Grande Prairie city council accepted a voluntary code of conduct on Sept. 14, adopting a locally developed commitment while municipalities await Alberta’s promised councillor accountability framework. The decision followed a request for a mechanism to address councillors’ public statements and influence, made amid changes to provincial rules that removed municipal code requirements.

Alberta rescinded its municipal code of conduct requirements in May 2025 through Bill 50. Section 145(9) of that legislation prevented municipalities from investigating incidents involving councillors or imposing disciplinary measures. The province described the previous tool as weaponized, saying it had wasted taxpayer money and contributed to malfunctioning councils.

After Bill 50 left municipalities without a way to address conduct concerns, council asked Grande Prairie’s administrative team to develop an option that would comply with provincial rules. The request followed comments from Ryan Blais, CEO and owner of nine10 Inc., who argued that public remarks by one councillor harmed the city’s reputation and business.

Blais said Councillor Chris Thiessen had “broadcast highly consequential claims targeting the safety of our municipal water supply and stoking public fears over regional AI data centre development, has routinely amplified, thoroughly discredited fringe media, debunked medical claims, and generally vilified public institutions as fundamentally corrupt,”. He asked council to establish an accountability mechanism for councillors’ public positions and influence, despite what he called a gap created by provincial legislative changes to the Municipal Government Act.

Three months after the request, Thiessen told council he supported the voluntary commitment and considered it necessary. He said he would sign the document, while raising concerns about calling it a “charter” because of the word’s associations and the province’s prohibition on codes of conduct bylaws.

Thiessen said the term could evoke Canada’s Charter and questioned whether it might make the document legally binding, contravene the province’s elimination of code bylaws, or confuse residents into thinking it was legally required. He moved to change the wording, but council defeated the motion.

Councillor Dylan Bressey spoke about the gap left by Bill 50 and his concern over the absence of a conduct code. He said municipalities are legally required to wait for provincial direction, while the province has described its accountability framework as imminent for some time.

“This is the only governance body I’ve ever been on that doesn’t have a code of conduct. And frankly, that’s utterly ridiculous. And that’s not our fault. That’s because the province has outlawed us having a code of conduct,” Bressey said.

Bressey is president of Alberta Municipalities and has spoken publicly about Bill 50 and its effects on accountability across the province. The organization represents 264 of Alberta’s 334 municipalities and provided municipalities with an analysis of Bill 50.

In April, Alberta introduced Bill 28, which received Royal Assent and proposes a provincewide councillor accountability framework with third-party investigations. Municipalities continue to wait for the framework to be rolled out. Grande Prairie’s voluntary commitment was developed in the meantime, within the limits set by provincial legislation.

Based on reporting by Edmonton Journal.