Although the five members of St. Albert City Council who ultimately supported the recent motion (07/04/16) to request the intervention of Alberta Municipal Affairs must be commended for doing so, the fact remains that it was not on their initiative alone. Over the last year, several individuals and groups have made overtures to the minister’s office some of which received responses while others for whatever reason(s) unfortunately did not. Regardless, it is public pressure that has brought things to this point.
One example of the above was forwarded to the minister’s office just prior to Christmas of 2015 by the then rather newly minted St. Albert Citizens’ Coalition consisting of a comprehensive submission outlining serious issues involving the local governance and administration of the city none of which have been adequately addressed let alone resolved, to this day.
There are too many, including the perpetrators who have an obvious vested interest, who espouse the position that it is time to put this all in the past and move on. This simplistic ‘head in the sand’ and ‘throw it under the rug’ attitude is as ludicrous as it is unconscionable. These matters cannot rest until the responsible parties are held accountable and remedial action is taken. The citizens of St. Albert deserve nothing less. We are left to hope that this will be the outcome of the ministerial inspection.
Murray Lambert, St. Albert
