Website to offer a variety of government services
Alberta is working with municipalities, provinces and the federal government on a secure, one- stop shopping website that will enable residents to access all levels of government services online, says Service Alberta Minister Danielle Larivee.
The website will eventually enable Albertans to go online to register births, marriages and vehicles as well as pay fines, Larivee told a legislature committee reviewing budget estimates for her ministry Wednesday.
“It’s up and running and available. Some of the services are available already,” Larivee told fellow MLAs.
The website — eservices. alberta. ca — came online in July with no formal launch, said ministry spokeswoman Laura Tupper.
“Right now it’s sort of a work in progress,” she said.
Albertans who register on the site can currently purchase treecutting permits, hunting and fishing licences, search land titles, obtain over- height and overweight vehicle permits, buy cross- country ski passes, book bus tours and guided tours of dinosaur parks and obtain high school transcripts.
It also enables Albertans to purchase
This is transforming the way government does business.
souvenir merchandise.
The ministry is still working on expanding the options to enable Albertans to register vehicles and pay fines, said Tupper.
“We’re exploring that, but no decisions have been made,” she said.
The minister cited expansion of the project as her priority.
“There is a shift in the preference of Albertans from in- person or telephone ( access to services) to the Internet,” Larivee told fellow MLAs.
She said her ministry is in discussions will Alberta Justice to develop the traffic ticket payment option and it’s talking to other governments to link Alberta’s website to them.
Former Tory Service Alberta minister Manmeet Bhullar called the plan “a very noble pursuit.”
“This is transforming the way government does business,” he said. “It’s going to take time. It requires incredible commitment.”
But Bhullar said it is not something Service Alberta can do on its own.
“It requires the assistance and the buy- in of other ministries and that’s why it requires the personal attention from the minister,” he said. “I hope they push it through.”
The Calgary- Greenway MLA said he’s pleased to hear Larivee is making the website a priority.
Larivee told MLAs her ministry is managing an online information portal that currently has an inventory of nearly 2,000 documents and 1,200 publications.
She said Service Alberta is conducting a review of provincial registry offices, as well as a review of current condo regulations.
A review of the province’s Supernet contract will also begin in advance of the expiration of the existing contract with providers in 2018, she reported.