BANFF – The Town of Banff is looking to adopt a parental leave bylaw in order to break down more barriers for those considering running for elected office.
Banff council directed administration to draft a bylaw that would determine the length of parental leave, remuneration and benefits while on leave and parental leave agreements among other options.
Mayor Corrie DiManno said this is a progressive and modern initiative, which mirrors what Calgary and Edmonton have done.
“I think it’s timely that Banff may be ahead of some of the other municipalities because of the age of our community – our average age is 35 years old – and we want diverse representation on council,” she said during a governance and finance committee meeting Monday (Feb. 14).
“A bylaw that would help attract candidates who are interested in this role, but are also interested in having children during that time, I think is a very inclusive move. I want to be able to support that type of inclusivity and breaking down any type of barriers for running for office.”
Members of council do not have sick benefits, nor do they qualify for employment insurance benefits. In June last year, the public committee that reviews council’s compensation package recommended consideration of a parental leave bylaw.
Amendments to the Municipal Government Act in 2017 allow Alberta municipalities to create maternity and parental leave bylaws for elected officials, leading to the implementation of such bylaws in larger municipalities such as the City of Calgary and City of Edmonton.
Under Banff’s proposal, a councillor giving birth could be eligible for eight weeks of health-related parental leave and up to an additional 12 to 18 weeks of parental leave for a total of 20-26 weeks. For a councillor not giving birth, it would be up to 12-16 weeks of parental leave.
Tara Johnston, legislative advisor for the Town of Banff, said the Alberta Employment Standards Code distinguishes between a health-related leave, given to a councillor who has given birth, and parental leave, which is for a councillor who is either an adoptive parent or the parent who did not give birth.
She said under the code, birth mothers must take six weeks of maternity leave for health reasons. For Town of Banff employees, up to eight weeks of maternity leave may be paid from an employee’s sick leave bank for a health-related portion of maternity leave.
Johnston said administration is proposing that council receive a better benefit than the code for the health-related portion of the leave – eight weeks instead of six weeks.
“The rationale is that the overall leave is shorter than the statutory entitlements under the code, so topping up the provision for council from six weeks to eight weeks could be a reasonable provision,” she said. “It is also in keeping with the provisions of the MGA that allow for an eight-week absence from council meetings without disqualification.”
Under the proposed bylaw, the parental leave compensation would be equal to the current employment insurance maximum benefit entitlements, and in the case of a health-related portion, a top up to the full remuneration that the councillor would have received when not on parental leave.
Johnston said this would be a net savings in the annual budget because the remuneration paid after eight weeks would be at the current employment insurance maximum and not the elected official’s full salary.
“The employment insurance maximum benefit entitlement is currently $628 per week. The remuneration would be approximately $345 weekly for a councillor and $628 for the mayoral position,” she said.
Under the parental leave bylaw, councillors could still continue to perform any tasks and duties during all or part of the parental leave.
“It doesn’t preclude them from doing any duties if they so wish, unless there were other things written into agreement,” said Johnston.
Councillors had discussion on whether or not to limit the number of parental leaves a councillor could take, but decided against that in the end.
“We obviously don’t know the circumstances as to what life entails…any sort of scenario isn’t really something that I want to dictate,” said Councillor Kaylee Ram.
“If there ever is a situation where a councillor or mayor is taking advantage of this bylaw, then obviously it gets reviewed after every single term, or where people won’t vote them back in.”
