Alberta’s new municipal affairs minister should holster his cartoon six-shooters and adopt a less antagonistic media presence, the NDP’s Kyle Kasawski recommended last week.
“When I read some of the things he’s said, he kind of reminds me of the Bugs Bunny character Yosemite Sam,” the NDP critic said of Dan Williams.
“He walks into a sleepy saloon and says he’s the rootinist tootinist hombre in town. It’s a very strange approach, I think, for a minister responsible for municipal affairs to take,” said Kasawski, the shadow cabinet minister for the portfolio.
Williams, the UCP member representing Peace River, stepped into the role in May when he was shuffled from mental health and addiction. Soon after, he spoke out against policies he classified as woke, DEI or not the business of municipalities — especially in the major centres.
His targets have included bike lanes, plastics bans, safe injection sites and the licensing of body rub parlours.
Those against DEI, or diversity, equity and discrimination, say it’s unfair for people whose identities don’t fall into certain categories, and results in under-qualified candidates getting seats in universities or employment positions. But those in favour of DEI say it helps calibrate institutions to reflect community demographics, empower under-represented voices and perspectives, and correct an opportunity imbalance.
Williams told The Macleod Gazette for a story published in July that if big municipalities “stay in their lanes, do their jobs and do them well, I have no interest in getting involved.”
He continued in the interview: “But if they’re way off in left field, making up all sorts of problems that don’t exist instead of paying attention to the urgent needs of their residents and of all Albertans as hubs, community centres and commercial centres for the entire province, then the province is going to step in.”
But Kasawski, the member for Sherwood Park, suggested it’s Williams and the UCP with lane-choice problems.
“A lot of issues have landed at the feet the provincial government and they're not picking up the ball,” he said. “They're not taking responsibility for the challenges we have with addiction in this province that lead to the crime and anti-social behaviour that make people feel uncomfortable in their own communities.
“That's the province's responsibility, so it's interesting that he's projecting that people should stay in their lanes.”
The minister should consider taking advantage of municipal elections season by drawing attention to the importance of downhome democracy, Kasawski said.
“It would be nice to have the minister encouraging people to run, so they can bring the priorities of their community forward to be represented on council,” he said.
Local councillors set direction for their staff and administration to “take care of the work we all expect.” That includes providing water and sewage services and keeping roads in good repair and clear of snow.
If Williams doesn’t like specific actions taken by municipalities, he should exercise his power in the right place and the right way, said Kasawski.
“Councils have got businesses that want to operate in their communities. They've got competing land uses. They've got tough budget decisions to make, and they operate within a very constrained framework for budgeting.”
The province controls the framework, so that’s where Williams should direct his attention, said Kasawski. “If the minister wants to look at provincial laws, then I think that's something that we can discuss in the legislature.”
Williams said he’s in favour of municipal competence in core responsibilities. “I want to make sure that Edmonton and Calgary are doing their jobs. There's not a left-wing and a right-wing way to plow a road or deliver water or treat wastewater. These are just the obligations of municipalities,” he said.
Kasawski did offer qualified praise for Williams. A summer road trip through rural locales was a good idea, he said. For just over a week, the minister zigzagged through central and southern Alberta to meet with elected and hired leaders from about 40 communities.
Meeting leaders on their own turfs “is doing the work he's supposed to be doing, rather than talking through the media and setting the tone of beating down on municipalities and picking a fight with them. I think most of them are really put off guard and taken by surprise by his comments,” Kasawski said.
“I'm glad the minister has spent some time to get out into municipalities and see that we have, overall, excellent councillors and councils doing great work for their communities. For him to have this awareness and awakening, I think it's only going to be positive for everybody in the province.”
Indeed, Williams found the whirlwind road trip useful and eye-opening. “Through tours like this, I get a sense of the nature of on-the-ground challenges, the problems that municipal councils are trying to solve,” he told The Gazette.
“What are they dealing with? How can I help them? I get a granular understanding of day-to-day opportunities and challenges.”
