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Town of Blackfalds looking into viability of two license plates in Alberta

Mar 31, 2018 | 4:01 PM

The Town of Blackfalds has opened up discussion on requiring registered vehicles in Alberta to once again have a front and rear license plate.

The conversation began during an annual planning meeting between the town, several other local municipalities and Blackfalds RCMP this month. During a brainstorming-type  session, the idea of having two license plates on vehicles was thought to be possibly helpful to Mounties in improving the identification of stolen vehicles and license plates, as well as identifying vehicles involved in other criminal activities.

As a result, Mayor Richard Poole filed a Notice of Motion on March 13 requesting the matter be brought before Council for review on March 27. After passing by a 5-2 vote, administration has now been tasked with determining a further course of action, including seeking support from other municipalities and the AUMA.

Mayor Poole says the brainstorming session was essentially aimed at finding ways to help the RCMP fight crime.

“We realized that we didn’t have enough information,” Poole explains. “We felt intuitively that it would be helpful but we didn’t have enough information as to whether it would actually be helpful or not.”

“Administration will investigate the information that is available to us,” says Poole. “To determine whether or not there’s enough information that we can craft a motion that would go to AUMA and request that they lobby the government to advocate for two license plates.”

In terms of cost, Poole says it would affect all vehicle owners in Alberta but not affect the Town directly.

“They would have to mount plates on the front and some vehicles don’t seem to do that at this point,” says Poole. “As well, the province would have to provide two plates.”

He acknowledges however, it’s important to realize this could be a contentious issue with Albertans.

“We want to make sure that if we move forward with it as a Council, that we are really sure that it would be a valuable asset to the province for us to advocate for.”

As for the RCMP, a spokesperson with the Blackfalds Detachment says any decision would be made by the province and not RCMP.

However, the spokesperson goes on to say Mounties would support any decision the government made regarding the issue but admits there likely would be benefits for having two plates on vehicles for members on patrol.

It’s anticipated Blackfalds town administration will reveal the results of its investigation at the next meeting of Council on April 24.