Alberta begins the City of Medicine Hat inspection

LETHBRIDGE, ALTA The Ministry of Municipal Affairs will proceed with an inspection of the City of Medicine Hat following months of conjecture.
Members of the executive administration and council have already met with the province. Following these discussions, the province determined that an inspection was required.
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"A report is presented to council and residents in an open meeting to ensure the public is able to see the inspection results," the city said in a statement regarding the probe.
There have been a number of well-publicized conflicts in Medicine Hat between the city council and Mayor Linnsie Clark.

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After the mayor violated the city's code of conduct at a council meeting in August 2023, the council decided to penalize her in March.

Later, in September, a court decision reversed those penalties. The inspection might not result in major changes to city policy in spite of these problems.

Anything that emerges from that, in my opinion, will be more specific. Unlike the major disclosures that "this is definitely a mistake, don't ever let this happen again," or that are "so severe that we're actually going to suspend council," Jim Groom, a political analyst, a Medicine Hat scientist.

The fact that there will be a review makes some residents thrilled.

The council and city employees' actions have angered the party that tried to recall Mayor Clark in 2023.

They're optimistic that this inspection will result in change.

"As any competent operations person would, I want them to come in, assess what's wrong, and fix it, but then go above and beyond and ask, 'How do we prevent this from happening?'" said Nicole Frey, who spearheaded the recall effort for Clark.

In a statement, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs discussed the inspection and gave an estimated time of release for the results.

In response to a request from the municipal council of Medicine Hat, Alberta's government has  hired a third-party municipal governance specialist to carry out an examination. The city and its citizens will have access to the inspector's report following the inspection in the early summer of 2025, according to the announcement.

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