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 intended to routinely highlight 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 October 2024 edition of the Monthly Resolution Update Bulletin features the following resolutions:
Resolution 1-23F: Strategic Transportation Infrastructure Program (STIP) Funding
The RMA’s members are responsible for the largest road and bridge network of any stakeholder in the province, which provides the agriculture, forestry, and energy industries with access to natural resources, connects communities, provides access to important community services, and supports the tourism industry.
Building and maintaining transportation infrastructure is the single biggest expense for most rural municipalities, whose municipal tax revenues alone are insufficient to build and maintain their transportation infrastructure networks. Adequate funding from the province through initiatives such as STIP is necessary to ensure the sustainability of rural Alberta’s transportation network and the viability of rural communities.
The RMA appreciates that the recently announced Local Growth and Sustainability Grant (LGSG) recognizes the impacts of non-residential growth on municipal infrastructure. However, based on the RMA’s analysis of the LGSG, little if any of the available funding is likely to flow to support non-residential growth in rural municipalities. LGSG funding falls well short of the funds required to offset the infrastructure deficit faced by rural municipalities and does not make up for inadequate funding under the oversubscribed STIP program.
The RMA is currently undertaking a study of the rural municipal infrastructure deficit to provide insight into the challenges of maintaining and repairing existing infrastructure and continues to advocate for a substantial increase to the funding available for the Local Road Bridge Program stream within STIP, as well as linking STIP funding to the current infrastructure deficit and the risks associated with failing infrastructure.
Resolution 5-23F: Municipal Involvement in Quasi-Judicial Agencies
Provincial quasi-judicial agencies such as AHS, the NRCB, AUC and the AER administer the various policy decisions and service provision of the Government of Alberta. Over the years, members have observed that municipalities are often not fully or fairly involved in project approval processes, lack meaningful participation in project hearings, and find it difficult to hold proponents to account in the case of bankruptcies or project end of life.
For these reasons and more, Resolution 5-23F calls for increased accountability, engagement and transparency for municipalities involved in project approval and hearing process across Alberta’s quasi-judicial agencies. Since the resolution’s endorsement, RMA formed the quasi-judicial agencies member committee (QJAC), which produced a final report of recommendations to help address the issues presented in the resolution. Some of the recommendations related to this resolution include:
- That the GOA and quasi-judicial agencies work with stakeholders to develop a public interest evaluation framework to assess decision-making and engagement processes.
- That the GOA and quasi-judicial agencies work together and with stakeholders, including municipalities, to regularly adapt approval processes to industry changes.
- That the AER and AUC adopt NRCB requirements related to aligning projects with municipal development plans.
- That municipalities have automatic status as directly affected parties and automatic standing at all hearings.
In addition to these recommendations, the RMA also provided input as part of the AUC’s Rule 007 consultation. The RMA’s input aligned with this resolution, emphasizing the need for municipalities to be proactively involved in approval processes as a key stakeholder. Government has already committed to some positive process changes, such as municipal participation rights to be automatically granted and cost recovery for participating municipalities.
Most recently, the AUC is conducting consultation on Rule 009, which addresses intervener cost recovery and other issues related to hearing participation. As part of these consultations, the AUC may implement changes to Rule 009 that expand cost recovery to municipalities participating in approval hearings, which is a promising development in support of both the QJAC recommendations and this resolution. The AUC is accepting feedback on this consultation until November 14, 2024 and municipalities are encouraged to review the proposed amendments and submit comments to engage@auc.ab.ca. The RMA also intends to provide input towards this consultation with an emphasis on the need for actual cost recovery rates to be reflective of municipal participation costs, which is not the case in the proposed changes.
Resolution 7-24S: Establishing a Provincial Level of Service for Emergency Social Services
Rural municipalities often host evacuees fleeing disasters and emergencies, which may include providing emergency social services. While such support is crucial and reflects the community spirit present across rural Alberta, it also presents major cost and capacity challenges for municipalities. Currently, different municipalities provide different levels of emergency social services which impacts cost consistency. This resolution calls for the development of a provincial level of emergency social services to increase consistency across the province, differentiate between basic and discretionary emergency social services, and create a fee schedule that would clarify cases in which the province contributes and how municipalities should bill one another.
Given the increase in evacuations in recent years, the RMA views this as a priority issue. The RMA plans to analyze surrounding legislation, ESS offerings in other provinces, and municipal ESS plans, prepare a list of essential and discretionary emergency social services to develop recommendations related to the development and implementation of a provincial level of emergency social services.
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