Future of Local Governance

November 4, 2010: Municipal Affairs released a report from the Municipal Sustainability Strategy working group: Building on Strength: A Proposal for Municipal Sustainability for Alberta.

Oct 16, 2010: Minister Goudreau addressed the ASVA and advised that there was no intention to dissolve Summer Villages, to which he received a loud applause. He had no details yet to release on the Municipal Sustainability Strategy (MSS) report, but said that it had to be approved through Caucus and then would go to the municipalities for their use and comments.

Dec 16, 2009: Sue Evans of Lakeview and Seba Beach will represent the ASVA (Association of Summer Villages) on the Minister's MSS Committee.

Oct 16, 2009: In the Minister's speech to the Association of Summer Villages, Mr. Danyluk noted that he is more educated on Summer Villages but still has concerns. His main concern is that services are provided to the ratepayers, but the exact structure does not matter. He has now formed a MSS Committee which will decide what basic services should be provided by a municipality, create capacity building tools and develop a restructuring process. He is waiting for their report to be finalized as soon as possible, after the AUMA convention to be held in the beginning of November.

Letter from Minister of Municipal Affairs to Itaska Beach- August 31, 2009

Letter sent from Itaska Beach to Minister of Municipal Affairs - August 10, 2009

Ratepayer letter - March 19, 2009

For more information on what the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association is doing towards this topic:

http://www.auma.ca/live/AUMA/Toolkits+%26+Initiatives/Future_of_Local_Governance

Many hours have been put in to ensure that a positive message is being put forth to the Provincial Government, as well as a strong action plan implemented. Ralph Johnston was able to do a presentation to the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA) at a Mayor’s Caucus for populations under 2500, and had a resolution passed to garner the AUMA to support the Association of Summer Villages and jointly pursue Municipal Viability. From this, a task force was put together to identify policy options for Local Government.

From April 30 – May 1^st, 2009, the AUMA held a President’s Summit on “The Future of Local Governance”. The AUMA is a representative body for urban populations (Summer Villages, Villages, Towns and Cities) – the rural counties were not in attendance.

The conference was a good education session to see the history of what has happened in the past in different jurisdictions, to see what has been done, and what we can learn from it. Speakers came from New Zealand, Australia, Nova Scotia, as well as local Albertan examples of restructuring. The Province also gave their perspective. Minister of Municipal Affairs, Ray Danyluk spoke and he said that many municipalities (60 – 70 in Alberta) have challenges and his immediate concern is with the smaller municipalities. His main concern is Sustainability, where Community is the bottom line, and the following must be met:

· Necessary & essential services

· Basic infrastructure

· Manage risk and plan for the future

He also said that we need to work together for possibilities and opportunities, and let him know what the solution is.

From the discussions with the delegates in attendance (Councillors and Administrators), the AUMA has now built a Draft Policy Options Report on the Future of Local Governance, which will be presented for approval at the AUMA conference in November this year.

The Association of Summer Villages (ASVA) has formed a Cooperative Initiative Committee, in which a representative from each area acts as a liaison with the ASVA. Leslie Ellis, Mayor from Grandview is our representative.

Our Mayor Ralph Johnston, along with 4 other Summer Villages around the lake, have been working diligently contacting MLA’s and holding meetings with the minister regarding the viability of our Summer Villages at Pigeon Lake.

Future of Local Governance

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