Council is the governing body of the M.D. and the custodian of its powers, both legislative and administrative. The Municipal Government Act provides that Councils can only exercise the powers of the municipality in the proper form either by bylaw or by resolution. Council is responsible for providing the services that the ratepayers/residents need and want. This responsibility involves providing input into the municipality's programs and services (policy making) and making sure that the administration provides the programs and services in the best possible way (program monitoring). A big job and quite a time commitment. Council regularly meets (24 times a year) every second and fourth Tuesday in the Chambers of the Municipal Services Building in Manning. Meetings start at 9:00 a.m. and usually last until around 5:00 p.m. Councillors are also required to attend outside board/agency/committee meetings, special meetings, and internal committee meetings. Twice annually they attend the Alberta Association of Municipal District's & Counties 'Spring Conference' and 'Fall Convention' usually held in Edmonton. Plus they have to be reachable by members of their electorate and available for site visits if need be.

Councillor effectiveness depends on providing input as a ward representative while thinking and voting for the whole M.D. Council is made up of seven Councillors each representing one of the M.D.’s seven wards. Councillors must be willing to act on authority delegated to municipalities; become familiar with legislation governing local affairs; seek support, advice and assistance from administrative staff; be ethical and fair to ratepayers and colleagues; and relinquish an entirely private life when it comes to personal business or employment. Before commencing office Councillors must take an Oath of Office and swear or declare that they will diligently, faithfully and to the best of their ability, fulfill the duties of the office to which they have been elected - a three year commitment.

Ward 1	Weberville/Stewart	Cheryl Anderson
Ward 2	Warrensville/Lac Cardinal	Ken Foster
Ward 3	Dixonville/Chinook Valley	Allen M. Dumas
Ward 4	Deadwood/Sunny Valley	Darlene Frith
Ward 5	Breaking Point/North Star	Ed Kamieniecki
Ward 6	Hotchkiss/Hawk Hills	Gale Vandemark
Ward 7	Keg River/Carcajou	Teresa Tupper

The purpose of a municipality is to provide good government, services or facilities that are in Council’s opinion necessary or desirable and develop and maintain safe and viable communities.

Some examples of the nature of Council bylaws are: safety and health of people, transportation and transport issues, business and business activities, public utilities matters, regulation; and prohibition powers.

The Municipal District of Northern Lights No. 22 has for a number of years, provided subscriptions to the Mile Zero (in the south) and the Banner Post (in the north), to resident ratepayers. The intent of the policy was to ensure resident ratepayers were receiving notices pertaining to the Municipal District, and for general communication.

We have been asked how we determine who receives subscriptions, and why we don’t provide them to all ratepayers, regardless of where their residence is located.

As of January 1, 2005, the MD provides 1149 subscriptions at an annual cost of $13,523.73. If we were to provide the subscriptions to all ratepayers, regardless of where they reside, that cost would increase to around $18,975 per year, plus postage for areas outside of Dixonville, Manning, Hotchkiss, Grimshaw, North Star, Keg River and Notikewin. As there are many ratepayers out of that area, and even out of the Country, the cost of postage would be excessive.

We have also been asked why renters cannot receive the subscriptions, and that is mainly because the MD has no way of tracking renters, and again the policy intent is to provide subscriptions to resident ratepayers. Renters do not pay taxes directly to the MD, and therefore they are not ratepayers.

The Municipal District of Northern Lights No. 22 has also begun a full page ad in the Mile Zero News and Banner Post in order to keep our residents up to date on items. the ad is in the last edition of each month. Please watch that space for MD information.