On December 6, 2016, Bill 21: Modernized Municipal Government Act (MMGA) passed third reading in the Alberta legislature, effectively completing the legislative cycle. The last step remaining for the MMGA is Royal Assent to bring the legislation into force. This final stage will be delayed until the administrative requirements and a number of key regulations are in place.
As a reminder, the government introduced a number of house amendments to Bill 21 in the Committee of the Whole stage of the legislative process which ended on November 30th, 2016. Those house amendments included changes to:
- Municipally Controlled Corporations
- Planning and Development Appeal Board Membership
- Councillor Orientation and Training
- Centralized Industrial Assessment
- Intermunicipal Collaboration
- Offsite Levies
- Decision Making Timelines for Development Permits
For full summary of the house amendments to Bill 21, please click here.
At this point, there are longer opportunities to amend the legislation, either from the government or the oppositions; however, Alberta Municipal Affairs has indicated that additional emerging issues may be addressed in legislation in the spring 2017 legislative session.
The Government of Alberta is continuing to seek feedback on the emergent issues proposed for spring 2017 through the “Continuing the Conversation” discussion guide. The Government of Alberta’s deadline for feedback on the discussion guide is January 31, 2017; however, to ensure the AAMDC has an accurate representation of our members’ views on the issues, the AAMDC asks that, in addition to sending your comments to the Government of Alberta, that you also send a copy to AAMDC Policy Analyst, Matt Dow at matt.dow@aamdc.com. This will inform the AAMDC positions and submissions on these emergent and technical issues.
The AAMDC Board of Directors will be discussing this item at the December and January board meetings so, if possible, please provide any comments to the AAMDC by January 13, 2017. The province’s deadline for comments is January 31, 2017.
The AAMDC would like to thank its members for their attention and continued collaboration on the review of the Municipal Government Act.
Enquiries may be directed to:
| Matt Dow Policy Analyst 780.955.4085 |
Kim Heyman Director of Advocacy & Communications 780.955.4079 |