City of Calgary receives notice of recall petition
On Jan. 30, 2024, The City of Calgary received a notice of recall petition against Prabhjot Kaur “Jyoti” Gondek. The notice of recall petition has been officially reviewed using the criteria outlined in the Municipal Government Act (MGA) and deemed compliant. A copy of the notice can be found on the Elections Calgary website.
In 2022, the Government of Alberta amended the MGA to include provisions related to the recall of an elected official. The recall legislation allows eligible electors (defined by the Local Authorities Election Act) to file petitions to recall elected officials during the term they are currently serving in that role. This includes Calgary’s municipal officials (mayor and councillors).
“The role of the City Clerk is to administer the process set out in the Municipal Government Act. This includes receiving, verifying and publishing any compliant notices of recall petitions. This is the first notice of recall petition that has been received by the City Clerk’s Office since the legislation took effect,” says Kate Martin, City Clerk.
Now that this notice of recall petition has been deemed compliant and posted online, the representative recall petitioner has 60 days (from Feb. 5, 2024 to April 4, 2024) to collect signatures and submit their recall petition to The City.
“For the petition to be successful, the representative recall petitioner must collect signatures from at least 40 per cent of the population within the city of Calgary. All signatures must be original signatures and a recall petition may not be signed in digital form,” says Martin.
This recall petition will be measured against a population total of 1,285,711 which will require a total of 514,284 signatures that must meet the legislated requirements set out in the MGA to be considered sufficient. Only individuals who are eligible to vote for the elected official named in the notice of recall petition may sign the recall petition. The data from the 2019 Municipal Affairs Population List is used to calculate the number of required signatures, as set out in Ministerial Order MSD:021/23.
If a petition is submitted, there is a 45-day period during which the sufficiency of the petition will be assessed. The City Clerk must, at the first council meeting after determining whether the recall petition is sufficient or insufficient, make a declaration to the council as to whether the recall petition is sufficient or insufficient. If the petition is declared sufficient:
(a) the individual named in the notice of recall petition is recalled,
(b) the individual is no longer a member of Council or of any Council committee, and
(c) the position to which the individual was elected is vacant.
If there are 12 months or more before the next general election, which is Oct. 20, 2025, a by-election will then be called to fill the vacant seat. If there are less than 12 months before the next general election, the vacant seat will be filled either by by-election, or by council appointment.
If a recall petition is declared insufficient, the City Clerk must publish the declaration of insufficiency on The City’s website. Changes to the recall petition are not permitted after submission. Once a notice of petition has been filed, no further recall petitions in relation to the same Member of Council will be accepted.
For more information on who is eligible to sign a petition, and the petition verification process, please visit www.electionscalgary.ca/recall.
For more information on the active recall petition, please contact the representative recall petitioner.
For more information on the governing MGA legislation, please contact Municipal Affairs at (780) 427-2225 (or toll-free by first dialing 310-0000) or email ma.advisory@gov.ab.ca.