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 November 2024 edition of the Monthly Resolution Update Bulletin features the following resolutions:
Resolution 12-23F: Growth Management Board Voluntary Membership
RMA’s members passed Resolution 12-23F: Growth Management Board Voluntary Membership at the Fall 2023 Convention. Since 2018, Growth Management Boards (GMBs) have been mandated by the Municipal Government Act (MGA) in the Calgary and Edmonton Metropolitan Regions. GMBs were intended to provide integrated and strategic planning for future municipal growth through Regional Growth Plans and Regional Evaluation Frameworks (REFs), which required that GMB member municipalities’ new statutory plans be approved by the GMB in order to come into effect.
RMA has one expired resolution related to GMBs, titled ER1-19F: Dissolution of Mandatory GMBs, and has previously advocated for other changes to GMBs, including through February 2023’s report titled Seeking Balance: Voting Inequalities in Alberta’s Growth Management Boards. RMA’s report came in response to the urban-weighted, double-majority voting structure used to overrule rural municipal land use planning and development decisions at the GMB level and advocated for a more equitable voting structure in alignment with several priorities, such as a reduced scope of decisions subject to member votes under the REF and GMB appeals being determined by an independent third party.
Resolution 12-23F specifically called for RMA to advocate for the removal of mandatory GMBs from the MGA, or in the alternative, to amend the MGA to change GMB membership from mandatory to voluntary. To this end, the Minister of Municipal Affairs announced on November 22nd that starting with the 2025 budget, the province will no longer provide funding to GMBs in Calgary and Edmonton, and that membership in GMBs will become voluntary. Based on RMA’s initial analysis, the Minister’s recent announcement appears to have met the intent of both Resolution ER1-19F and Resolution 12-23F, but RMA’s Advocacy team will continue to monitor legislative changes before making a final determination. RMA plans to follow up with the Government of Alberta and rural GMB members to better understand the impacts of the decision on regional planning and decision-making moving forward.
Resolution 7-23F: Strategy for Management of Wildland Fires Outside Forest Protection Area
In Fall 2023, RMA members endorsed resolution 7-23F, which advocates for the formation of a multi-stakeholder working group to develop a collaborative long-term wildfire management strategy outside the Forest Protection Area (FPA). In response, the RMA formed the Wildfire Working Group (WWG) consisting of stakeholders from municipalities (Brazeau County, Leduc County, Parkland County, and Westlock County) ABmunis, government agencies and ministries such as Forestry and Parks, Environment and Protected Area and the Forest Products Association and emergency response organizations (Alberta Emergency Management Agency and the Alberta Fire Chiefs Association). Additionally, government responses to resolution 7-23F have indicated an acknowledgment of the issues presented in the resolution and a willingness to partake in the requested multi-stakeholder wildfire management strategy and working group.
Together, the WWG members met several times over the course of the year to discuss lessons learned from previous wildfire events and to develop recommendations for enhanced wildfire management in regions outside the Forest Protection Area. Additionally, subject matter experts were invited to present on important related topics such as FireSmart, wildfire behavior tracking, wildfire management in Indigenous communities, and agriculture/livestock wellbeing in wildfire management. Many of the themes and issues highlighted at the Working Group meetings pertained to inter-municipal collaboration, mutual aid, resource and financial capacity, and communication, among many others. The discussions and recommendations emerging from the WWG reflect the complexity of the issues related to wildfire management and demonstrate the need for more meaningful investment in funding and resources toward wildfire prevention, management, and recovery. RMA staff continue to engage with WWG members in the creation of the final report with the goal of sharing it publicly in spring 2025.
RMA members endorsed Resolution 14-24F: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Coverage for Community Peace Officers Under the Workers’ Compensation Act at the most recent RMA convention. Along with other first responders, like paramedics, dispatchers, police officers, and firefighters, community peace officers experience rates of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) above that of the general population. Accordingly, these first responders need to reach out to the Workers Compensation Board (WCB) for help. However, Resolution 14-24F highlights that while other first responders have the benefit of WCB assuming their PTSD is the result of their work, community peace officers do not have the same benefit of the doubt and must navigate the WCB system to have their diagnosis legitimized.
RMA plans to work with the Alberta Association of Community Peace Officers (AACPO) to explore opportunities for joint advocacy on this issue. RMA has already begun to research the current legislation around the issue, including reading the Workers’ Compensation and Peace Officer Acts. Further strengthening the case for change, ABMunis members passed an identical resolution in 2023, leading to further potential for joint advocacy.
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 and Advocacy
780.955.4096
wyatt@RMAlberta.com