Municipal Affairs – City of Airdrie Corporation…and their partners and stakeholders…of course.

“You quite often get the government you didn’t vote for.” – Howard

And….the City of Airdrie is also heavily committed to U.N. Agenda 21/30 Sustainable Development Goals, E.S.G.s, and U.N.D.R.I.P. initiatives. Some purview!

From: Al Neitsch
Sent: Tuesday, October 24, 2023, 12:02 p.m.
To: Peter Brown; mayor@airdrie.ca; al.jones@airdrie.ca; ron.chapman@airdrie.ca; darrell.belyk@airdrie.ca; Candice.Kolson@airdrie.ca; Heather Spearman; tina.petrow@airdrie.ca
Cc: Airdrie-East; Blake Richards – Member of Parliament; Office of the Premier; MA Minister
Subject: Municipal Government Act

Good Morning Mayor Brown,

  The Municipal Government Act is an all inclusive, weighty 612 page document that :

 “Empowers municipalities to shape their communities. It regulates how municipalities are funded and how as local governments they should govern and plan for growth.”  

  The MGA is designed to be very broad, as is the full opening mission statement. It can’t be easy for the City of Airdrie to govern within the act but having an entire department of Legislative Professionals, that we pay for, to help you abide by it must be of great benefit. The average working citizen and taxpayer in Airdrie does not have the benefit of such council or the opportunities to engage, within a limited framework, in civics so I hope you can collectively understand why there might be some concern over how the MGA is being administered and why there might be concerns over transparency and accountability, especially when considered in the corporate context that the city operates. There is also the distinction to be made between what is lawful and legal when it comes to civic and corporate governance.

 We should consider that the MGA should be investigated through a lens that distinguishes between good corporate infrastructure management and the introduction of ‘community shaping‘, non-government social and societal management. This is a platform that many of us are going to build for this lens. We’ll just have tol continue to learn how to use the MGA to our equal advantage and to make our government more transparent and accountable, as is our right. Please don’t misunderstand our intentions beyond a unified ‘asking of questions’ that must be answered as the list of unanswered questions continues to grow. An unwillingness or inability to answer them rightly raises issues of transparency and accountability. We have made a public appeal for more and better access to public engagement but clearly more needs to be done here. 

  Meanwhile, we have The Municipal Government Act to investigate. The PDF file is available on line but a printed version from The Kings Printer costs $35. In the spirit of welcoming public engagement, would the City of Airdrie make copies available for loan to citizens?

  Please also note that when we submitted Petition e-4623, or any other items in the past, for your collective consideration, we were not asking for an opinion on the matter. The citizens of Airdrie should have some way of identifying whether their elected and unelected officials have core values that align with theirs. Any differences in core values could greatly affect the level of transparency and accountability ( the right to which should ideally be absolute ), and the decisions and legislation being put through on our behalf. Shared values makes for stronger communities but trust is a major unifying component of our Democracy. That the City of Airdrie does not seem to prominently display the importance of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, ‘notwithstanding‘ any needed reforms, as a hallmark of our municipal Democracy over any other document, procedure or gesture is concerning and requires clarity.

  It’s refreshing that you are open to discussing municipal matters at any time.

Sincerely, With Others,

Al Neitsch

403 400 4477

From: Peter Brown <Peter.Brown@airdrie.ca>

Sent: Wednesday, October 18, 2023 2:26:43 PM

To: Al Neitsch ; Mayor <mayor@airdrie.ca>; Airdrie-Cochrane <Airdrie.Cochrane@assembly.ab.ca>; Airdrie-East <airdrie.east@assembly.ab.ca>

Cc: Candice Kolson <Candice.Kolson@airdrie.ca>; Tina Petrow <Tina.Petrow@airdrie.ca>; Heather Spearman <Heather.Spearman@airdrie.ca>; Al Jones <Al.Jones@airdrie.ca>; Darrell Belyk <Darrell.Belyk@airdrie.ca>; Ron Chapman <Ron.Chapman@airdrie.ca>; Blake Richards – Member of Parliament <blake@blakerichards.ca>

Subject: Re: [EXTERNAL] Petition e-4623

Thanks for your email,  respectfully, I will not be responding to your request or provide opinion re the below information. 

Further the municipal government act of Alberta is the legislation we flllow (sic) to govern. If you can identify within the current legislation, where myself, or my counsel colleagues have done something contrary to the act, please let me know. We have an entire department of Legislative Services professionals dedicated to making certain we’re governing to the letter of the law.

https://open.alberta.ca/publications/m26

If you want me to discuss Municipal issues at any time, as you know I am more than happy to make myself available. 

I will read the info attached for my information only. 

Hope you a great day! 

Respectfully, 

Peter 

Peter Brown

Mayor