Alberta UCP faces more opposition to municipalities bill: ‘I’m really concerned’
Global News
Jan Novotny is concerned about a proposed law that would grant the UCP cabinet power to fire local councillors, toss out bylaws and allow political parties in Edmonton and Calgary.
It was a long time ago, but Jan Novotny still remembers the tanks rumbling through his hometown of Prague in 1968 when the Soviet Union enforced its will on the people of what was then Czechoslovakia.
On Monday, he stood outside the Alberta legislature in a gentle rain, holding a sign aimed at the province’s United Conservative Party government saying, “Stalin Would Be Proud.”
“I’m really concerned,” Novotny said on the first day of his protest.
“Democracy is a slippery slope. It can slip into autocracy quite easily. I just find the current government very autocratic in nature.”
Novotny is specifically concerned about a proposed law that would grant Premier Danielle Smith’s cabinet sweeping power to fire local councillors, toss out bylaws, and allow political parties to run in Edmonton and Calgary.
The office of Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver did not respond to a question about how much feedback it has received on its proposed legislation, which was introduced April 25.
McIver has promised to amend the bill and discuss the proposed changes with municipal leaders, who say they should have been consulted before the bill was even introduced.
But on Monday, when asked by reporters on the state of consultations, McIver pointed to the fact he already spoke with multiple leaders “over the last few days” about the impending changes.
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