Richard Poole, Mayor for the Town of Blackfalds. (rdnewsNOW / Sheldon Spackman)

By rdnewsNOW staff

Frustrations Running High

Blackfalds continues fight for registries office

Feb 27, 2021 | 3:24 PM

The mayor of Blackfalds is letting it be known he has a bone to pick with Alberta’s minister of Service Alberta.

In an open letter to Premier Jason Kenney, Blackfalds Mayor Richard Poole expresses his strong disdain for the dismissiveness he has experienced in dealing with Service Alberta, specifically the office of Minister Nate Glubish, regarding bringing an Alberta Registries Office to the community.

As the mayor and administration have been actively working on soliciting the provincial government on this matter for over nine years, Town officials note that Mayor Poole states in his letter to the premier that, “We are beyond frustrated that the latest email from Minister Glubish provides further excuses not to move forward in delivering this service,” writes Poole. “While the province has advocated reducing so-called ‘red tape,’ we, as a municipality, have continually found ourselves up against a ‘red wall.’”

Officials say council and administration met with Minister Glubish in the fall of 2019. At that time, Glubish is said to have recognized that Blackfalds had been previously identified in 2012 as one of three communities to have the next Registry Service outlet. However, three months after that meeting, there was no communication despite numerous attempts to contact Minister Glubish, according to Town officials.

Last November, Mayor Poole, CAO Thompson, and the Minister sat in on a conference call when Minister Glubish is said to have reiterated that Blackfalds was still being considered but was not prepared to issue the Request for Proposal (RFP) based on his population data, which officials say was found to be incorrect.

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As explained in the letter, Blackfalds council feels that the Ministry of Service Alberta has failed to provide any tangible reason that an RFP for an Alberta Registry Service outlet in the Town of Blackfalds should not be issued and therefore respectfully request that Cabinet provide leadership and understanding by directing Minister Glubish to issue an RFP for a Registry Office within the Town of Blackfalds.

View Mayor Poole’s open letter to the Premier here.