BARRHEAD - Town of Barrhead councillors have accepted Alberta Municipal Affairs Minister Rick McIver's invite for a meeting.
If the council can meet with the minister, the question councillors discussed at their Jan. 23 meeting is what topic of concern they bring up with the minister.
McIver's office invited municipalities across the province to meet with him during the Alberta Municipalities (ABMunis) spring municipal leaders conference in Edmonton in mid-March.
Chief Administrative Officer Edward LeBlanc noted that even though the minister extended the invitation, even if they accept, it is not a given that they can meet with McIver, as his time is limited, suggesting they put in their request as early as possible to increase their chances. The deadline to accept the invitation is Feb. 5.
LeBlanc added it had been several years since the municipality had accepted the invitation.
Coun. Dave Sawatzky suggested they accept the invitation, saying they wish to bring several potential topics to the "government's attention".
"We do have some concerns as a municipality," he said. "Instead of always relying on other municipalities to bring them to the table hoping they voice our concerns, maybe we should be at the table."
Coun. Rod Klumph agreed, saying one of their top concerns is the province continually downloading responsibilities to municipalities, specifically mentioning emergency services.
"We could also talk to [McIver] about our infrastructure concerns, such as our [wastewater] lagoons and facilities such as [Alberta Distance Learning Centre or ADLC," he said.
As to the latter, Klumph is referring to the Barrhead municipalities investigating the potential of taking over the underutilized building, which has sat mostly vacant since the ADLC ceased operation in June 2021.
Coun. Ty Assaf also supported meeting the minister but said they need to narrow their focus to one or two items as their time with the minister would be limited to 15 minutes.
"If we are going to take up 15 minutes of his time, we need to focus on something that pertains only to our municipality. He is not going to want to sit there and listen to the same issue municipality after municipality," he said.
Mayor Dave Mckenzie agreed with Assaf, saying that it was important that they limit their topics to those that are the sole jurisdiction of municipal affairs.
"The mistake that municipalities often make when meeting with ministers is that they bring up concerns that have nothing to do with their ministry," he said. "What we bring up needs to relate to his ministry that affects our municipality. Fifteen minutes isn't very long; we only have one shot at this."
