The two sides — Mayor Linnsie Clark and the City of Medicine Hat — will be represented by lawyers in a Calgary courtroom. File/Canadian Press

By Eli J. Ridder

Mayor Clark takes on City of Medicine Hat in judicial review case in Calgary

Aug 13, 2024 | 8:00 AM

Mayor Linnsie Clark is squaring up against the City of Medicine Hat on Tuesday in an attempt to remove power-limiting sanctions placed on her by council in what could be a precedent-setting test of the provincially-mandated municipal code of conduct.

Seven councillors voted to strip Clark of her mayoral powers in March after finding she broke council’s code of conduct by failing to treat City Manager Ann Mitchell with courtesy, dignity and respect during a tense exchange in August 2023.

Clark has maintained she fundamentally disagrees with the restrictions — she called them “shocking and absolutely disproportionate” — and filed for the judicial review in an attempt to reverse the sanctions and fully restore her salary that was cut in half by her colleagues.

Councillors and the mayor have made in clear they will stand by whatever the court rules.

It will be up to Justice Rosemary Nation alone to decide on the validity of the sanctions. The hearing starts at 10 a.m. at the COurt of King’s Bench in the Calgary Court Centre.

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Administrative law expert and University of Alberta professor Gerard Kennedy expects a decision to come on Tuesday considering the urgency of the case.

READ: What to know about Linnsie Clark v. the City of Medicine Hat

However, there is always the chance the justice will decide to reserve their decision and release it at a later time, Kennedy told CHAT News in a recent interview.

From leaving the sanctions in place, removing them entirely or keeping only a few of the restrictions in place, there are several different ways the judicial review case could play out.

As for the judge asking the two sides — mayor and city — to leave court and work it out themselves, Kennedy said it’s possible but unlikely.

Either way, the case has potential to set legal precedent for code of conduct complaints in Alberta.