Report on Medicine Hat city council finds dysfunction, rancour, culture of fear

A new report commissioned by the Alberta government says the City of Medicine Hat has been hobbled for years by a hostile dysfunctional city hall and something must be done.

“The governance function of the city is ineffective and is characterized by rancour, suspicion and accusations,” stated the report, authored by Ian McCormack and released by the Alberta government on Monday.

McCormack said the southern Alberta city of just under 65,500 people has been managed in an “irregular, improper and improvident manner” but said residents are still “by and large” getting the services they need.

McCormack issued close to 70 recommendations to put council back on course.

The report came at the request of councillors in the city and was presented to them by McCormack at a meeting Monday.

The report says council and city staff have been operating under an “increasingly turbulent and suspicion-filled” work environment since tensions boiled over in a public debate between the mayor and city manager two years ago.

He said that tensions among the city manager, the mayor and some members of council have created an “untenable working environment.”

The report is more than 200 pages based on interviews with about two dozen councillors and staff, along with document gathering and research.

It documents allegations of information leaks, complaints of councillors overstepping their roles, disagreements over whether or not they should dine together at public events, and in some cases, a “culture of fear” at city hall.

The inspection recommends updating procedures, clarifying roles and responsibilities, and boosting governance training for councillors.

It cautions that the “adversarial” relationship among councillors and between council and staff could have a long-term effect on the city. That may make problems recruiting and retaining good staff even worse, it says.

It also singles out Mayor Linnsie Clark with several of its recommendations, calling on her to refrain from “debate that calls the professionalism of city staff into question,” and urges that she “avail herself of training” to learn how to show up for meetings on time.

Last year, code of conduct allegations led to Clark being stripped of certain duties and part of her salary. Later, a court decision restored her pay and most of the powers she had lost.

In the meeting Monday discussing the report, several councillors welcomed it as thorough and constructive.

However, Clark pushed back, saying the report relied on cherry-picked information and too many anonymous testimonials. That, she said, didn’t give her an appropriate opportunity to respond to defamatory innuendo.

“I feel a lack of procedural fairness,” said Clark. “I will have further written comments, but overall, I’m not super stoked about the content.”

McCormack told council he didn’t see the benefit in attributing every individual comment. “We were looking for something that was thematic,” he said.

Municipalities across the province are set to hold elections on Oct. 20, and none of the current members of Medicine Hat’s council are registered to run as candidates, according to the city’s website as of Tuesday.

Alberta’s Municipal Affairs Minister Dan Williams has ordered Medicine Hat city council to report back to him by Oct. 1 on how it plans to respond to the recommendations.

In a ministerial order, Williams also directed council and staff at the city to undergo a respectful workplace training program approved by him.

In a statement, Williams said the directions “will lead to improved collaboration at the municipal level and a stronger future for everyone in Medicine Hat.”

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