(Government of Alberta)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

talking with albertans

Service Alberta minister getting to work on broadband and registry issues

Aug 22, 2019 | 3:47 PM

The Minister of Service Alberta made a trio of stops in central Alberta on Thursday to promote parts of his vision for the next four years.

Nate Glubish, who visited Innisfail, Blackfalds and Lacombe, is currently focusing his efforts on rural broadband service issues, challenges for local registries, and what can be done to improve relations between the tenants and owners of mobile home communities.

“On the rural internet and broadband side of things, the issue is that a lot of the infrastructure outside of major centres is not sufficient to support productivity and upload and download speeds for residents in rural Alberta to stay competitive with the modern economy and the modern digital age,” Glubish said. “Understandably, those communities are looking to find a path forward to make improvements there.”

Regarding issues with mobile home tenancy, the minister noted that there are 30,000 Albertans living in that type of dwelling.

“A lot of folks are facing challenges in that mobile home owners or residents don’t own their land; they’re a tenant to the landlord of the mobile home community,” he says. “When there is a dispute between the two parties, there’s no resolution other than going to the courts, which is very timely and costly.”

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Asked if that means crafting options to settle disputes out of court, he said it’s too early to speculate exactly where the legislation will land.

As for registries, Glubish said that he’s looking to correct failings of the NDP government which made them uneconomical and unviable.

“One of the things we’re talking a lot about is how we can modernize registry services,” he said. “Alberta is last in the country for availability of registry services online. That’s completely unacceptable and my vision is to go from last to first.”

Glubish acknowledged that there are a lot of actions waiting for the budget to drop before they can be taken, potentially including the ones he’s talking with Albertans about.

“Right now, the key thing is we’re spending the time to do the homework,” he said. “It’s a little premature to speculate how long it’s going to take to complete this exercise, but it’s important we do this work and this tour.”