To improve reporting on resolution advocacy, the RMA is releasing a monthly bulletin highlighting recent actions undertaken on select active resolutions.
The Monthly Resolution Update Bulletin is a way of routinely highlighting a selection of the over 70 currently active resolutions, offering members a more detailed insight into the work being carried out on their behalf. For the latest formal statuses and reactions to all resolutions, view the RMA’s Resolutions Database.
The July 2024 edition of the Monthly Resolution Update Bulletin features the following resolutions:
Resolution 3-21F: Vegetation Management on Alberta Provincial Highways
In response to the lack of adequate control of noxious and prohibited weeds within the rights of way of provincial highways across Alberta, RMA members called for the reinstatement of a provincial vegetation management plan. The poor state of vegetation management in the years preceding this resolution caused weed control issues for landowners adjacent to highways, facilitated the spread of invasive plants, and increased the risks to public health and safety due to poisonous plants and reduced visibility of wildlife. The Weed Control Act provides that the Government of Alberta is responsible for weed control along the 31,000 kilometres of provincial highways across the province, and as a result, our member municipalities were placed in the awkward position of issuing weed notices to the Government of Alberta.
Alberta Transportation and Economic Corridors’ (“TEC”) response to this resolution in January 2022 acknowledged that some highway maintenance activities had experienced funding issues, such as full right-of-way mowing, and that their goal was to balance funding challenges with maintenance related to public safety. TEC also indicated that a program level review of their vegetation management program would be undertaken in Fall 2022. The RMA has since learned that a new vegetation management plan was implemented for the 2023 weed season and intends to review how TEC’s plan satisfies the asks of this resolution. The RMA has reached out to TEC for an update on their vegetation management strategy and hopes to provide an analysis of its effectiveness in the coming months.
Resolution 9-22F: Renewable Energy Project Reclamation Requirements and Resolution 21-22F: Loss of Agricultural Land to Renewable Energy Projects
These resolutions call for the provincial government to implement changes to reclamation securities and to regulate agricultural land loss as it pertains to renewable energy development. Given that landowners and municipalities often incur significant costs during the land reclamation stage of renewable energy projects, members are asking for the provincial government to introduce a legally mandated and data-driven security or surety bond as a condition of beginning any renewable energy project. Additionally, members call for more regulation for renewable energy projects to minimize agricultural land loss, ensuring a balance between both demands that are important to rural Albertans.
Follow-up actions and responses to these resolutions by the provincial government have been encouraging; Following the 2023 inquiry and results which were shared in early 2024, reclamation securities will now be a requirement for renewable energy projects. However, the specifics surrounding these securities are not yet clear, such as calculation methods and case-by-case considerations. Furthermore, the new “agriculture-first” approach is a promising change yet the specific details surrounding this approach, such as land class evaluation metrics and agrivoltaics, remain unclear. In addition to previous consultations, including the oral consultation on June 4, 2024, the RMA will provide input as part of the AUC’s written consultation process in September 2024, emphasizing the need for more clarity on these important details. The RMA will also continue looking for more opportunities for engagement and advocacy to make progress on these resolutions.
Resolution 4-22S: Continued Support for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Alberta
Resolution 4-22S calls on the Government of Alberta to not create a provincial police service to replace RCMP contract policing. The RMA strongly opposed the formation of a provincial police service during the 2022 formal engagement process based on the lack of evidence that replacing RCMP contract policing would reduce municipal costs, improve rural service levels, or enhance local input into policing. Since then, the Government of Alberta has lessened their focus on forming a provincial police service but has introduced other legislation and programming decisions to increase non-RCMP policing presence in rural Alberta. This includes passing Bill 11: Public Safety Statutes Amendment Act, 2024 to formalize sheriffs operations under a provincewide police-like structure, introducing the Indigenous and Municipal Police Transition Grant, and announcing the formation of rural sheriff teams. While it is unclear if or how these developments will lead to a continued path towards a provincial police service, all three represent provincial investments in non-RCMP policing options while municipalities continue to seek an enhanced provincial commitment to ensuring adequate RCMP capacity in rural Alberta.
The RMA continues to advocate for provincial and federal involvement in adequately funding and staffing the RCMP through venues such as the Interim Police Advisory Board and input into the Police Act review. The RMA also anticipates that the upcoming expiry of the Police Funding Model Regulation could lead to changes to the Police Funding Model that could result in municipalities being responsible for an increased portion of RCMP contract police funding. The RMA plans to advocate for any changes to the PFM to be accompanied by a provincial commitment to no longer dedicating time and resources to a provincial police service.
Stay tuned for future editions of the Monthly Resolution Update Bulletin, where we will continue to feature updates on selected resolutions.
Wyatt Skovron
General Manager of Policy & Advocacy
780.955.4096
wyatt@RMAlberta.com