The Village of Halkirk will be heading into a byelection to find a new municipal council.
Alberta Municipal Affairs confirmed via an email statement on Aug. 30 that all three councillors in the village have resigned their seats.
With the resignations, Municipal Affairs is “moving swiftly to put in place an Official Administrator,” according to Scott Johnston, Municipal Affairs Press Secretary.
“The ministry has been in contact with the village’s Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), who will work with the appointed official administrator to ensure the village continues to provide services to village residents and meet its operational requirements,” said Johnston.
Until an administrator is in place, nothing that requires an elected official signature or a council decision can move forward and will be deferred.
“The appointment of an official administrator is an extraordinary, temporary measure that is used by the Minister of Municipal Affairs to support good governance within Alberta’s municipalities,” said Johnston.
“The village’s CAO continues to have the authorities previously delegated to her by council for operational purposes.”
Johnston concludes the statement noting that Municipal Affairs will continue monitoring the situation.
Halkirk CAO Tamara Sloboda declined to comment for this story.
Editor’s note: The story was updated to include that CAO Sloboda declined to comment.