By Sheldon Spackman

Municipal leaders attending AUMA Convention in Red Deer

Sep 24, 2018 | 5:30 PM

Municipal representatives from across the province are descending upon Red Deer for the 2018 AUMA Convention and AMSC Trade Show at Westerner Park.

Pre-convention activities get underway Tuesday including sessions surrounding municipal corporate planning and finance, community development through citizen engagement, a legal seminar, Indigenous-themed experiential blanket exercise, participant networking event and a ‘Welcome to Red Deer 2019 Canada Winter Games Host City Facilities Tour and Reception’. The convention itself runs Wednesday through Friday.

“It’s great to welcome municipal members – mayors, councillors, CAOs, staff – as well as trade show partners to Red Deer,” says Dianne Wyntjes, Red Deer City Councillor and AUMA Governance Committee member.

“I think it’s really good for our economy and for them also to have an opportunity, instead of driving past Red Deer, to come see what our community has to offer.”

AUMA President and Mayor of Brooks, Barry Morishita says the convention is a significant opportunity for members to learn more about what the organization is doing for its members in terms of advocacy.

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“Then on the business side, it gives municipalities a chance to interact with their peers and network and find best practices,” he explains. “There’s a lot that goes on at the convention that’s both educational and a great experience for elected officials and administrators.”

Morishita says the theme for this year’s convention is the power of collaboration.

“As we move into an era where more cooperation is needed to make communities be sustainable and successful, I think that’s a really important part of the conference,” states Morishita. “The other really important part of it is that as we head into an election, it’s very important for issues that affect communities to be on the agendas of the political parties and the candidates going forward. A lot of our convention is going to talk about how to make sure our issues are heard and understood by those people seeking office in provincial and federal elections.”

Heading into the convention, Morishita says there’s currently a lot of questions surrounding resources, the downloading of services and all types of activity that municipalities require to build good communities.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty about where that resource and where that authority would lay going forward,” he explains. “We really need to articulate the message that municipalities are in fact the front line for building communities and that we need to work with provincial and federal governments to make sure that that happens in an effective and efficient way.”

Another area of focus and concern for the AUMA is the current Police Act and Equitable Funding Formula.Earlier this year, AUMA appealed to municipal governments to sign a letter calling for the end of the current model which does not require all municipalities pay for their policing. The letter points out policing costs are only paid by urban communities with a population great than 5,000, while smaller communities, counties and municipal districts are all exempt.

Morishita says they’ve established a working group to tackle that issue.

“That’s going to take about a year of time but it will certainly be a topic of discussion,” he exclaims. “There are no formal sessions as we’re just undertaking that work group but I think you’re going to see as we go through, we’re going to come up with solutions that are more-fair and provide a better level of services for all our communities.”

Wyntjes says the conference provides an important opportunity for delegates to meet directly with the premier and cabinet ministers about important issues municipalities are facing. Specifically, for Red Deer, the recently-ordered temporary overdose prevention is at the top of the list.

“There are lots of questions from the community about that this means for Red Deer. Certainly the ministerial order provides a downtown location for 12 months. But we’re looking for something that will serve our community better in the long-term.”