Understanding the legislated powers of mayors and councillors in Alberta helps set expectations for how municipal councils are intended to function. Alberta’s municipal governance model prioritizes collective decision making. This model has benefits, but requires high level teamwork skills from mayors and councillors.

Councillors are elected on individual platforms, then must immediately transition to working as a team. I didn’t appreciate the difficulty of working as a team until I sat down in one of the nine council chairs. 

Council needs high level teamwork skills. Citizens need better teamwork skills too. Democracy isn’t a spectator sport.

Bureaucracies need stability to perform well. How to achieve that when the politicians in charge are always changing?