Municipal Bylaws: The Ugly Duckling of Legislative Drafting Swans

Presented by the CBA Alberta Municipal Law South Section

On Demand. Originally presented on April 1, 2025.

A multitude of texts and treatises on legislative drafting populate Canada's legal landscape. These works represent a kind of "bible" or set of commandments that operate to join the act of drafting laws to the judiciary’s role in interpreting those laws. This union, in theory, promotes the Rule of Law to grow and flourish. At times, however, legislative drafting principles can appear to promote a clique-centric culture; a pond full of idealized swans. In these waters, what legislative drafting principles and rules can or should apply to municipal bylaw drafting? What relevance do drafting practices developed at the provincial and federal level have to the municipal context, in particular given the recent SCC decisions in Auer and TransAlta? These questions will be explored from the pragmatic context in which municipalities operate within the political landscape in Canada.

SPEAKER

Andrea Cole (Lawyer, The City of Calgary)

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