Alberta's big cities will be getting new charters with the provincial government, under a proposal announced Monday, but smaller cities like St. Albert need not worry.
Municipal Affairs Minister Doug Griffiths, Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel and Calgary deputy mayor Jim Stevenson signed a memorandum of understanding Tuesday to create the new charters.
The memorandum is just the first step in creating the new arrangements, which are supposed to be in front of the legislature next spring.
"I don't have a prescriptive idea of what it should look like and where it should go, but ultimately what I want to see is a state where we don't have arguing between the municipalities and the province," said Griffiths.
He said the process would be about looking at areas where municipalities and the province have overlapping services or needs and can work better together.
"We are all serving the same client with the same amount of money, so we have to ensure we approach it like that and try to maximize the services and minimize the cost," he said.
In other provinces large cities have developed charters or special acts of the legislature to address their unique needs. In some cases, those acts have given those cities new taxing powers and greater authority over their own affairs.
Everything is on the table in the discussion, which is more about finding ways to work together than to charge more, Griffiths said.
"There is no way that we are going to discuss new taxing powers, when we haven't discussed what our roles are, what our responsibilities are, how we are going to work together and what resources we already have available," he said.
He said at the root of the discussion would be an acknowledgment that both levels of government are serving the same citizens and collecting from the same taxpayers.
Smaller cities not overlooked
St. Albert Mayor Nolan Crouse said he is not concerned the charters will leave out his city and believes it could be a positive step.
"As long as the province and the two big cities work together and don't set it up as a 'we versus they,'" he said.
He said he'll monitor the charters, but not because he doesn't believe it is a good idea.
"I don't really see this as necessarily a city charter, because with the City of Edmonton working with St. Albert and Sherwood Park so well already it may very well evolve into something like a regional charter," he said.
The government is planning a re-write of the Municipal Government Act and the city charters could end up being part of that process, Griffiths said.
"It is not to me just a charter for Edmonton and a charter for Calgary. It is the preliminary work we are going to do, which will feed into the MGA in the longer-term, balanced relationship between the municipalities and the province," he said.
Crouse said he's interested to see how the province plans to change the act.
"It is positive," he said, "but I think the devil is in the details on that one."
