ATHABASCA — Athabasca town councillor Sara Graling was quick to voice her concerns on the new Provincial Priorities Act, a bill requiring municipalities and other provincial entities to seek provincial approval before receiving federal funds.
The Act, which will come into force April 1, 2025, was put in place to “ensure Ottawa is not undermining the province’s jurisdiction to make decisions about what is best for Alberta and Albertans,” wrote Minister of Municipal Affairs Ric McIver in a late February letter.
Town councillors had an opportunity to comment on McIver’s correspondence during the Mar. 4 council meeting, and voted unanimously to direct administration to send a letter of their own in response.
“This government has advertised itself as a reducing red tape government, and this is certainly the opposite of reducing red tape from my perspective,” said Coun. Sara Graling.
“I would like to send correspondence indicating our concern for the additional financial burden, administrative impact, and ultimately the undermining of municipal capacity to negotiate effectively with the federal government.”
Others around the table questioned whether the Act would cause the town and other municipalities to miss opportunities for federal funds while receiving less from the province in areas like infrastructure dollars.
Related: Provincial funding still less than before, despite recent highs
“We might miss deadlines, then,” said Yuill. “That’s horseshit.”
CAO Rachel Ramey said the language of McIver’s letter suggests grant deadlines shouldn’t be a problem.
“Municipalities and municipal entities will be required to submit information on all new agreements with the federal government, agreement amendments and agreement renewals,” reads the letter, which noted more details on municipal submission requirements will be announced later in March.
Terms and Conditions
The Act will apply not only to municipalities, but school boards, health authorities, housing management bodies, and post-secondary institutions. After April 1, all organizations defined as “provincial entities” under the bill will be required to obtain prior approval for federal deals and agreements over $100,000.
Exceptions for municipalities include agreements less than $100,000, in-kind federal contributions, or agreements related to the response and assistance for disasters and emergencies.
In order for the exceptions to apply, copies of the agreement and any other requested information must still be submitted to Municipal Affairs.
In cases where agreements cover more than one ministry, all relevant information must be sent to all applicable ministers if so required.
While the Act outlines submission timelines for housing authorities — intent to apply must be stated during annual reports or at least 60 days before application submission — no such timeline was included for municipal agreements.
In order to receive approval, agreements must align with the priorities and long-term financial plans of the provincial government, and must not interfere with provincial jurisdiction nor “impose conditions that would restrict the government of Alberta in an unacceptable manner from establishing and implementing policies and programs in an area of provincial jurisdiction.”
Last spring, Alberta Municipalities president Tyler Gandam and other representatives called for clear parameters and definitions on what provincial priorities are, and to make matching funds available for federal grants in alignment with those priorities.
Approvals may also come with terms and conditions, and both ministerial and cabinet approval is needed for deals exceeding $5 million, or if, “in the Ministers opinion, the agreement intrudes … affects, or interferes into an area of provincial legislative jurisdiction.”
Municipalities will be informed of both approvals and denials in written correspondence, and approvals may be subject to extra terms and conditions.
When the Act was first introduced last April, Premier Danielle Smith said in a review of 14,000 intergovernmental agreements, 800 were “flagged as problematic,” including the federal pharmacare and dental care plans, as well as green energy projects such as net-zero housing, solar projects, and electric public transit.
Related: Alberta wants final OK for federal funding agreements with municipalities
