By Adam Ophus

When it's over

Rocky’s COVID-19 Recovery Task Force seeking public input

May 7, 2020 | 2:05 PM

On the world, federal, provincial and municipal levels, governments are looking at how best they can financially recover from the COVID-19 pandemic when it’s all over.

For Rocky Mountain House, town council has created the COVID-19 Recovery Task Force which is still very much in its infancy stages.

Since the program is bound by the Municipal Government Act (MGA), the program may be limited in what it can do.

“We will help however we can, but we are bound by the MGA. For instance as I suggestion we were asked if we could offer grants, but since it’s with tax payer dollars, we wouldn’t be able to do something like that,” Mayor Tammy Burke explained.

“Right now we hope that local businesses are utilizing all the new assistance programs that are out there, that could be a way to help people, letting each other know what’s all available and how they obtained it.”

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As the taskforce is meant to help residents and local businesses, town officials are asking for public input on what they want to see in in. Burke stated that she and councillors have even been making constant phone calls to locals looking for input.

“It’s such a new thing, I’ve been keeping my eye on other municipalities our size like Hinton, Whitecourt and Drayton Valley to see what they’re doing, there’s no need to re-invent the wheel,” Burke said.

Another one of the cities that Rocky has been looking at is Leduc, which has created a “Recovery Checklist.”

First in that checklist is job creation, “looking at the number of jobs created per dollar invested, but also the types of jobs created and who benefits from them, and the match between the skills needed and those available in the local workforce.”

Secondly, how to create a boost to economic activity, “focusing on the economic multiplier each intervention can deliver, the ability of a project to directly replace missing demand, and its impact on import levels or the national trade balance.

Lastly on Leduc’s Recovery Checklist is timeliness and risk, “assessing whether the project generates stimulus and employment benefits over the very short term and whether they are durable even in the face of possible re-imposition of local quarantine measures.”

Burke reiterated that they really want to hear from residents and businesses involving the COVID-19 Recovery Task Force.

A form can be found here to submit your ideas.