Municipality of Wood Buffalo granted exemption from Bill 20 for byelection

The provincial government has granted an exemption from new Alberta municipal election rules to the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, as it prepares for a byelection.

The byelection will be held on Nov. 4 in Ward 4, filling the seat that was left vacant after councillor Jane Stroud died in August.

In a statement to CBC, press secretary Heather Jenkins said Minister of Municipal Affairs Ric McIver granted an exemption Friday. 

He signed a ministerial order making the set of rules in the Local Authorities Election Act before it was amended by Bill 20, apply to the byelection in Ward 4 in the municipality of Wood Buffalo. 

"You can't really start any contest and change the rules halfway through the game," McIver said on Monday. 

"Just in the interest of perceived and actual fairness — seems reasonable to finish a contest with the same rules you started the contest with," he said. 

The municipality said in a statement to CBC that it thanks McIver and his department "for their quick attention on this matter." 

RMWB is "moving forward to conduct the byelection under current laws, rules, and regulations," the statement reads. 

Municipality didn't consider effects of Bill 20 when planning for byelection

Ward 4 is mostly rural, and encompasses Anzac, Conklin, Gregoire Lake Estates and Janvier. 

The new municipal election rules are a part of the provincial government's legislation to overhaul some aspects of municipal governance, known as Bill 20. 

Bill 20 amends two pieces of legislation: the Local Authorities Election Act and the Municipal Governments Act. 

Wood Buffalo's council voted unanimously on Sept. 10 to hold the byelection on Nov. 4. 

When the municipality planned for a byelection in Ward 4, it did not consider the effects of Bill 20 coming into force, said Jade Brown, the municipality's chief legislative officer, on Tuesday. 

"It's recommended that council request an exemption for the purposes of the byelection to ensure that there is no confusion to voters and candidates in the governing election systems," she said. 

Special ballots one of the reasons for exemption

One of the reasons for this exemption, Brown said, is that Bill 20 changes the rules around the use of special ballots. 

Currently, a voter can request a special ballot only for a specific reason, such as incapacity or absence from the municipality. 

Under the new set of rules, voters will be able to request special ballots for any reason. 

"So there'll be many more reasons why you could request that if this comes into force on October 31st," Brown said. 

"It really gives us no time to be able to adjust our process in advance of the November 4th date," she said. 

"I'm not sure of any other municipality in the province that is currently in a byelection mode," she added. 

At Tuesday's meeting, the council voted unanimously to direct Mayor Sandy Bowman to write a letter to McIver, asking for an exemption. 

Bowman said during the council meeting he'd been in contact with McIver and his office, and said they were inclined to grant an exemption.

"We have communicated with them what was going on," he said. 

"They understand the situation."