‘Unfair and costly’: Munis responds to the Alberta Government’s passing of Bill 20

The Province of Alberta has set several new regulations in an effort to make local elections “more transparent” for Albertans.

Bill 20, the Municipal Affairs Statutes Amendment Act, made changes to the Local Authorities Election Act and the Municipal Government Act to accomplish what the province calls “greater accountability” from local councils.

The new regulations will see expense limits implemented for local election campaigns, create new rules for local political parties in Calgary and Edmonton, prohibit the use of automated voting equipment, and allow municipalities to require criminal record checks for candidates.  The changes will come into force on October 31st, ahead of the 2025 municipal election year.

Bill 20 has been met with some controversy, especially from Alberta Municipalities. The ABMunis Board of Directors calls the changes “unfair and costly” saying Albertans have “repeatedly” indicated they want less money, not more, in local politics.

“These regulations give more money to political parties and their candidates,” ABMunis said in a release. 

ABMunis Vice President of Cities Under 500K and Grande Prairie City Councillor Dylan Bressey said ahead of Bill 20’s passing that he saw the new regulations as a “huge overstep” by the province, that will only serve to hamper the relationship between local governments and the provincial government.

“I’m incredibly disappointed to see them bringing union and corporate donations into municipal elections, and this party politics I think is about injecting even more money into local races,” he says. “Increasingly I’m hearing mayors and councils across the province tell me they get the impression that their relationship with the province is fundamentally broken and I don’t think this is going to fix that relationship.”

Ultimately, the new provincially mandated rules will be something local politicians will be subject to during their 2025 campaigns; however, ABMunis maintains they will continue calling on the province to open up “meaningful consultation” with municipalities across Alberta.