Municipal election campaign expenses and donations will be the subject of heightened scrutiny this fall, however changes to local election rules will be less restrictive than originally planned.
The provincial government on Monday introduced Bill 9, an amendment to the Local Authorities Elections Act.
If the bill passes, it will require municipal candidates to disclose total campaign expenses and the names and addresses of anyone donating more than $100.
It will also limit candidates from personally giving more than $10,000 to their own campaign and prevent any person, company or organization from donating more than $5,000.
The first attempt at changes came in a private member's bill last year introduced by Athabasca-Redwater MLA Jeff Johnson.
Municipal politicians criticized that version as heavy-handed and unfair.
The new bill delays until December 2011 a requirement for campaign surpluses to be either held in trust by the municipality or donated to charity.
It also clarifies that volunteer time will not be counted as a campaign donation.
Municipal Affairs Minister Hector Goudreau was not available Tuesday, but told a roomful of municipal leaders at the Capital Region Board earlier this month the government had heard the previous concerns.
"It is probably not going to respond to all of the concerns that individuals had had. It is going to give you some flexibility and respond to some of your concerns."
Morinville Mayor Lloyd Bertschi said he welcomed the new changes. In Morinville the bill was never going to be a big problem, but in larger communities it could be restrictive, said the former president of the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association.
"My campaigns have only been $4,000 to $5,000 anyways, so most of those rules didn't really apply to me and most small communities."
Morinville didn't hold a municipal election in 2007, because all the candidates were acclaimed.
St. Albert Mayor Nolan Crouse said the changes will have a bigger impact in St. Albert, but he still doesn't expect them to be onerous.
"The bigger the city, the bigger an impact it will have, there is no question about that."
Crouse said with clear rules well before the election everyone should be able to adjust.
"I know what the rules are already. I know about them all in advance."
He said most candidates enter the race with a win-at-all-costs approach and the $10,000 limit could be a barrier to some.
Minimal local impacts
St. Albert already has a campaign disclosure bylaw. In 2007, only Crouse received a donation of more than $5,000, with a single contribution of $6,000 from the Thomas A. Rowand Professional Corporation.
A numbered company also gave Crouse $5,000 and Gary Woo, one of Crouse's mayoral challengers, received $4,760 from Alberta North Developments.
Councillors Carol Watamaniuk and Gareth Jones both spent more than $10,000 of their own money on their campaigns, as did mayoral hopeful Richard Plain.
