Municipal leaders say they are too busy dealing with local issues to prioritize the separation debate as the referendum approaches. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith told municipal leaders at a conference in Edmonton on Wednesday that the province and Ottawa are moving in the right direction. “Alberta today is in a strong and stable position,” said the premier at the annual Alberta Municipalities’ Convention and Trade Show. “For the first time in many years, Alberta and Canada is working.” While the referendum that includes a question of whether Alberta should remain in Canada looms, municipal leaders say they are more focused on their communities and are advocating for less provincial oversight. “I think any decision to even continue entertaining this conversation hurts our province and it hurts our country,” said Edmonton Mayor Andrew Knack, who has consistently encouraged voters to choose to stay in confederation. “When we are busy micromanaging how local governments operate, when they are democratically elected by the people they serve, that’s when you’re not spending the time you should be on things Albertans want us to focus on,” said Knack. Gerald Aalbers, the mayor of Lloydminster, says he’s got too much on his plate to think about the upcoming referendum. “I’ve got enough issues on a daily basis, from homelessness to trying to grow our economy in our community, trying to stay focused and in our lane,” Aalbers told CTV News Edmonton. Alberta Municipalities vice-president Dylan Bressey says local leaders are looking for less oversight from the province so they can build new roads and fix existing infrastructure in their communities. “It’s frustrating for our local leaders because they just want to get on with building strong cities, towns and villages,” said Bressey. During question period following Smith’s address to the 1,500 mayors and councillors at Wednesday’s conference, the premier said she is open to amending the Municipal Government Act to make processes easier for municipalities. “If there are problems with the act, let’s fix it,” said Smith. “Some of the municipalities are large enough that maybe you should be operating a little bit more like we do, where you’re allowed to have private meetings for briefings, and then you do your debate in public. That’s one thing we’re contemplating right now.” Bressey said streamlining processes is welcome, but that leaders may need some time to adjust to amendments that were made in the spring. “There are definitely areas in the Municipal Government Act that, in the long term, we would love to see cleaned up and fit more of a modern 2026 context,” Bressey told reporters following the premier’s question period. “The challenge for us is, especially at the administrative level, our people have had to deal with so many changes over the last few years that we really need them to focus on the day-to-day work of good governance and infrastructure and core services in their community, not dealing with rapid changes that are coming at them every single legislative session.” Amendments made this year include a councillor accountability framework, housing-related planning changes, transparency measures and taxation amendments. The United Conservative Party government also made changes to the act in 2024 and 2025. No changes to the Municipal Government Act are expected this fall. With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Chelan Skulski
