The Town of Redwater has asked the province to let it leave the Capital Region Board. That's prompted fears of a mass exodus, as well as an impassioned plea from St. Albert Mayor Nolan Crouse for small communities to stay with the group.
The Capital Region Board (CRB) voted down a motion Thursday from the Town of Redwater to support its request to Municipal Affairs Minister Doug Griffiths to let it leave the board.
Redwater is a town of 2,200 people an hour away from Edmonton, town Mayor Mel Smith explained to the board.
"What difference does it make to the Capital Region Board or to Redwater if we were to be a member or not?"
Redwater asked Griffiths earlier this summer to let the town leave the board, Smith said in an interview. His motion Thursday was meant to gain the board's support for the departure.
The board wants to focus provincial grants towards priority growth areas, Smith said, and that focus would come at the expense of small communities like Redwater.
"This is all about dollars, and it can adversely affect us and every other small community."
Smith told the board that his council found that Redwater gained no benefit from its membership with the CRB, and would not take part in it were it not legally required to do so. Tofield, he noted, was allowed to leave the board six months after the board's formation.
"All we want is the ability to control our destiny," he said. "We don't need 23 municipalities to tell us how to do that."
Start of a trend?
Devon Mayor Anita Fisher feared that supporting this request would trigger a "substantial exodus" of members from the board.
"I think the discussion we need to have is what value can the CRB (have) for these smaller communities," she said.
Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel said he could not support Redwater's request, as it could weaken the entire board, but would support a provincial review of who should be in the board.
St. Albert mayor and CRB chair Nolan Crouse gave an impassioned defence of the board, and rejected Smith's argument that Redwater is too small and distant to matter.
"Is (Prince Edward Island) too small or too far out to make a difference for Canada?" he asked. "Whether it's P.E.I. in Canada … whether it's Redwater in the region, we all matter."
Stormwater from Redwater flows into and affects the North Saskatchewan, Crouse said, and a vote from eight small communities like Redwater can stop any motion at the CRB. The board can and has debated transportation issues of relevance to Redwater and Thorsby, and can use its heft to get financial support for small communities, he argued.
"I'm saying, don't go it alone, Redwater."
Some 14 of the board's 24 members supported Redwater's request, including Sturgeon County Mayor Don Rigney.
"I'm absolutely convinced the costs (of the board) exceed the benefits," he said, adding that the board would not be a success so long as its members were forced to be in it.
On Wednesday, Rigney made a motion before his council to ask the CRB to support Sturgeon's request to Griffiths to let the county leave the board. That motion was deferred until Aug. 27. The county has yet to send that request to Griffiths.
Redwater's request was defeated as it did not have support from 17 member communities with 75 per cent of the region's population (i.e. Edmonton), which is what any motion needs to pass at the CRB. The defeat was symbolic, however, as it did not affect Redwater's ability to ask the minister to leave the board.
Smith wasn't sure if Redwater's actions would trigger a flood of applications to leave the board, but said he believed some communities did want out.
"Will they be allowed to? Some possibly, some possibly not, some probably not."
Crouse doubted that the province would support the dissolution of the board.
"I think the broader question that's being asked is, 'Do we have the right governance structure?'"
Municipal Affairs spokesperson Cam Traynor said Minister Griffiths had received Redwater's request and was considering his response. Traynor did not know when that response would be released.
