.

"(Candidates) are coming along on an ideological platform when they're elected, and they're working together on policies that they're putting forward. That is a de facto political party, that's what it is," Smith said.

"Maybe it's not everywhere, but it certainly is the case in the big cities now, maybe even in some of the midsize cities," she continued. "So if that's going to occur, we feel there just needs to be some structure around what the reporting looks like on that."

Mount Royal University political scientist Duane Bratt said Smith's focus on large cities is an indication of the UCP's motivation to change the rules around party affiliations.

"She's only focused on Calgary and Edmonton," Bratt said. "That's because multiple governments – provincial governments – have seen city council in Edmonton and city council in Calgary as counterweights against the provincial government, and they don't like that idea."

Bratt believes the UCP are looking to change how people vote to increase conservative representation within municipalities.

"We've had people advertising themselves as the conservative candidate. What separates this is they can now put the party label after their name on the ballot," he said. "That's the symbol that they're looking for, for people who aren't following politics closely but know that they want to vote conservative."

In December, Alberta Municipalities passed a resolution to advocate against the proposed changes to the Local Authorities Election Act and the Municipal Government Act.

"Partisanship in local politics would be a disappointment, no longer could our local elected officials vote on what they believe is best for the community, but instead, they would be beholden to vote based on the ideology of the political party they represent," the resolution said. "For our municipalities to remain efficient, effective and accountable, it is critical that we leave no room for partisan politics."

Gandam said if there are going to be changes to how local elections are managed, he hopes Alberta municipal leaders are consulted on what they will look like. 

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Amanda Anderson