The Mid-Sized Cities Mayors’ Caucus met with provincial government officials in St. Albert recently, and Jeff Genung, Cochrane Mayor and chair of the group, says they have a wonderful working relationship with the provincial government, including Premier Danielle Smith.
Genung says the group of 24 municipalities has successfully met their goal of being respected and heard by provincial government officials, primarily due to the approach of conciliation as opposed to confrontation.
In the past Genung has often pointed to provincial support for infrastructure projects like Highway 1A as evidence that his belief in staying away from criticism of the provincial government in favour of a more diplomatic and cooperative stance is more his style, and is more productive.
He said the MCMC is reaping the rewards of a solid working relationship with the provincial government, and some critical funding decisions have reflected how the partnership is working.
“Over the past few years, we've been slowly establishing ourselves with the province, while at the same time building an organization, and proving ourselves to one another, and I think the mayors around the table have realized the strength in our unity and the power of the voice that we carry collectively,” he said.
So the dialogue with the Province works well. As long as you’re talking about issues the Province wants to talk about, that is.
Genung admitted it doesn’t always work.
When the MCMC tried to talk about the contentious issue of amendments to the Municipal Government Act and Local Authorities Election Act, there was no appetite for it from the provincial officials.
“The Bill 20 stuff, that's different, yes. The short answer there is no. We're not happy with all of the changes there, but we didn't seem to get any traction when we talked to the premier and when we talked to the Minister,” Genung said.
They had some feedback on the regulations, but the discussion went nowhere; so rather than belabour the point, it was dropped.
Genung said the provincial officials didn't seem to want to move away from their position; so it would have been counterproductive to try to convince them otherwise.
They had an hour of Smith’s time at the meetings.
Genung says they continue to encourage the premier to use the 24 municipalities represented in the caucus as pilot communities for new initiatives, new funding opportunities, or taxation ideas.
He stresses the municipalities aren't looking for hand-outs, but partnerships.