Municipal voter recall could be useful in case of Colley-Urquhart
Councillor has been AWOL since election, choosing to go marching with penguins
Given all incumbents were returned to city hall in last month’s election — even in the face of voter angst and economic uncertainty — perhaps there is a fair amount of satisfaction with how Calgary’s municipal politicians are performing.
So maybe it’s not surprising that, through all the discussion around the Municipal Government Act and the Local Authorities Election Act, no one has raised the issue of voter recall. The concept has been debated on occasion, but never in the context of municipal politics.
There’s certainly a case to be made for giving voters the power to recall their politician and force a byelection. Given the events in recent weeks involving one city councillor, municipal politics might be a logical starting point for this approach.
In contrast to the meaningless provincial fixed election date law, municipal elections are mandated to be held every four years. And while a political party can put pressure on a problematic MLA to change behaviour or resign, city councillors are independent and not answerable in that same sense.
So if a city councillor intends to do the bare minimum and coast for four years — all while collecting a paycheque and other assorted perks and benefits — there’s little that can be done. Councillors can be expelled if they miss eight consecutive weeks, but otherwise, they’re entrenched for the duration of their term.
Which brings us to Ward 13’s Diane Colley-Urquhart, who has been around for some time, having first been elected to city council in a 2000 byelection, prevailing in the six elections since.
I’ve strongly disagreed with her on some issues and shared her perspective on others, but she’s always been active — until now. Suddenly Colley-Urquhart went AWOL — although she attended Monday’s budget deliberations.
If voters had known ColleyUrquhart was going to vanish for a time after the election, perhaps they would have been less inclined to reward her with another four years. As it stands, we have no way of knowing. And if this keeps up, there’s nothing they can do about it.
It all started shortly after the election, when Ward 11’s Jeromy Farkas partnered with ColleyUrquhart to present a notice of motion to hold off awarding Phase 2 of the southwest bus rapid transit line, and to re-examine the whole project. Except ColleyUrquhart never showed up to the meeting, and therefore could not second the motion.
“I guess you could say I got thrown under the bus,” Farkas said.
Right around the same time, Colley-Urquhart’s absence meant council lacked the needed punch for approving next year’s council calendar.
Shortly after that came a key vote on whether to keep pursuing a possible bid for the 2026 Winter Olympics. Colley-Urquhart was a no-show for that vote, too.
Then we learned last week that Colley-Urquhart would be absent for crucial budget deliberations. She would instead be thousands of miles away, frolicking with penguins in Antarctica. Not that she announced that publicly or to her constituents, mind you. The information was obtained in a memo to other councillors, and obtained by Postmedia.
“I will tip one for each of you and think of you,” she had the gall to add.
Apparently this trip has been planned for some time, yet it conveniently was left unmentioned during the campaign. And it’s not as though councillors don’t get vacation time, so why not plan it for those times?
Colley-Urquhart returned to her duties Monday and will perhaps win back the trust of what are surely confused and frustrated voters in her ward. But if she intends this to be her final term on council, what’s to stop her from making this sort of thing routine?
I suspect if voters had the option to say “enough is enough” and gather signatures to force a byelection, that would be compelling motivation to show up for work. And frankly, the voters deserve it.
Afternoons with Rob Breakenridge airs weekdays on NewsTalk 770. rob.breakenridge@corusent.com