A former mayor says amalgamating the Capital region’s 24 municipalities into as few as five could solve a lot of the problems they face individually.
Richard Plain, twice St. Albert’s mayor and once the face of the city’s opposition to annexation by Edmonton, said it might be time for the municipalities to look at the idea.
“I think it would be something worth studying or looking at,” said Plain. “Then let’s decide whether they want to go rather than the minister saying, ‘If you’re not nice to each other, I’m going to do something to you.’”
Earlier this week the Edmonton Journal quoted Municipal Affairs Minister Doug Griffiths as saying he might amalgamate some Capital region municipalities if some ongoing squabbles at the Capital Region Board weren’t solved and that it could happen by September. A spokesperson for Griffiths later said he was just giving an example and not setting a deadline.
The idea of St. Albert somehow joining Edmonton hasn’t come up since 1979 when Edmonton proposed annexing both St. Albert and Sherwood Park in its Horizon 21 plan. Though approved by the Local Authorities Board at the time, the provincial cabinet of the day turned down Edmonton’s annexation bid.
Plain formed and led a committee devoted to opposing the annexation in response to Edmonton’s plans. Plain said that annexation was focused on getting control of Strathcona County’s industrial development.
“They said that, to show they just weren’t after industry, they included St. Albert,” Plain said.
But amalgamating some different municipalities would not only create fewer governments, it would eliminate some of the arguments currently plaguing the regional board. Plain pointed to the frosty relationship between St. Albert and Sturgeon County as an example.
“It would solve parts of the problems, or a fair amount that we are continually running into with the County of Sturgeon,” Plain said. “If you needed to sensibly expand the boundaries of one of the urban areas, you could do it.”
Plain was mayor back in 2003 when the city launched its annexation bid of 1,337 acres of county land. The bid, later approved by the provincial cabinet in 2007, led to an ongoing war of words and sense of mistrust that prevails to this day.
“The annexation, we had to give (Sturgeon) more than $1 million for the privilege of acquiring the lands to the north,” Plain said.
Today both councils frequently clash over planning along their shared border. Sturgeon wants to build more residential development in the area, while St. Albert is pushing its industrial development, which could come close to Sturgeon land.
“So all these issues, continually crossing borders, would be taken care of.”
In Plain’s opinion, bringing back the regional planning commissions, axed by the province during the cost-cutting days of the 1990s, would be more beneficial. It would involve the municipalities as well as different provincial departments who could lend their expertise to different planning problems.
“That’s very different than what happens at (the Capital Region Board).”
Ultimately, Plain said, something needs to be done.
“I think we’re at the point where we need to have an informed look at this by everybody,” Plain said. “Let’s make sure we do this right. Let’s make sure now we lay down the basics to accommodate the rest of the growth and let’s put in the reforms and let’s deal with it.”
