Update on Remaining Bill 50 Changes 

After the spring passing of Bill 50, the Municipal Affairs Statutes Amendment Act, 2025, municipalities knew that further changes would be coming through regulations or ministerial orders. 

Last month, Alberta Municipal Affairs engaged ABmunis and other municipal associations for input on three issues: “natural person” powers, council approval of councillor information requests in certain instances, and standard procedures for council meetings. 

In that initial round of engagement, ABmunis made a written submission, which was emailed to members on August 27. Here was our initial feedback: 

Potential regulation to define when the CAO must report to council on the municipality’s use of “natural person” powers. 

• The Government of Alberta should not implement a regulation that defines when the CAO must immediately report to council on the municipality’s use of “natural person” powers.
• The responsibility for determining what and when the CAO should report should be left to the authority of each council. 

Requiring council approval of councillor information requests in certain circumstances. 

• The Municipal Government Act (MGA) should be updated to require municipalities to have a policy that defines when an information request by an individual councillor requires approval by council.
• This policy will help ensure that municipal staff resources are focused on the priorities of council as a whole and not tied up with one councillor’s interests.  

Potential ministerial order to set standard procedures for council meetings to prevent and manage conflict.  

• Councils range in size so rules in one municipality may not work for another.
• Instead of creating a standard meeting procedure for every council, Municipal Affairs could define what procedures must be addressed in each municipality’s procedural bylaw.  

Municipal Affairs intends to engage with municipal associations further, so we anticipate that no announcements will be made for weeks, maybe months. We also look forward to discussing new options for councils to manage misconduct and the potential introduction of an ethics commissioner.  

For background on these matters, refer to ABmunis’ analysis on Bill 50, our email to ABmunis members on August 27, or email questions to our advocacy [at] abmunis.ca (Advocacy committee).