EDMONTON – When the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties held a birthday party to celebrate its centennial, 800 guests showed up.
Association president Don Johnson said the Rural Matters conference his group held July 5-8 was designed to give rural regions a sense of hope and arm them with tools to succeed.
“How do you get senior (federal and provincial) governments to be sensitive to rural issues?” asked Johnson, a sugar beet grower from Taber, Alta.
“We thought, ‘let’s host a national event.’ “
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Johnson said big city mayors appear in Ottawa often, but rural municipal leaders seldom do.
That’s why he was pleased to see a recent Senate report recommend replacing Agriculture Canada’s rural secretariat with a department of rural affairs.
Johnson also said there should be more tax or revenue sharing with municipalities.
“Ninety-two percent of all income tax goes to the two senior governments,” he said.
“(Yet) 85 percent of the roads in Alberta are the responsibility of rural governments; 97 percent of all the bridges and land mass is rural. Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, it’s the same thing. We’re the very underpinnings of this country.”
Johnson said the association is working on a report to be released in September outlining ways Ottawa and the provinces could help.
He said the application process for grants includes too much red tape and is complex with onerous reporting requirements for part-time municipal administrators.
High speed internet for rural areas is important for businesses that want to be connected, people who want to work from home and students who want to take courses not offered locally. The cost of fuel also requires innovative solutions for farmers and commuters.
“I believe people want to come back and live in rural areas, but they won’t if there’s no economic development.”
