St. Albert Minute: Issue 83

St. Albert Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of St. Albert politics

📅 This Week In St. Albert: 📅

• Scott Olivieri has been elected as St. Albert’s new Mayor, defeating longtime Councillor Wes Brodhead. Olivieri received 9,453 votes, while Brodhead, who served 15 years on Council, garnered 4,965. Olivieri, previously Chair of the Sturgeon Community Hospital Foundation, cited transparency and fiscal responsibility as his top priorities for the next term. Brodhead expressed pride in his service and said he does not regret his Council decisions, including votes on the Grandin renaming and Millennium Park project. 
  
  
• The municipal election saw a mix of returning incumbents and new faces on Council. Neil Korotash led the Councillor votes with 9,717 ballots, returning to Council nearly two decades after first serving from 2001 to 2007. Incumbents Ken MacKay, Sheena Hughes, and Shelley Biermanski were all re-elected. The new Council will work alongside incoming Mayor Scott Olivieri. On the school board front, former Councillor Natalie Joly won the only new public trustee seat, while the remaining positions and all Catholic school trustee positions were filled by incumbents.
  
  
• Voter turnout in St. Albert’s municipal election dropped to 30%, down five points from 2021’s 35.1%. Out of 54,849 eligible voters, just over 16,400 cast ballots for Mayor, with similar numbers for Council and fewer for school board races. Political science professor Feodor Snagovsky suggested the decline was partly due to new provincial voting rules, including mandatory eligibility forms and a ban on electronic tabulators, which was blamed for hour-long waits. He argued these changes were unnecessary given that voter fraud in Alberta is extremely rare and urged the government to reconsider the policies.
  
  
• Volunteers in St. Albert helped clear hundreds of election signs following the municipal election, ensuring compliance with bylaws that require removal within 48 hours of polls closing. Candidates organized crews to collect both large and small signs, storing some for future use and recycling or repurposing damaged ones. While some candidates expressed frustration over signs placed too close to intersections, bylaw officers noted only a few complaints and no tickets were issued. Residents were encouraged to report any remaining signs to City bylaw.
  
  
• Local MLAs are back in the Legislature for the fall sitting. St. Albert NDP MLA Marie Renaud plans to reintroduce her Accessible Alberta Act as a private member’s bill, aiming to create a "barrier-free province" by 2040, similar to the federal Accessible Canada Act. She emphasized accessibility beyond physical infrastructure, including education, employment, transportation, and communication, and criticized the UCP government for what she says are cuts to disability supports, health care, and education resources. Morinville-St. Albert UCP MLA and Service Alberta Minister Dale Nally said he will introduce a red tape reduction bill, part of the government’s ongoing efforts to streamline regulations. Both MLAs highlighted that the session will have significant impacts on Albertans’ daily lives and encouraged public engagement with the legislative process.

🚨 This Week’s Action Item: 🚨

Did you read our coverage of the recent election results?

Click here to learn more about your new Council:

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