A city spokesperson says St. Albert has complied with the provincial government's request to provide a list of all funding agreements the city had in place with the federal government in 2022.
But it's a request that Mayor Cathy Heron said has caused concern.
“I don't see any need for what they're doing,” Heron said. “There's obviously some fears in mayors in the region that the provincial government is stepping into an area that might cause us problems.”
Heron said she thinks the province could end up interfering in a system that already works well.
“Given the attitude that I see from the provincial government towards the federal government, I wouldn't want them to interfere with the relationship we have with the federal government,” Heron said. “I would hate to see any ill relationship with the other two orders of government interfering with what we're trying to do.”
In a statement to the Gazette, Municipal Affairs press secretary Scott Johnston said the request is an information-gathering exercise, which may or may not lead to the UCP government tabling legislation similar to that of Quebec, which requires the federal government to provide all funding to the provincial government, which then distributes the funding to municipalities.
“It’s important for all levels of government to work together and respect constitutional jurisdiction — including [the] province's right to oversee the governance of Alberta’s municipalities without federal interference,” Johnston said. “Alberta’s government will continue to stand up for our constitutional jurisdiction while ensuring we are working with municipalities to receive equitable funding from the federal government.”
Heron said she has been pleased with how the federal government has supported municipalities in Alberta over the past few years, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The federal government, actually, in the last few years has been very fair,” she said, pointing to how in 2021 the federal government doubled its Canada Community-Building Fund (formerly called the Gas Tax Fund), which is a federal infrastructure funding program administered through provincial governments.
“They gave municipalities that run transit a fair amount of money to help them operate transit, and it went straight [to the municipalities], it didn't have to go through the province,” Heron said. “I would hate to see that stop.”
Heron also questioned whether or not potential legislation like Quebec's might affect how the Alberta government participates in federal funding programs that require provincial governments to provide matching funding or do administrative work.
“I wouldn't want to leave any money on the table,” she said.
“I've seen that in other provinces — not in Alberta, but when I was the president of Alberta Municipalities — all the presidents of all the associations across Canada would meet," Heron said. "And I remember the transit money was a perfect example, [because] that money was only going to come to us if the provincial government matched it. And Alberta did, so that was fantastic that they stepped up and matched that money, but other provinces didn't, so those municipalities lost out.”
There are also a couple of major outstanding funding agreements that St. Albert is relying on the federal government for that could be called into question if the province moves forward with legislation like Quebec's: the city's application to the federal Housing Accelerator Grant, and potential federal funding for the servicing of Lakeview Business District.
St. Albert city council approved an application to the Housing Accelerator Fund last summer, and if successful, city staff have estimated that St. Albert could receive between $7-$12 million to put towards a nine-point housing action plan.
Lakeview Business District, which is considered St. Albert's best opportunity to increase non-residential tax revenue, could cost as much as $80 million, and Heron said she's hoping the cost could be divided between all three levels of government.
“Those are the kinds of things that we're crossing the fingers and hoping for, and quite honestly, with the cuts that the provincial government has [made] to infrastructure money in the last couple of years, we need federal grants for sure.”
