It Was Never About The Water
Councillors Cocks and Clugston July 6 2026 Council Meeting - Photo by Kelly Allard
At Monday's very short council meeting (the official recording is less than 45 minutes long), a motion did not get a seconder.
That happens, not all motions deserve to succeed, not all of them deserve a seconder. We already knew this motion was not going to be passed unanimously as it came as a Notice of Motion rather than be put on the agenda. The Agenda Review Committee is comprised of
Courtesy of City of Medicine Hat
Voting Members
Mayor
Deputy Mayor
Acting Mayor
Advisors
City Manager
City Clerk
As long as one voting member is present, the Agenda Review Committee can proceed in absence of a quorum.
By going to a Notice of Motion, it means that the council member tried and failed to get it on the regular agenda via the Agenda Review Committee. Councillor Phaff used this process to get her motion to allow drinking of alcohol in public parks on the agenda.
So, we already knew it was not a popular motion or the Agenda Review Committee would have added it before.
When a motion is presented, various things can happen
If it gets seconded, there is an opportunity for debate
With debate, several things can happen.
The motion can pass as presented.
The motion can pass with amendments
The motion can fail.
Or,
It can fail to get a second and die on the table with no debate.
We have seen a number of times when councillors have seconded a motion they did not agree with just to get it on the table and discuss. Sometimes councillors who held one opinion before the debate changed their minds after the debate. This council refused to debate it.
(Mayor Clark said that as the chair, she is not allowed to put forth motions or second motions. She is absolutely correct. What she left out was that she could have let someone else take the chair and she could have seconded it to get it on the table for debate.)
Communication is the Most Important Thing In Any relationship
Communication is the most important thing in any relationship - political, business, personal. Without debate we cannot make good decisions. This is why this council was elected - to make good decisions. Council members are supposed to have open minds.
Nov 3 2025 Swearing in ceremony. File Photo
Several council members have said they did not want to approve this motion because it appeared to involve a recent petition. They could have debated it and told the voters why but instead, they all kept their heads down, said nothing and missed the opportunity for debate.
Failing to get a second sends an ominous message to the public -
This council member is isolated and does not have our support, we are not even willing to talk about his motion. The fractures of the previous council are already starting to show in this one, less than a year into the new term.
That may not be the message that council was trying to send but that is what the public heard.
Councillor Young’s Social media Post
At our last Council meeting, a motion related to watershed protection did not proceed because it did not receive a seconder. I understand why some residents were concerned by that. To be clear the lack of a seconder should not be taken as a lack of support for clean water, watershed protection, or drinking water security. Not just for me, my family, my children, but for all of us and all future generations of Hatters that depend on the security of water as an essential resource for life, agriculture, economic security and so much more.
My concern, and I suspect the concerns of many of my fellow councillors, was not with supporting water security and water quality. My problem with the motion was that its scope was too narrow and it was framed in relation to a provincial petition that had already concluded and Elections Alberta had already reported as unsuccessful. Council’s position on water security should stand on its own, based on our responsibilities as a municipality and the needs of our residents. Water security is too important to become a political football.
What disappointed me most was what happened afterward.
Instead of reaching out to colleagues to understand why there wasn’t a seconder, one of my fellow councillors went directly to the media and suggested he knew our motives. He didn’t. He said we were afraid of the Premier and our MLA. Those comments were pure speculation, and I found them incredibly disingenuous. Was I afraid of the Premier went I sent a letter about the disability changes or our electoral boundaries?
We can disagree on policy without assigning motives to one another, especially when there was no effort to have those conversations beforehand.
That is why in collaboration other Councilors and with the support of Mayor Clark, we are bringing forward a new notice of motion focused directly on Medicine Hat’s watershed, source water, groundwater, stormwater quality, drinking water security, and long-term water resilience.The motion we are bringing forward reaffirms Council’s support for protecting our watershed and water quality from all risk factors.
It also asks Administration to continue advancing the Water Management & Adaptation Strategy and to identify provincial, regional, or upstream activities that may materially affect Medicine Hat’s water supply. It further asks that the City advocate for transparent, evidence-based provincial decision-making, meaningful consultation with downstream municipalities, and enforceable protections for water resources.
Medicine Hat deserves a serious, practical, and solutions-focused conversation about how we protect our water supply now and for future generations.
The Owls response
We are looking askant at the comment about drawing up a new Notice of Motion (Notice of Motions are for when you cannot get it on the agenda in the regular fashion) that will be better, stronger, faster (okay, they did not say that but we all know this is damage control).
Also, The Owl takes umbrage at the comment
Instead of reaching out to colleagues to understand why there wasn’t a seconder,
one of my fellow councillors went directly to the media…
The media was already there.
We had already asked council members if they had a comment as to why they did not second the motion; all we got was blank stares and silence. Only Councillor Young said anything and he did not say much.
We then spent the rest of our allotted 10 minutes for scrum (in January they said we would have 20 minutes for scrums but I digress) with Mayor Clark talking about other agenda items (because Mayor Clark was not going to talk about the motion any more) when Colleen Graham, Director of Corporate Communications, said our ten minutes was up. It was only then we spoke with Councillor Cocks.
We would have taken any comment from any councillor at that time but none of them were willing.
Kelly challenged the comment on Councillor Young’s social media post about Cocks going directly to the media.
Councillor Young’s response to Kelly
What I meant is that he went directly to the media without talking to any of us. He went directly to you to tell you what he thought our motives were. He said he believed we were afraid of angering the province. He said that with zero evidence and without speaking to anyone first.
I think my post above is enough for me at this time.
Again, this is concerning. This seems like council members are expected to speak with other council members before speaking with the media? Again, Cocks was seated in a chair, the media went to him.
Council members had the opportunity to speak about their motives AT THE HORSESHOE
We Still want to hear What the Other Councillors Have to Say
This is an open invitation for any and all council member to talk to us.
You can come on our live show.
We can come to you and do a sit down interview.
Our number is
1-888-600-7029
