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.
Geraldine 1 - City Hall 0
Under this law, chalk is legally the same as spray paint. The bylaw also doesn't mention sidewalks. But spray paint on a sidewalk is clearly graffiti. So if chalking a building is graffiti, then chalking a sidewalk is also graffiti. Every hopscotch grid. Every "you are loved" message. All of it. Illegal.
Hand Count Hurdles: Medicine Hat’s Election Team Delivered
In 2025 Medicine Hat’s election team faced a tougher challenge than usual. New provincial rules, a brand‑new voter list that the city was required to use, and a complete turnover of the team in charge made this one of the most complex elections in recent memory. The Adminstrative and Legislative Review and Government Relations Committee got a full report today on the 2025 civic election.
Updated (Again) - Exclusive! City in Violation of Five OIPC Orders
In five separate rulings on December 2, 2025, the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC) found the city violated access-to-information law. The city had claimed certain requests were "complete." The OIPC found no evidence any response was ever sent. One was unilaterally deemed "informal"; others were met with excuses like "corrupted files."
"Gittin' 'er Done": As City Hall Talks, Kookums Feed the Hungry
The Kookums operate on a simple principle: feed the hungry. In stark contrast, the cruel and dehumanizing rhetoric that sometimes surfaces online—treating hungry people like unwelcome vermin—reveals more about the speaker's lack of empathy than it does about the complex reality of homelessness.
