Municipal act to be updated
Province will encourage co-operation using management boards, funding
The NDP government trumpeted Friday the long-awaited update to the Municipal Government Act would be tabled next spring in the provincial legislature and would focus heavily on forging regional co-operation.
But opposition parties and municipal leaders said the lack of detail — particularly around mandatory membership for so-called “growth management boards” — was concerning and challenged the government to ensure local autonomy was protected.
Municipal Affairs Minister Deron Bilous unveiled the government’s new “vision” to hundreds of municipal leaders gathered inside Calgary’s Telus Convention Centre on the last day of the annual Alberta Urban Municipalities Association convention.
The MLA for Edmonton-Beverly-Claireview said the current structure of the MGA, last updated in 1995, has caused friction and competition.
Bill 20, the Municipal Government Amendment Act, deals with provincial-municipal relations, accountability, governance, regional decision-making, growth management, municipal revenues and property assessment and taxation.
It also creates the authority for the province and cities of Calgary and Edmonton to negotiate city charters.
Bilous said the bill would be passed in the fall of 2016 after further consultations with stakeholders next summer after it is tabled.
The updated MGA would allow the province to wield a carrot rather than a stick to encourage municipalities to forge successful partnerships, he said.
“Funding is a great way to help incent that behaviour,” Bilous told reporters. “Municipalities that work well together to provide services with each other will have the dollars to be able to do that.
“Those that don’t will find it much more difficult,” he added.
Calgary and Edmonton would lead the way through legislated “growth management boards” ensuring “co-operation, collaboration and integrated service” planning in those regions, Bilous said.
The government would work with stakeholders over the coming months to determine the structure of the proposed growth management boards, he added.
“The challenge with a voluntary board is that members can decide when they want to participate and when they want to decline,” Bilous said. “But it makes if very challenging if you’re trying to have a truly integrated plan for let’s say transportation or the delivery of services.”
Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi said the announcement was “an extraordinarily big deal,” noting the city had long lobbied the government to legislate the existing Calgary Regional Partnership.
He said the legislation must make membership mandatory and that control of the growth management boards be given to its members, not the government.
“We would not accept a growth management board in the Calgary region unless the membership were mandatory,” Nenshi said. “We’ll be looking for an amendment to make sure that happens as well.”
The Calgary Regional Partnership oversees the Calgary Metropolitan Plan, which deals with regional strategies for water, sewer and transit, as well as management of growth issues.
Rocky View County abandoned the partnership six years ago over concerns the voting structure was skewed in favour of denser urban areas, said county reeve Margaret Bahcheli.
“If that is part of this new proposed model then again it is going to be definitely a continuing concern,” Bahcheli said.
“This change in emphasis away from municipalities competing for money, for limited resources and shifting it into another paradigm is really intriguing,” she said.
“(But) until we know what that means it’s hard to say what the governance structure should look like so that everybody’s interests are balanced.”
The official Opposition pounced on the lack of clarity around growth management boards, saying local autonomy and decision-making must be protected.
“A complete lack of clarity about membership, how these boards will be governed and a seeming lack of consultation with the municipalities impacted makes it look like we’re off to a bad star,” Pat Steir, Wildrose shadow minister of municipal affairs, said in a statement.
“Regional collaboration and cooperation is important but should not be imposed, especially without consultation,” Stier said.
Alberta Party Leader Greg Clark said Friday the provincial government must recognize the special nature of its two largest urban centres, Edmonton and Calgary.