Not only MLAs, but town councillors and school board trustees will be subject to recall if Bill 52 becomes law in Alberta.

The proposed Recall Act was tabled on Mar. 15 in the Legislative Assembly and was a campaign promise of the United Conservative Party in the last provincial election.

"This bill allows voters to, in effect, fire their elected representatives if they break public confidence," said Premier Jason Kenny in a news conference yesterday.

Under the proposed act, recall of an elected official becomes an option 18 months after the respective provincial, municipal, or school board election.

An eligible Albertan could begin the process to have their MLA recalled by applying to the chief electoral officer. They would have 60 days to gather signatures of 40 per of eligible voters.

In the case of municipal officials, the Albertans would need to notify the chief administrative officer of the municipality and would be allotted the same time to collect 40 per cent of eligible voters.

For school board trustees, they would apply to the secretary of the relevant school board and would have 120 days to gather signatures from 40 per cent of eligible voters in that school district or ward.

If a recall petition is successful, the voters in that MLA’s constituency would vote to determine if they should be recalled. If the vote is successful, the MLA would be removed, and a byelection held to choose a new representative.

If the recall petition for an elected municipal official is successful, the elected official is removed once the petition is presented at the next council meeting. If the recall petition for a school board trustee is successful, they would be removed from the board. It would then be decided if a byelection is necessary.

To launch a recall petition for elected municipal officials or school board trustees there will be a $500 application fee.

Elections Alberta officials would verify the signatures to determine if a recall petition for an MLA is successful.

The act's regulations would set limits on how much Albertans and third parties, like political action committees, can spend on promoting or arguing against a recall petition and recall vote. 

It follows a report by a democratic accountability committee consisting of MLAs from both the ruling UCP and NDP. Public submissions were received.