Alberta’s Premier stated the provincial government may impose a regional plan if an agreement can’t be reached, but Foothills municipalities are adamant they want to decide their own fate.
MD of Foothills Reeve Larry Spilak said he believes a resolution can be found and the Province won’t have to impose a plan for the Calgary Regional Partnership.
“I’d be very disappointed if the Province had anything in mind to do with forcing the rurals in,” he said.
The MD of Foothills and the counties of Rocky View and Wheatland have opted out of the Calgary Regional Partnership for various reasons including governance believing the City of Calgary has too much clout.
Spilak’s comments came after Premier Ed Stelmach told an Alberta Weekly Newspaper Association conference in Edmonton on May 6 the Province would allow regional municipalities to continue to negotiate an agreement. If an agreement is not reached in the next few months he said the provincial government may have to step in.
However, Stelmach is now backing off on his comments.
The premier was not available for an interview last week to clarify his comments, however, his director of communications said the imposition of a plan is not on the radar.
“The approach has been used in other parts of the province but each region has it’s own unique challenges and issues so even speculating on what ‘that’ would look like hasn’t even been considered,” said Cam Hantiuk.
He said the Premier believes that, with a new mayor in Calgary, relationships between regional municipalities will improve.
The Premier’s comments at the conference came in response to a question about solutions for Okotoks’ water license problems.
While Stelmach did not specifically say the Province will require a pipeline for Okotoks, Stelmach said a water pipeline system in the Edmonton region has worked well for municipalities around the capital.
He said the Province is discussing putting a price on water to encourage people to use less, but he did not explain how it would reduce consumption.
Spilak said the MD would like to be part of the Calgary Regional Partnership (CRP), but it doesn’t want to be part of the Calgary Metropolitan Plan (CMP).
“We feel it’s more of an urban plan than it is a rural plan,” said Spilak.
The MD of Foothills and counties of Rocky View and Wheatland all voted against the CMP and withdrew from the CRP in 2009 over number of concerns, including proposed higher densities for development and a voting structure many argued gave the City a veto.
Spilak said the super majority voting structure remains one of the MD’s primary concerns. As it stands, he said the structure gives Calgary a veto. Under the current system, for any motion to proceed, a majority of the CRP’s 15 members, comprising 50 per cent of the region’s population must support it.
“That would involve literally everything that took place within the region, if Calgary did not want it to happen it simply would not happen,” he said. “We’re just not prepared to do that, to give up our autonomy for this plan.”
Spilak said the MD would be willing to consider allowing the voting structure to remain, but only if it is tied to regional services and infrastructure such as water pipelines or transit, not land use issues.
When it comes to supplying water to the foothills region, Spilak said he would be more supportive of a sub-regional water pipeline in the foothills that does not tie into Calgary. He said there is water available on the Highwood River that could serve the region if Calgary were to give up some of its water licenses.
Okotoks Mayor Bill Robertson said the Town should be able to choose on its own whether or not it ties into a water pipeline.
“It definitely should be the Town’s position,” he said. “We’re trying to be as responsible as we can with the river running through the town, with taxpayer’s money, with provincial taxpayer’s money also.”
Robertson said he wants the Province to provide scientific data showing the Bow River has enough water to support a pipeline to southern Alberta communities such as Okotoks.
“Where does it leave the Province if we don’t have the scientific data (showing) that actually there is enough water to sustain the region out of (the Bow River),” he said. “So, we tie into this pipeline and then there’s a shortage of water eventually because it wasn’t scientifically proven and in fact there wasn’t.”
