WHEREAS municipal governments are major public agents for providing services, programs and facilities to maintain and enhance the quality of life for all Canadians;AND WHEREAS municipal governments in Alberta and across Canada are being requested to assume greater responsibility and liability from their respective provinces;AND WHEREAS there is a need to study and analyze the role of municipal government, in order to establish clear responsibility and the corresponding authority; AND WHEREAS the role of municipal government is a national issue and needs to be established at the constitutional level;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties request the Government of Alberta to establish a constitutional team in cooperation with Alberta municipalities to analyse the merits of constitutional recognition of municipal government.

Constitutional recognition of municipal governments has been discussed at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) for the past few years. A joint FCM/CAMA Task Force focused on developing a plenary session for the FCM 1999 Annual Conference and a national symposium on the Future Role of Municipal Governments.FCM has developed and is presently promoting a Model Resolution with New Terms of Reference for Municipal Government.A national symposium on the Future Role of Municipal Government has been proposed for the year 2000.Most AAMDC members are aware of the discussions being held across Canada on defining the role and achieving change in the degree of legislative, financial and institutional autonomy.The purpose of the above resolution is to encourage the Alberta government to establish a constitutional team in cooperation with Alberta municipalities, to develop a proactive consolidated position at the provincial level prior to entering into discussions on a national level.