Alberta launches inspection of the City of Medicine Hat

Medicine Hat City Hall is seen in this undated image. (CTV News)

LETHBRIDGE, ALTA. — After months of speculation, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs will move ahead with an inspection of the City of Medicine Hat.

The province has already met with members of council and executive administration. After these meetings, the province decided an inspection was needed.

The city released a statement on the investigation saying, "Upon completion of the inspection, 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 of Medicine Hat has had several publicized issues between Mayor Linnsie Clark and city council.

In March, council voted to place sanctions on the mayor after she breached the city’s code of conduct during an August 2023 council meeting.

Those sanctions were later overturned by a judicial ruling in September. Despite these issues, the inspection may not bring significant changes to city policy.

“I think anything that comes out of it will be more detailed. As opposed to the big revelations of, ‘This is definitely a mistake, don't ever let this happen again,’ or, you know, so severe that we're going to actually suspend council,” said Jim Groom, a political scientist in Medicine Hat.

Some residents are happy to see there will be a review.

The group that attempted to recall Mayor Clark in 2023 has been frustrated with the actions of the council and city staff.

They're hopeful this inspection could bring change.

“I want them to come in as any good operations person would do and do an assessment of what's wrong and fix it, but then take the extra step and say, ‘How do we prevent this from happening?’” said Nicole Frey, who organized the petition to recall Clark.

The Ministry of Municipal Affairs released a statement on the inspection and provided a timeline of when the findings will be released.

“Following a request from Medicine Hat city council, Alberta’s government has contracted an independent municipal governance expert to conduct an inspection. After the inspection, the inspector’s report will be made available to the city and its residents in early summer 2025,” the statement reads.