Rumblings of a Recall Petition Re the Mayor of Medicine Hat - What Would it Take?

Recall of a Municipal Councillor

How the Process Works

There are rumblings of someone proposing a recall petition of the Mayor of Medicine Hat.

Alberta residents have the ability to recall MLAs or municipal council members if they feel that the elected ones are not doing their jobs. I’m only going to discuss the municipal part. The recall process sets a high bar with good reason, you do not want by-election after by-election.

The Screenshots show the duties required of council members and the mayor.

From the Municipal Government Act

From the City of Medicine Hat Administrative Organization Bylaw #4662

Source: Recall of a Municipal Councillor Handbook
1 The Representative Recall Petitioner (RRP) must submit a Notice of Recall to the City Manager along with the $500 fee. $500 must be paid for each council member to be recalled. The RRP must be eligible to vote in the jurisdiction, must be wiling to undertake the gathering of signatures and discharging the duties of the RRP.

2 Once the City Manager (CM) receives the Notice of Recall, the clock starts ticking. The CM has 7 days to confirm that the recall petition meets all the requirements and that the RRP is eligible and willing to take on the responsibility for the petition. If it meets the requirements, the CM must publish the recall petition on the City website and provide notice to

- the council member being recalled,

- the Minister of Municipal Affairs, and

- the RRP.

3 Once the Recall Petition is published on the City website, the RRP has 60 days to gather signatures.

The Recall of a Municipal Councillor Handbook says
“A recall petition must be signed

(a) in the case of a municipality other than a summer village, by electors of the municipality or ward, as determined under section 240.4, equal in number to at least 40% of the population.”

It doesn’t say 40% of eligible voters, it says 40% of the population.

The population of Medicine Hat is 63,382. 2021 census

Forty percent is 25,353, or 422 signatures/day for 60 days

Created by K Allard Sep 11 2023

The Recall of a Municipal Councillor Handbook says

“The recall petition must include the following in legible print, where applicable, and within reasonable proximity to the signature to which it relates, for each petitioner:

(a) the printed surname and printed given names or initials of the petitioner;
(b) the petitioner’s signature;
(c) the street address of the petitioner or the legal description of the land on which the petitioner lives;

(d) the petitioner’s telephone number or email address, if any;
(e) the date on which the petitioner signed the petition.

Each signature must be witnessed by an adult person who must:
(a) sign opposite the signature of the petitioner, and

(b) make an affidavit that to the best of the person’s knowledge the signatures witnessed are those of persons entitled to sign the petition.

The recall petition must have attached to it the affidavits referred to in Section 240.6(3). Finally, a recall petition may not be signed in digital form.”

Any deviation from the above rules makes the signature invalid.
I created a sample petition page.

Sample Recall Petition Page Created by K Allard Sept 11 2023

I found that with all of the requirements the petition page would need to be in a landscape orientation on 11 X 17 paper; it would allow 35 signatures per page. 25,353 signatures means a minimum of 714 physical pages.

Each affidavit must be signed by a Commissioner of the Oaths.

4 If the Recall Petition is not presented to the City Manager within the 60 days, it goes away. If it is presented to the CM within the 60 days, the CM has 45 days to verify the petition’s sufficiency. If there are over 5,000 signatures the CM can use a random sampling technique to verify as long as it has a 95% confidence rate; however it does not specify the confidence interval.

If it is sufficient then the council member is removed at the next council meeting. Depending on how long until the next election and the status of the council member (Mayor or not), a by-election is called within 120 days. If it is a regular council member and they have 6 or more councillors, they may be able to leave the seat vacant until the next election.

Possible Timeline

Assuming City Manager approves and publishes the recall Petition on

October 2 2023 (1st business day of the month.)

December 1 2023 Deadline to present 25,353 signatures to the City Manager.

January 15 2024 Deadline for City Manager to verify petition sufficiency. It must be presented to council at the earliest date after it is deemed sufficient.

(My guess would be it would be delayed until the next meeting date, February 5 2024.)

Election to be called within 120 days, March or April. There would then be 18 months until the next civic election in October 2025.

#yxh #medicinehat #medicinehatmayor #linnsieclark #yxhcouncil #yxhmayor #comtv #communitytv #thetrashpanda #recallpetition