A legal challenge launched last month by Parkland County could topple the Capital Region Board and paralyze the board's activities indefinitely.
Parkland County filed an application with the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench against the province on May 13 challenging the legal basis for the Capital Region Board (CRB). Board chair and St. Albert Mayor Nolan Crouse received a letter from Parkland Mayor Ron Shaigec about the application on Tuesday.
"This is a case about basic principles of democracy," the application reads. Parkland argues that the 2012 Capital Region Board Regulation, which establishes the CRB, is invalid as it makes major changes to the Municipal Government Act, which establishes cities, without letting the legislature vote on those changes.
This regulation had also been continuously re-enacted every two years instead of being voted on. (Regulations that are not voted on after two years expire.)
The regulation also gives Edmonton an "undemocratic coronation" as king of the capital region by giving it a veto, the application reads.
The case asks the court to find the Capital Region Board Regulation, and therefore the board itself, to be null and void. Alternatively, it asks for the court to exempt Parkland's laws from board approval until the board finished its new Capital Region Growth Plan (which is now under development).
"Taking a legal course of action was not our preferred route," writes Shaigec in his letter to Crouse and Municipal Affairs Minister Doug Griffiths, and a "political solution" may still be possible.
Shaigec said Parkland would drop its legal action if the province changed the CRB's Regional Evaluation Framework (REF) process.
Currently, most municipal development plan and area structure plan amendments made by board members must be approved by the CRB before they can become law.
Board administrators and consultants evaluate proposals based on whether or not they fit the regional growth plan. Their decisions can be appealed to the board itself, which then votes on whether or not to approve a proposal.
But Edmonton has a veto on the board. CRB motions need a double majority to pass – support from 17 of 24 members representing 75 per cent of the region's populations. As Edmonton has about 70 per cent of the region's people, it can block any proposal by voting against its approval.
Shaigec proposed a change that would, he asserts, stop this from happening: instead of voting to approve a proposal, have the board vote to disapprove it. That way, it appears, instead of needing a double majority to let something happen, the board would need a double majority to stop it from happening. This change would make it much tougher for Edmonton to block anything.
Parkland also wants its Acheson industrial park area structure plan either immediately approved under these new rules or re-evaluated under them. That plan was recently rejected by the board despite being supported by 20 of the board's 24 members (Edmonton opposed it).
In a separate letter to Crouse, Shaigec asked that "all Board activities cease" until the courts rule on the application, arguing that it would be inappropriate to run the board while its legal base was in question.
A halt to board activities would, in many circumstances, make it impossible for capital region communities to change an area structure or municipal development plan. Sturgeon County had hoped to have its municipal development plan approved by the board this month.
The board's lawyers were considering Shaigec's request, Crouse said. "As board chair, I think we need to keep doing our business," he said. "I think we've got half a dozen applications in front of the board and, in my opinion, we have to deal with them."
Future uncertain
Shaigec refused repeated requests for comment on this issue, instead referring all questions to county communications manager Jackie Ostashek.
Ostashek said she would not comment on the specifics of the application as it was before courts. County and provincial lawyers were now in talks to set a trial date. "We hope the matter is heard soon, as it is an important matter that needs to be addressed."
Tim Morrison, chief of staff for Minister Griffith, said the province would let the courts decide this matter. "We're confident in the legislation we put in."
Crouse said Parkland had yet to present its proposed tweak to the REF process to the board, and that the board elected not to re-examine said process about eight months ago.
He personally had no problems with the board. "From a St. Albert mayor point of view, it's working, and from a board chair point of view, it's working."
The board has no Plan B in place if the court rules in Parkland's favour, Crouse said, but he doubted the province would let up on regional co-operation if it did. "We don't just deal with land planning," he said, noting that the board has made 180 decisions so far based on transit, affordable housing and other issues. "I just don't see this thing grinding to a halt."
Jim Lightbody, chair of political science at the University of Alberta, said this was a case of Parkland having a "snit" about the board quashing its plans for Acheson.
The application had little chance of success, he continued. Even if the province's actions with the CRB were undemocratic, they're also legal, as Sect. 92.8 of the Constitution Act grants provinces exclusive authority over municipalities. The Ontario Superior Court thoroughly rejected the same arguments Parkland was making during the amalgamation of Toronto, he noted.
"A quick consultation with anyone who's taken my (political science) course would tell them that this is not going to go anywhere."
Still, Lightbody said, the board's voting structure was problematic as it's meant to accommodate Edmonton's huge influence in the region. The regional municipality of Hamilton-Wentworth had a similar problem a few decades ago – it had a complex voting structure meant to offset Hamilton's population, and it often lead to gridlock.
And the solution was amalgamation, he continued. No voting formula can balance the scales when one party has a huge population advantage over everyone else, he said. "If Parkland wants to argue for democratic principles, they should argue for the amalgamation of Edmonton."
