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Vol. 19, No. 41, Wednesday, September 4, 2024 www.LamontLeader.com
Lamont Reeve notes Municipal Affairs’ concerns Diduck says actions suggested will be taken, some already have begun BY JANA SEMENIUK Lamont County Reeve David Diduck addressed a letter from Ric McIver, the Minister of Municipal Affairs, during the Aug. 27 County council meeting. Although the letter said a full investigation was not warranted, Diduck noted the minister listed several areas of concern including councillors not understanding their roles, councillors discussing upcoming decisions outside open council, and at least one councillor performing administrative functions. “As council, we have to note that the minister did find a number of issues, and a number of them are related to council here,” said Diduck, who read portions of the letter including that ‘The Minister, along with the residents of Lamont County, expect councillors to conduct themselves with integrity and in compliance with legislative
op a ‘protocol to support positive relarequirements’. Diduck further read that McIver tions between council members, wanted to make it clear that ‘I expect administration and the community’. “I think we've done a fair bit in that all members of council to discontinue regard already,” he any action that said. “I think one does not comply of the main things with the MGA. The is we're having our ministry will concoffee talks.” tinue to monitor The council the situation to began holding determine if fur‘Coffee talks’ ther consideration where one councilof intervention lor, along with may be appropriDiduck, Chief ate’. Administrative Diduck said he Officer Peter supported a sugTarnawsky and gestion by the Minister of attend- Lamont County Reeve David Dicuck Communications Director Jay Zaal, ing a Roles and Responsibilities Workshop for elected meet with different division residents officials at no charge to the county. in an informal open house style comAdditionally, Diduck addressed the plete with coffee and snacks, where the minister’s direction of council to devel- residents are free to ask questions and
discuss issues. Diduck also noted that the council meetings are available online in addition to meeting highlights being published in the Lamont Leader. “The end result is there was no inspection warranted, but the minister did find some areas of improvement for Lamont County council going forward here,” said Diduck. “I think it's incumbent upon us as Council to take the Minister's comments to heart here. I think we definitely have to take part in that workshop that he's recommending and move forward here.” Over 900 Lamont County ratepayers signed a petition earlier this year requesting that the Municipal Affairs office conduct a full inspection on the county. Reasons included inflated staffing costs, proposed changes to the Land Use Bylaw and dishonesty. The request was deemed “not warranted” by Municipal Affairs.
Inspection last resort for Municipal Affairs in dealing with complaints Bruderheim tops list for number of calls locally, Lamont last
BY JANA SEMENIUK While more than 900 people who signed a petition asking for an inspection into Lamont County were disappointed when Minister Ric McIver said one was not warranted earlier this month, representatives from the Municipal Affairs office shared background information with the Lamont Leader on how municipal complaints and concerns are managed. They said concerns around issues such as municipal property taxes, and
service levels around public transit for example, should be directed to the complainants locally elected government. They said that while the office does not investigate complaints about municipal actions, they will decide if further action should be taken if the municipality is non-compliant with the MGA (Municipal Government Act). A copy of the MGA is available for free online in a PDF or online format. The office said a significant number
of concerns about a community could be considered when determining if further action should be taken and the minister will ultimately decide. The office said they will look at several ways to support the municipality with an inspection being the last resort. The office of Municipal Affairs also keeps track of all communications made to the department, and clarified these calls could be for a variety of reasons and not just complaints. They can also be simple questions or enquiries
into the community’s processes. In terms of a number of contacts and enquiries into the department, they shared that since Aug. 1, 2023 within the County of Lamont, the Town of Bruderheim has generated six calls to Municipal Affairs, the Village of Andrew has had five, Chipman has had four, the Town of Mundare has had one and the Town of Lamont has had none.