Casual Legal: Councillor Terms and Municipal Elections
DISCLAIMER: This article is meant to provide information only and is not intended to provide legal advice. You should seek the advice of legal counsel to address your specific set of circumstances. Although every effort has been made to provide current and accurate information, changes to the law may cause the information in this article to be outdated.
By Sean Ward
Reynolds Mirth Richards Farmer LLP
Alberta Municipalities Casual Legal Service Provider
As the next municipal election approaches, questions often arise about how long a Council can continue to meet and make decisions leading up to election day.
Although in practice most municipalities seek to avoid meetings right on the eve of the election, an elected Council remains empowered to make decisions not only until election day but up until the municipality’s organizational meeting following the election.
Section 9 of the Local Authorities Election Act provides that the term of elected officials commences at their first organizational meeting, and continues until “immediately before the beginning of the organizational meeting of the elected authority after the next general election.”
As such, councillors technically remain in office following election day, even if they have not run for re-election or are defeated, until the first organizational meeting after the election. Certainly, it would be expected that Council refrain from making decisions that can be left to the newly elected Council. But in emergent circumstances, the legislation would allow Council to hold a special council meeting in compliance with the notice requirements of the Municipal Government Act at any time up until that first organizational meeting after the election.
That can be helpful in dealing with housekeeping matters that must be addressed, such as signing bylaws, signing cheques or agreements prior to a change in Council and the first organizational meeting after the election. By default, those must be signed by the chief elected official pursuant to section 213 of the MGA. It is important to keep in mind that even if a new Mayor or Reeve is elected, their term of office will not start before the first organizational meeting, and the term of the chief elected official under section 159(2) of the MGA continues to run until the appointment of the next chief elected official following the election.
To access Alberta Municipalities Casual Legal Helpline, Alberta Municipalities members can call toll-free to 1.800.661.7673 or email casuallegal [at] abmunis.ca (casuallegal[at]abmunis[dot]ca) and reach the municipal legal experts at Reynolds Mirth Richards and Farmer LLP. For more information on the Casual Legal Service, please contact riskcontrol [at] abmunis.ca (riskcontrol[at]abmunis[dot]ca), or call 310.MUNI (6864) to speak to Alberta Municipalities Risk Management staff. Any Regular or Associate member of Alberta Municipalities can access the Casual Legal Service.
