The Alberta government has signed a memorandum of understanding with the province’s municipalities to have new governance rules in place by next year.
The Municipal Government Act is the framework that allows municipalities to operate.
“It’s the document we live and breath under as municipalities,” Al Kemmere, president of the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties, said during a news conference announcing the framework discussions.
“Rural municipalities in Alberta are faced with unique challenges and we need a strong piece of legislation to provide the tools we need to grow and shape our communities.”
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The act has not been changed in more than 20 years, municipal affairs minister Diana McQueen said during the announcement.
Alberta’s population has increased to four million from 2.5 million in the early 1990s, which she said has increased pressure on rural municipalities, towns and cities.
“It only makes sense the municipal government act should change as we do,” she said.
The MOU doesn’t make changes, but formalizes the process to make change. Municipalities are particularly concerned about a lack of sustainable funding to allow them to better plan.
Alberta premier Jim Prentice said money and taxation will be part of the discussion, but everything in the upcoming provincial budget will be looked at to deal with the tough economic times the province fears is coming with the downturn in oil prices.
“We are in a challenging fiscal environment in this province, but we are all in this together,” Prentice said.
“We need a stronger partnership between government and municipalities. We can’t expect, as a provincial government, to download those responsibilities onto municipalities without equipping them and working with them as a partner.”
Kemmere said rural municipalities must look after an extensive network of roads and bridges with low populations. The act must be changed to allow municipalities to deal with rural issues without having to go repeatedly to the provincial government for funding, he added.
He hopes the new act will set out clear guidelines about funding, but it is also important to allow municipalities to make more decisions at a local level.
mary.macarthur@producer.com
