As the dust settles in civic elections around the province, a councillor from the city next door has already started talking about how Edmonton needs to get a bigger share of the region’s industrial tax revenue.
Edmonton city Coun. Ed Gibbons made his comments in the Edmonton Journal last week. He said the industrial tax revenues, which mostly go to the counties in the capital region, should be shared more evenly with the region’s city and towns.
St. Albert mayor Nolan Crouse, who also serves as chair of the Capital Region Board, said while he’d read Gibbons’ comments, which also talked about Edmonton’s need for more land, he wasn’t sure if Gibbons was speaking on behalf of his council or just his own opinion.
“My reaction was it’s a little bit early for there to be the conversation which I thought is a lot of what the article was,” Crouse said. “That was almost the only reaction I had.”
There is always a difference between rural and urban municipalities, Crouse noted, a divide that exists across North America.
But he’s not planning on setting things up as urban versus rural when it comes to getting a bigger share of revenues.
“I’m not going to draw those lines in the sand,” Crouse said. St. Albert’s rural neighbour is Sturgeon County.
“Our objective with Sturgeon County in particular is to have conversations about lots of things, recreation, land planning, public transit, all those things, how it all gets paid for is a separate formula,” Crouse said. “I’m not going to set this up as a we/they.”
Meanwhile, newly elected Edmonton mayor Don Iveson was talking about referring to this area of Alberta as the Edmonton region versus just as the capital region.
Crouse’s reaction to the name issue was that “it depends on the context.”
If off in Ottawa or at an international location, talking about the Edmonton region makes sense, Crouse said. It’s easy to find on a map then and people will know where you are talking about.
“But if you’re having coffee out in Lamont or if you’re dealing with seniors out in Entwistle or in Legal, you’re not talking necessarily about the Edmonton region, you’re talking about their region or their area, so it depends on the context. The context for the 24 municipalities is not the Edmonton region, the context is the capital region because we’re talking about capital region stuff,” Crouse said.
The capital region board isn’t trying to attract business as a unit but is instead focusing on planning issues.
The capital region board isn’t trying to attract business as a unit but is instead working on portfolios like land planning, Crouse said.
