Both the Town of Athabasca and Village of Boyle councils have decided that any future talks about regional governance should be open to the public and media.
On Nov. 16, Boyle councillors unanimously agreed with councillor Dave Bencharsky’s motion that “any future regional governance talks or discussions” between the three municipalities — the town, the village and Athabasca County — be open to the public.
A similar decision was made after a discussion ensued at the Town of Athabasca’s most recent council meeting on Dec. 20.
Athabasca town councillor George Hawryluk, who brought up a proposed meeting for discussion, expressed concerns over the process of an arrangement for the three municipalities to listen to a Jan. 12 presentation by two representatives from Alberta Municipal Affairs.
Mayor Roger Morrill, who unsuccessfully motioned to move the discussion in-camera, excused himself from council chambers.
“I chose not to speak to the agenda item of last night to show support and respect for councils of Boyle and Athabasca County in upholding the spirit of that meeting,” he said the next day, in reference to the Nov. 9 meeting where the date of the information session was made.
The session purports to be only “a review of inter-municipal and regional services” and their “available delivery options,” he said.
Hawryluk showed his dismay over the lack of council input for the date of the meeting, which was set at the last tri-municipal meeting. He also questioned why the ‘information session’ is set out as a closed-door meeting, as decisions made there could impact all residents.
Councillor Lionel Cherniwchan responded by saying the meeting is strictly informal, and is only meant as an information session to find out the pros and cons of municipal cooperation.
“Once we get that information, then we go to the public,” he said.
Councillor Richard Verhaeghe said he was not opposed to hearing the information at the meeting, but would have liked it on a date where all councillors could attend.
Councillor Tim Verhaeghe followed with concerns over the fact minutes will be taken at the meeting, making it an official coming together of councils.
“If these are meetings, then we’re not following the law,” he said in regards to what would appear to be a violation of the Municipal Government Act (MGA), which states all council meetings must be open to the public, and can only go in-camera if there are discussions about staff, legal issues or negotiations.
According to John Muir, communications representative from Alberta Municipal Affairs, the meeting could meet the standard for exemption under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (FOIP) Act.
The meeting could be closed door if “it’s reasonable to expect that the disclosure could interfere with the negotiating position of the parties or could be harmful to intergovernmental relations,” he said, reading from the FOIP act.
The discussion ended with a motion from councillor Richard Verhaeghe that if the meeting is to be closed, then town council does not support further interest in regional collaboration at this time.
The motion was passed with votes from councillors Paula Evans, Hawryluk, Tim and Richard Verhaeghe, with a single dissenting vote from Cherniwchan.
