Picture Butte mayor shares concerns over Bill 50 at mayors and reeves May meeting

Posted on May 22, 2025 by Sunny South News

By Kristine Jean
Sunny South News

At the May 12 Picture Butte regular council meeting mayor Cathy Moore shared some concerns expressed at the May 2 Mayors and Reeves of Southern Alberta meeting, over the province’s recently introduced Bill 50. 

The Government of Alberta introduced Bill 50, the Municipal Affairs Statutes Amendment Act 2025, on April 8. The bill proposes amendments to the Local Authorities Election Act (LAEA), the Municipal Government Act (MGA), and the New Home Buyer Protection Act and Safety Codes Act.

While the bill aims to refine municipal processes, improve election accessibility, and enhance local governance, some are raising concerns about the bill including Alberta Municipalities, which recently shared a post on their website.  

“While Municipal Affairs consulted with ABmunis on some of the proposed amendments, many changes were unexpected and not previously shared with us,” read the statement.   

Alberta Municipalities noted some of the proposed changes that affect municipalities include updates to the ICF arbitration process, elimination of municipal Codes of Conduct for councillors, a foundation for the future standardization of meeting procedures by the Minister of Municipal Affairs, and new reporting requirements for Chief Administrative Officers (CAOs), including mandatory notifications to council when a municipality uses its “natural person” powers, among others.   

During her mayor’s report at the May 12 Picture Butte regular council meeting,   Moore spoke about some of the concerns shared at the Mayors and Reeves of Southern Alberta May meeting. 

“There was a lot of talk on the code of conduct Bill 50,” said Moore, noting  concerns with how fast the bill was introduced without providing all of its details. 

She noted concerns with changes where legislation will have a role in how municipalities fund different areas.   

“We can do a casino and let’s say we have $25,000 that we raised, they can step in and say you have to put all that money towards the Lethbridge Hospital … we won’t have a say in where we put the money if they step in,” she said. 

Moore noted an example of where the province has stepped in and pointed to the Pincher Creek Health Foundation. They were told that “a lot of their members were on their board too long, that they had to find new members,” said Moore. “We all know how hard it is to get volunteers to step up and do anything so for the government to step in and say your members have been on your board too long, find new members, is a little ridiculous.”

“It is said be aware, that could be happening,” Moore concluded.