EXCLUSIVE: Alberta Town Council Accused of Financial Mismanagement as Residents Petition for Audit

"If we are as bad as I think we are, we could go bankrupt and be absorbed by the county," said Amber Harris, the longest-serving councillor in the Town of Gibbons since 2013.

I travelled to Gibbons, Alberta—a small town north of Edmonton—to speak directly with residents who are raising alarm over what they believe is serious financial mismanagement and a growing pattern of secrecy within their municipal government.

"The corruption here is not isolated to Gibbons—it's all over the province," stressed Darren Longstaff—a 25-year veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces, a Gibbons resident for 21 years, and a volunteer firefighter for 8 of those years.

"Our current council seems to have no set agenda to actually be transparent with the people," he added. Charlotte St. Germain, a 12-year resident of Gibbons, argues that many policies, bylaws, and procedures are not being followed. "I believe there are a lot of things being discussed in-camera (closed to the public) that shouldn't be—they don't want us to know how bad it is."

Residents have launched a petition demanding accountability and transparency from Municipal Affairs, asking whether the now-former Municipal Affairs Minister would be proud to have Gibbons on his resume. Minister Ric McIver resigned last night—just hours after Media Bezirgan submitted a media inquiry to the Town of Gibbons.

Councillor Amber Harris alleges that Gibbons is facing deep financial mismanagement, secretive decision-making, and preferential treatment of developers—all enabled through closed-door meetings and a lack of provincial oversight.

UPDATE:

Acting Mayor Dale Yushchyshyn responded to our media inquiry with a brief statement, categorizing the questions raised as either already addressed in public forums or related to in-camera sessions protected under FOIP legislation. He wrote: “All of the questions that you have asked can be classified into one of two categories: questions that have been asked and answered in public several times, and questions that relate to discussions that occurred in closed session (in-camera) and cannot be answered in public.”