(Supplied/Alberta Municipalities)

By Josh Hall | @Vancan19

looking out for albertans' best interests

Alberta Municipalities gearing up for annual convention in Red Deer

Sep 19, 2024 | 3:05 PM

The annual convention of Alberta Municipalities (formerly AUMA) is happening later this month in Red Deer, with member cities, towns, villages and hamlets electing to advance advocacy on a wide array of subjects.

The convention runs Sept. 24-27 at Westerner Park, with more than 1,100 delegates discussing and voting on 27 resolutions brought forth by municipal councils from around the province.

The City of Red Deer is bringing forward three:

• B11: Provincial Emergency Shelter Strategy (seconded by Town of Hinton)
• B12: Permanent Supportive Housing Capital and Operational Funding (seconded by Village of Delburne)
• B17: Federal Funding for Compressed Natural Gas and Clean Diesel (seconded by Town of Innisfail)

Red Deer is also seconding a motion from the Town of Innisfail entitled ‘B16: Culture, Recreation, and Sport Facility Infrastructure Deficit Report Card.’

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The full slate of resolutions is viewable at abmunis.ca.

Red Deer Mayor Ken Johnston recently spoke to rdnewsNOW about the city’s trio of resolutions, starting with supportive housing.

“If we’re going to really resolve homelessness, or at least get it to a level that is manageable, and if we’re going to solve drug addiction and so forth, we have to start investing and understanding that permanent supportive housing is the required element,” he said.

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“I see lots of multi-family builds, and lots of apartments, but I’ve yet to see what I would call a very purposeful approach to permanent supportive housing by the federal and provincial governments.”

He opined too that this type of housing is not necessarily attractive to developers.

“It has to be subsidized,” he believes. “We’re talking about helping a population of people who are chronically under-employed due to health reasons and other things. Housing is a provincial responsibility, and cities get to deal with the consequences when it isn’t resourced.”

On a shelter strategy, Johnston believes a strong vision from the province would help resolve the types of challenges Red Deer has had in finding a home for an emergency shelter.

“Look at schools and hospitals, and the parameters are very clear, but for shelters, it doesn’t exist,” said Johnston. “I suspect we’ll get a great deal of support around that one.”

Finally, on the motion for federal dollars to fund transit, Johnston says the industry has quickly evolved.

“This is quite an issue in western Canada because we converted to compressed natural gas five to eight years ago and for all the reasons that made sense; it was more environmentally-friendly, it was safe and we had the infrastructure and the fuel to make it work,” he said.

“Now, federal grants are saying you need to electrify your fleet. We’re trying to tell the feds that electric buses are more expensive and they take three years to order.”

Johnston said they want Ottawa to know that they get why this is the direction, adding that the City is on board to be carbon-neutral by 2050, but they need some grace.

“They need to give us some time to transition out,” added Johnston. “The federal government is not grasping the effort that Alberta has made, and certainly that Red Deer has made, around compressed natural gas, and it’s mind-boggling.”

This issue will also be taken to the next Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) in June 2025.

Tyler Gandam, president of Alberta Municipalities, and the mayor of Wetaskiwin, says despite all the things municipalities find they need to advocate for at this level, he doesn’t believe they are “at odds” with the province.

“We’re having healthy conversations with the province and working on how we can improve some of the regulations coming out. We’re working on building a stronger relationship,” he said, asked about Bill 18 and Bill 20.

“We want their regulations to be in the best interests of Albertans, and make sure the government understands some of the unintended consequences which may come along with the implementation of these bills.”

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Gandam says other hot button issues range from health care — including states of emergency, ambulance shortages, and delays — to infrastructure.

“We will continue to ask for help with municipalities’ infrastructure needs. There’s a $30 billion infrastructure deficit across the province.”

Civil discourse will also be a topic of discussion as municipalities deal with an increased number of code of conduct complaints under the Municipal Government Act.

Otherwise, Gandam says, the conference is about sharing best practices and offering support to fellow councils across the province. The convention includes councillor training sessions.

As well, both Premier Danielle Smith and Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi will address the delegation.

The convention is not open to the public.

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READ MORE: Welcoming Week events start in Red Deer as Premier Smith says no to more asylum seekers

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