The 424-page Municipal Government Act (MGA) is currently under review and the Alberta government is asking for municipalities to make recommendations through a survey entitled Continuing the Conversation.
The 424-page Municipal Government Act (MGA) is currently under review and the Alberta government is asking for municipalities to make recommendations through a survey entitled Continuing the Conversation.
The document, brought to County of Barrhead council at its Jan. 17 meeting, covers a variety of topics and county manager Debbie Oyarzun said the majority of the questions were applicable for day-to-day municipal operations.
Oyarzun said the province, in partnership with the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts &Counties (AAMDC), are proceeding with amendments to the act.
“They [NDP] are going through the process and will be using input from municipalities all across the province to formulate more than 45 regulations.”
One topic under discussion was collaboration with Indigenous communities and whether or not a provision should be made within the MGA to allow such collaborations as part of Intermunicipal Collaboration Frameworks (ICFs).
“As it stands, there is nothing in the current MGA to support this but it is suggested existent language within the legislation could be changed,” Oyarzun said.
However, the majority of council disagreed with the notion on the principle that municipalities are already capable of doing so.
“We can already collaborate with whomever we want, on whatever we want,” deputy reeve Bill Lee said, adding the idea of putting it in the MGA would make the process automatic and not discretionary.
“We, ourselves, don’t have any dealings with aboriginal groups or communities within our boundary, so I don’t think it is applicable to us per se, but I am neutral on this topic for myself,” Lee said.
Reeve Doug Drozd agreed.
“In a situation where we were building a water treatment facility or something like that, that would be an instance, in my opinion, where we could maybe get the federal government to pitch in the share on behalf of the First Nations and get the 80-20 split funding. On something like that, I can see the application of this provision being beneficial, but otherwise, I don’t know if it has any bearing on the county,” he said.
Coun. Darrell Troock said he did not think the municipality should put itself in a position where negotiations were obligatory, if they were not necessary.
“It might not sound politically correct to say so, but I’m sorry, in for a nickel, in for a pound. The consensus that I have heard, from other communities that have involvement with Indigenous groups, is that these people don’t contribute anything to the conversation.”
In addition to collaborations with Indigenous communities, council was asked to provide input on whether they agreed with orientation training provisions for councillors.
“This was in terms of cultural awareness and that sort of thing when working with Indigenous communities,” Oyarzun said.
Lee said orientation training is already available to new council members and reiterated his objection to having the provision in writing.
“We can already do this and the training can be on any subject, any topic, whether it is First Nations culture or some other thing,” he said.
While Troock said the subject was a non issue because there are no Indigenous communities in the county, administrative assistant Linda West said boundaries can change and council should remain mindful of the fact.
Drozd agreed.
“If for instance, the Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation reserve were permitted to buy more land, they would certainly come north into the county and before we were the County of Barrhead, we were [part of] the County of Lac Ste. Anne and we did have Indigenous bands in our area,” he said.
Coun. Dennis Nanninga agreed with council’s decision, adding he thought the municipality’s indigenous counterparts should have orientation training of their own.
“I think if we have to orient ourselves, they should too. Isn’t that how partnerships are supposed to work?” he said.
Regarding the prospect of granting ministers the authority to enforce directives, with respect to intermunicipal agreements, council disagreed.
Oyarzun said the MGA does not currently afford ministers any such authority and council agreed unanimously that no such provision should be made.
“I think the reason the MGA was designed this way was because it doesn’t allow political parties to influence municipal decision-making and to me, right now, the way it is designed is perfect,” Troock said, adding he thought it was dangerous to allow ministers to have that kind of authority.
Lee agreed.
“I don’t think they [provincial government] would consider this same format themselves, having the federal minister dictate to the province. We are elected by our people to represent them and that is what we should be doing,” he said.
Coun. Marvin Schatz said the wording of the question concerned him.
“Any time I see the words ‘ grant the minister authority’, for me it raises all kinds of red flags all over the place,” he said.
Council agrees that there should be a provision within the MGA, with respect to councillors who require parental leave, and Coun. Dennis Nanninga said it’s a reality of life.
“There ought to be opportunities for women of child-bearing age to serve and there should also be provisions to deal with that,” he said, adding he believed that saying ‘ no’ would exclude women from running and he did not think that was right.
“I’m not anxious for the government to have rules and regulations about everything but on this one aspect, I agree with them,” he said.
Troock agreed.
“Talk about political correctness and getting yourself in hot water,” he said. “I don’t think any municipality would dare to cross this question. If I put myself in a woman’s position, running for an elected position and then getting pregnant, what would I do? I have no idea, it isn’t for me to say.”
Oyarzun said there is a provision within the current MGA that deals with the absense of members for parental leave.
“But this was about continuing the conversation, the modernization of the MGA, in an effort to recognize the needs of our present-day society and to assist council in the formulation of tools to deal with these types of situations where necessary,” she said.
