The resolution reflects the common goals of urban and rural municipalities in providing infrastructure and other community services that enable quality of life and support economic development, environmental stewardship and social wellbeing within and outside of your individual municipal boundaries.  Given the need for greater collaboration between all municipalities, this is also a very appropriate time to explore the feasibility of merging AUMA and AAMDC into one association so that we can build consensus on policy and advocacy matters, while more efficiently and effectively creating tools and resources to build municipal capacity.

AUMA is well accustomed to building consensus across municipalities of different types, sizes and locations. We have a proven track record of identifying issues and opportunities of importance to our diverse membership and then working with our members to develop practical solutions.  As well, we have also had a lot of success in working with AAMDC to develop common policy positions such as those relating to the Municipal Government Act and in delivering services through our jointly owned programs (e.g. Elected Officials Education Program and Municipal Climate Change Action Centre).

The concept of one municipal association is not ground-breaking.  Other provinces such as Ontario, British Columbia and Manitoba have effectively evolved to one municipal association and indicate that they have a much stronger impact with federal and provincial governments since they can act as one voice on behalf of all municipalities.  As well, many of you have been suggesting that it would be beneficial for AUMA and AAMDC to merge.

The AUMA Board agrees that the time is right for our associations to stop competing with each other and to instead explore combining our respective resources so that we can provide greater services to municipalities, realize cost savings and efficiencies and strengthen our impact with governments and service providers.

While we have not received an indication of whether AAMDC supports the exploration of a merger, it will be a key topic of discussion at the August annual meeting of the AUMA and AAMDC Boards.  In the interim, I want to clarify that it will take some time to complete this exploration as we would need to develop a proposed scope of services and a governance, legal and financial structure.  The proposal would then need to be presented to our respective members in 2018 for input.  Assuming there is support to proceed, it would likely take a few years to implement, given the regulatory and other requirements.

We are excited about this resolution as it opens the door for a stronger municipal voice in Alberta.  We look forward to hearing your views before and during the resolution session this fall. Please feel free to email me at president@auma.ca to share your questions and perspectives.

Lisa Holmes

AUMA President

AUMA Board of Directors

Collaborative discussions Between AUMA and AAMDC on the Opportunity to Merge

WHEREAS the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA) and the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties (AAMDC) each have over 100 years of experience in supporting Alberta’s municipalities;

WHEREAS AUMA and AAMDC share a common goal to enable strong, vibrant and sustainable communities;

WHEREAS the member municipalities of each association need to work more collaboratively together to deliver municipal infrastructure and services within and outside of their individual boundaries;

WHEREAS given the common goals of rural and urban municipalities, the associations themselves have recognized their own need for greater collaboration and have been able to reach consensus on many policy, advocacy and program matters;

WHEREAS the experiences of other provinces like Manitoba and Ontario illustrate that having one association to represent all municipalities with a unified policy and advocacy position has a more robust impact with federal and provincial governments;

WHEREAS combining our respective policy and advocacy resources would expand our impact, lower costs, and increase our sustainability; and

WHEREAS there is an opportunity for the associations to unite their efforts in providing property and casualty insurance, retirement and employee benefits, and utilities so that instead of competing with each other we can improve services to our members, reduce costs and provide the best possible pricing for our members, while combatting competition from the private sector so that our modest proceeds can be used to fund other services to help municipalities.

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the AUMA invite AAMDC to engage in exploratory discussions to merge our associations into one new municipal association.

BACKGROUND:

AUMA and AAMDC have been operating as separate municipal organizations since the early 1900s. Both associations provide member-based advocacy and business services to municipalities. AUMA represents 269 of Alberta’s urban municipalities and AAMDC represents 69 counties and municipal districts. Some municipalities are full voting members of both associations, while others are associate members for the purpose of acquiring business services.

AUMA and AAMDC jointly own the Elected Official Education Program and Municipal Climate Change Action Centre.  In addition, our associations are accustomed to working collaboratively to provide resources and tools to build municipal capacity and advocate on municipal issues and opportunities through our participation on committees and correspondence and meetings with other governments and stakeholders.

As AUMA and AAMDC each provide business services such as insurance, benefits, water and utilities, we compete with each other to serve the needs of urban and rural municipalities.  While each association has a combination of urban and rural municipal clients, our respective market shares are at risk given the emergence of private sector competitors who would like to attract our respective clients. Instead of competing with each other, AUMA and AAMDC need to join forces to combat this competition so we can continue to provide quality service at low cost to our members.