Premier Smith is Looking Into Calgary's Closed Meetings -Will She Look Into Her Own Riding?
News Analysis
Premier Danielle Smith says she's concerned about Calgary city council using closed meetings too much.
She told her radio show audience that closed-door sessions should be "very rare." She said it's "not good practice" when councils debate things in private and then come out and vote in public without telling anyone what was actually discussed.
Smith represents Brooks-Medicine Hat in the legislature. Medicine Hat is her home riding.
And Medicine Hat has the exact same problem she's worried about in Calgary.
We've been documenting this for over a year.
Current Council Violated the MGA at Their Very First Operational Meeting
To be clear, most of this happened before our current City Clerk, Amanda Peterson, came on board. Peterson has confirmed that this council violated the MGA on Nov 17 2025 when they added an item to the closed agenda without a vote in the open portion. She said
We recognize, however, that this agenda amendment was approved during the Closed Session, rather than being identified and approved at the adoption of the agenda during the open portion of the meeting. While Council did provide approval by majority vote at the beginning of the Closed Session, we understand how this approach may give rise to concerns regarding transparency. In retrospect, the addition of this item should have been identified as a proposed amendment to the Closed Session agenda during the adoption of the agenda in Open Session.
More Time in Open Than Closed
Nov 3 2025 Owl News
Since the October 2025 election, Medicine Hat's new council has spent more than half its regular council meeting time behind closed doors.
They've held meetings entirely in secret.
They've added items to closed agendas after the doors were already shut.
They've postponed things to unknown dates where they just disappear.
One example: a $21.55 million electrical substation project. It was discussed behind closed doors. Twice. Then it vanished from the agenda.
No vote.
No explanation.
It just showed up in an open committee weeks later.
The province already found Medicine Hat was being managed in an "irregular, improper, and improvident manner". The Minister of Municipal Affairs issued binding directives. The city was supposed to clean up its act.
Not only did the closed meetings keep happening, they increased and created a brand new committee that has met mostly behind closed doors (four closed meetings to one open). The Budget Committee is spearheaded by Councillor Cheryl Phaff and the only public information about their meetings so far is the terms of reference and the purpose of the budget committee.
Smith said concerns about municipal transparency are "not just a Calgary issue".
She's right.
So here's the question: If the Premier is looking into Calgary, will she look into Medicine Hat too?
Previous Articles - We Always Bring The Receipts
2026
July 19 2026 Summer Break, Closed Doors, And A Big Middle Finger To Transparency
July 24 2026 A New Council, Same Closed Doors
August 11 2026 City Clerk Confirms Current Council Broke The Law In First Meeting
August 24 2026 Behind Closed Doors: Council's Favourite Meeting Place
2025
Owl News called them out on it before the last election.
September 12 2026 Editorial - Council Continues To Break Its Own Bylaws
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