In my address to the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association ( #AUMA) Convention in #Calgary, I called on Jason Kenney and Municipal Affairs Minister Tracy Allard to reset the province’s broken relationship with municipalities, and invest in their economic recovery.

#ableg

So far, the UCP’s approach to supporting municipalities has hovered somewhere between condescension and outright disrespect. Municipalities deserve a real plan for diversification.

This plan must engage elected leaders to act locally and grow their strengths while pivoting to new opportunities because there cannot be an economic recovery in Alberta without municipalities at the table.

#abecon

I shared five ideas the Alberta NDP would pursue to help municipalities...

Historic Investment in Affordable Housing:
The Alberta NDP would undertake the most significant investment in affordable housing this province has ever seen. This would not only create jobs, it would help address social challenges and support Albertans devastated by COVID-19.

Waive Infrastructure Matching: The Alberta NDP would create a program to ensure that municipalities have access to the fiscal resources they need to meet tripartite agreements.

Some municipalities are forced to leave federal funding on the table because they cannot afford their matching portion. Alberta would cover that portion where the project is shovel-ready.

Fix Education Property Tax: Currently, municipalities are forced to pay the province for education property taxes they can’t collect because of default. This creates additional challenges at a time when defaults are going up. We would suspend that requirement for two years.

Negotiate New Fiscal Framework: The Alberta NDP would set out a process to renegotiate a modern fiscal framework with municipalities that reflects the realities of COVID-19. Municipalities need long-term funding certainty, not continued downloading of costs from the province.

Invite Municipalities to Help Build An Economic Plan: The Alberta NDP would build an economic plan with cities, not without them, as the UCP have done. Cities all have their own economic plans. We would bring them together, and build one plan for all of Alberta.