Mayor Linnsie Clark had her powers restricted by council in March 2024 after she was accused of breaking its code of conduct. Graphic/CHAT News

By Olivia Thorington

CITY HALL

What to know: Medicine Hat code of conduct removed, ethics chief’s future

May 16, 2025 | 2:03 PM

The rules policing the conduct of Medicine Hat’s city council — and councils across Alberta — have been removed.

That’s because Bill 50 received royal assent Thursday and started coming into force across the province.

It was a complaint of misconduct against Medicine Hat’s mayor by another member of council that went on to create a leadership crisis at city hall, spur a court case that set the mayor against her colleagues and led to a municipal inspection that is still ongoing.

Political observers say the code of conduct has defined this term of council as the conflict made headlines locally, provincially and even nationally.

Here’s what to know.

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‘Google Medicine Hat’

Former Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver introduced legislation to cancel municipal codes of conduct in April, saying the required rules had been weaponized to silence dissent.

He wanted to remove the conduct rules in favour of a “better, more impartial system to deal with conduct issues.”

When asked to provide an example of where the code of conduct had gone awry, he said three words: “Google Medicine Hat.”

Mayor Linnsie Clark’s supporters and some political commentators also described the code as being weaponized, particularly when it came to the restrictions council placed on her.

Mayor sanctions

Clark was accused of breaking Medicine Hat’s conduct bylaw during a testy exchange with chief administrator Ann Mitchell at a public meeting in August 2023.

Coun. Shila Sharps, after failing to convince Clark to apologize to Mitchell, filed a complaint against the mayor through the code of conduct.

Council triggered a third-party investigation that it later used as a basis to strip Clark of her mayoral powers and cut her salary in half in March 2024.Council said Clark failed to treat the

Mitchell with courtesy, dignity and respect during the exchange. A Calgary judge last August lifted most of the sanctions on Clark but upheld council’s finding she broke the conduct rules.

What’s next?

Bill 50 provides a loose path forward.

Instead of municipalities establishing their own rules, the municipal affairs ministry will create standard council meeting procedures across the province after consulting with them.

There may also be a new ethics commissioner to act as an independent referee.

Medicine Hat hired an integrity commissioner, Michael Solowan of Kingsgate Legal, to a two-year term with a $100,000 budget earlier this year.

Council could decide to retain the commissioner in an advisory capacity to council on ethical matters, a spokesperson for the city told CHAT News on Thursday.

Coun. Shila Sharps said Friday she agreed with keeping Solowan around, saying he could help advise council when it comes to ethics and legal issues.

While Solowan’s work with the code of conduct is over, there’s nothing that prohibits retaining the commissioner.

Municipal affairs ministry spokesperson Kevin Lee said such contracts are “not necessarily” impacted by Bill 50.

“Existing integrity commissioners may continue to provide services that are beyond the scope of a previous code of conduct bylaw,” Lee told CHAT News on Thursday.

“This depends on what additional services, if any, are included in the local integrity commissioner’s mandate as determined by the municipality.”

Municipal audit

While the city will need to figure out what to do with its integrity commissioner, the municipal inspection of Medicine Hat by the province continues unaffected.

The results of that audit are expected back in June.

— With files from The Canadian Press, Dan Reynish