When Alberta Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver was a member of Calgary city council, he earned the nickname Dr. No for voting against motions made in council that made no sense to him or were illegal.As Alberta municipal affairs minister, McIver has reprised his Dr. No ways and shot down the possibility of municipalities letting non-Canadian permanent residents vote in their elections. “Only citizens of Canada can vote in municipal elections," tweeted McIver on Saturday. “That will not be changing.”.McIver was commenting on some Calgary city councillors saying on Friday they want to give non-Canadian permanent residents the ability to vote during municipal elections.A notice of motion put forward by Calgary Coun. Courtney Walcott called for change on the matter and was supported by four other councillors — Jasmine Mian, Raj Dhaliwal, Terry Wong and Kourtney Penner.Walcott argued many Calgary residents have lived in the city for years, but they cannot have their voices heard during election time.McIver said on a March 15 panel at the Alberta Municipalities Spring 2024 Municipal Leaders Caucus he was looking at bringing in municipal political parties for these elections to make clear the affiliations politicians have. READ MORE: Alberta cabinet ministers champion municipal parties, grid changes at conference“I certainly identified myself as a Conservative when I was on city council in Calgary and I know other people identify themselves with a party,” he said. “It’s all legal.”
