The City of Cold Lake's quest to seek support for a regional governance resolution it plans to bring to the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA) has once again sparked a debate over regional government in the Lakeland.
Days after the resolution was released, MD of Bonnyville Reeve Ed Rondeau responded to it with a two-page release stating the MD is adamantly opposed to the idea of regional government in the region.
“As MD residents, we have everything to lose and nothing to gain from regional government…Enough is enough. It is time to say ‘No to regional government' and argue for our own sustainability,” stated Rondeau in the release.
Rondeau argues that the only reason urban municipalities across the province are talking about regional government is to get more money; money that is used to provide services in the rural community.
“We are receiving taxes on pipelines, power transmission lines and gas pipelines (linear assessment). For the most part, none of these are in cities, towns or villages. The urban municipalities say ‘You have more than we do, so you have to share.'”
He added: “Do not fool yourselves, this is all about the money. They do not plan to give us any either, but to take as much as possible.”
City of Cold Lake Mayor Craig Copeland said he was “a little surprised” at the “aggressive comments” in the reeve's letter, as Cold Lake council's stance on the issue has been the same for years.
“I don't think the reeve and the MD of Bonnyville council should be surprised by what we are doing,” said Copeland. “Our council, for years, has been pro to some kind of a change in terms of the governance model for municipalities. Our position is that there needs to be more sharing or more cooperation between rural and urban to make the community a better place to live for everyone. We don't think that municipalities regardless if they are urban or rural should put up silo's and build fences. We have been pretty adamant for years that we need a change.”
The Town of Bonnyville has yet to debate supporting the Cold Lake resolution in council, as two councilors were absent from last week's meeting. Mayor Gene Sobolewski says that council plans to have a discussion about whether or not to support the resolution at the next council meeting.
Although he could not speak for council, he did offer up his personal thoughts on the matter.
“I don't believe in (regional government). I think it should be a last-ditch effort. My personal feeling is that I do share some of Ed Rondeau's concerns of how recent examples have lead to smaller communities or certain services being reduced or denied to other smaller areas and the high popular areas tending to get most of the funding,” said Sobolewski.
He added, “I think through cooperation and through collaboration we can achieve a lot more. In terms of revenue sharing, I do believe the whole municipal governance and funding models are evolving and changing and I think there has to be a lot of discussion and dialogue in terms of everybody bearing the costs to provide services, regardless of whether they are located in a rural municipality or an urban municipality.”
Examples of regional governments in the province are Lac La Biche and Wood Buffalo (Fort McMurray). Rondeau states that these moves haven't faired too well for the residents living in the surrounding rural regions.
“Want to talk about the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo? Ask Conklin, Anzac or Janvier what they have received from their municipal government lately. I'll venture a guess – not much,” said Rondeau. “The winners in the move to regional government, if it comes to fruition will be the larger cities, not Cold Lake or the Town of Bonnyville. Small villages can start licking their wounds now, because they will be the worst off.”
Copeland disagrees, feeling that regional government wouldn't have a negative effect on the region.
“If they did take all the linear assessment and divide it by per capita, the reeve is right, the City of Edmonton the City of Calgary would benefit. If you read our resolution that is not what we are saying,” said Copeland. “What we are saying is that we feel that the assessment, whether it is residential, industrial or linear should stay within the community and in our case we are saying the (definition of a) community has to be revisited, that it can be an urban and a rural coming together to form a new community.”
Rondeau's letter, although clearly against regional government, talks about the MD of Bonnyville council being committed to regional cooperation. Projects like the regional water line, the Bonnyville Regional Fire Authority, Bonnyville Municipal Ambulance, Family and Community Support Services and libraries are services the reeve listed as an example of regional cooperation with other councils.
Sobolewski is on the same page, feeling that regional cooperation is a better route to take in trying to find a better way to serve the region.
“What I like to do is point to some of the positives in the relationship, as an example, between the MD and the Town. We started off with an (Community Development) agreement and it was ratified and renegotiated. I do believe there are doors that are open, we just have to sit down and discuss the issues, discuss some of the differences. We are probably not going to agree on everything but we still have to have collaboration.”
