A mid-sized mayors caucus meeting in Lethbridge last week, where Premier Jason Kenney spoke on implications of provincial fiscal restraint on municipalities, left St. Albert Mayor Cathy Heron confident the province will work in partnership with the city.
Mayors and chief administrative officers of 22 Alberta municipalities met Sept. 12 and 13, with a portion of the meeting focused on the provincial government's MacKinnon report with Minister of Municipal Affairs Kaycee Madu.
Heron said mayors were worried Madu might walk in expecting 22 municipalities with their hands out begging for more money, but the caucus made a concerted effort to let him know “we are here to work very co-operatively with the government.”
“That we completely understand the fiscal restraint that they are facing, and we are willing to ride this out with them and we’re going to do the same thing and show fiscal restraint in our own spending,” Heron said.
Mr. Kenney made a last-minute appearance Friday morning, and Heron said he was “relaxed and casual” in talking about a range of topics. While the premier did not reveal anything about the upcoming provincial budget, Heron said there were “certain promises and commitments” made that “municipalities would not be taking a more severe cut than other departments.”
“We will all be treated the same and municipalities will definitely, and I don’t think anyone is surprised, most likely receive a cut in our infrastructure funding,” she said, adding Kenney said the cuts would be “calculated and well thought-out.”
It was also an opportunity to question some of the figures represented in the MacKinnon report, which came out early this month. Specifically, Heron said she wondered where the report came up with the figure that municipalities receive $440 per capita in municipal capital grants, which the report said is up 20 per cent from the national average.
“When I do the math, we are nowhere near,” she said. Heron said the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association, of which Heron is an executive member, is currently working on verifying the figures in that report.
Heron said the meeting reassured municipalities of the province’s commitment to a productive working relationship and since the provincial election she has met with more ministers than ever before.
“They are very open to having conversations and really learning what we need,” Heron said. “It’s been great.”
