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…closed-door sessions should be "very rare." She said it's "not good practice" when councils debate things in private and then…vote in public without telling anyone what was actually discussed... Medicine Hat has the exact same problem... We've been documenting this for over a year.
New Council, More Closed Doors: The Numbers Tell The Story
The city's own rules say that any item not dealt with in a closed session must go to the next closed session unless they hold a vote in open council to defer it to another date. However, items are being deferred with no return date. They are falling off the radar.
Summer Break, Closed Doors, and a Big Middle Finger to Transparency
Remember how well that worked August 19 2024 when the open meeting was cancelled, ostensibly for a lack of agenda items? That time it was after the summer break. The September 3 2024 meeting went into overtime - it was a marathon session at just over 5 hours that went until 11:32pm. Nobody makes good decisions that close to midnight.
The Seconder Rule: What Councillors Say vs. What the Law Requires
Two Medicine Hat city councillors have said that councillors should get a seconder for a motion before bringing it to a council meeting. But the Municipal Government Act and the official handbook for councillors say something different. This difference matters because Medicine Hat residents already have a low tolerance for decisions made behind closed doors.
