Cities warned of `fiscal reckoning' as COVID-19 shakes the economy
Alberta government politicians repeatedly warned municipal leaders Friday that a “fiscal reckoning” is unavoidable amid the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and plunging oil prices.
As councillors and mayors from Alberta's cities and towns gathered — mostly online — at this year's Alberta Urban Municipalities Association conference, United Conservative ministers and the premier all sent messages that challenging times are ahead for the province, and local governments need to pull their weight to confront them.
Finance Minister Travis Toews told attendees that the province is “heading into a season where we have to do more with less.”
Municipal Affairs Minister Tracy Allard, giving a public address for the first time since she took over the position from Kaycee Madu last month, said flowing revenue often obscures fiscal “sins” — but that's about to change.
“They cannot be covered up any longer by the revenue that's no longer here,” she said.
“It has to be said: there is a fiscal reckoning coming. We will all be forced to make changes as we deal with this very challenging reality.”
Allard struck a collaborative tone a year after Madu, now Alberta's minister of justice, sent a message at the 2019 AUMA conference that cities would need to do their part to “rein in fiscal recklessness.”
In the UCP government's fall budget that year, cities saw their capital transfers and grants slashed, with Edmonton and Calgary taking the largest reductions.
AUMA president Barry Morishita said Thursday that the organization is looking forward to “resetting” the relationship between the advocacy group and the minister. AUMA declared its relationship with Madu “broken” over the summer after he didn't respond to concerns on changes to local election rules and passed amendments into law over its objections.
In pre-recorded remarks, Premier Jason Kenney touted the province's infrastructure stimulus plan — $500 million that will be doled out to cities for projects that will spur job creation. Calgary is submitting a list of projects for a total of $152.8 million in funding.
But the premier also scolded local governments that have not embraced pro-growth policies. He said he wouldn't “name names” but revealed a manufacturer complained that a municipal noise bylaw is preventing it from setting up shop.
“In the depth of a crisis like this, those 400 jobs matter a lot more than a few noise complaints from local residents,” he said.
He added cities should focus on getting rid of “unnecessary rules, red tape and costs” that might stand in the way of job creation.
“When I speak to major business leaders about prospective investment in Alberta, very often a message that I hear back is the greatest impediments they've experienced are at the local level, at the municipal level,” he said.