At a Glance - Week of May 7, 2024

Amendments Expected for Bill 20

Since the Municipal Affairs Statutes Amendment Act, 2024 was tabled in the Legislature, it has been met with critique from municipal elected officials across the province, including both Alberta Municipalities and Rural Municipalities of Alberta. On May 2, Minister of Municipal Affairs Ric McIver issued a statement that indicates the province will work with municipalities to provide more clarity to the bill.

In his statement, the minister specifically refers to the proposed power to remove councillors from their position as well as the ability to repeal or amend bylaws at the local level.

With respect to removing councillors, the minister wrote "as municipal councillors and mayors are locally elected by their constituents, Alberta’s government recognizes this authority should only be used as a last resort, which was always the intent of this legislation." He also indicated the that province will clarify that the ability to repeal and amend bylaws would only be used in instances when bylaws intersect with areas of provincial jurisdictions such as health care and education.

Drought Response Plan Released

In advance of what is expected to be an incredibly dry summer, the provincial government has released its drought response plan. As part of the plan, Alberta has shared the three triggers it will be monitoring when deciding if it will declare a water emergency.

·         Whether there is sufficient water for priority usage;

·         Whether there is increasing distress from local authorities or if they are unable to respond to drought issues;

·         Whether the water management system has become so overwhelmed that staff cannot respond in a timely manner.

In addition to this announcement, the province shared that it is currently in stage four of its five-stage water management response plan. In stage five, the province would call an emergency under the Water Act that would be applied to specific locations and supersede water-sharing agreements.

MOU Signed with Saskatchewan

On May 2, the Governments of Alberta and Saskatchewan announced that they have signed a memorandum of understanding "to advance the development of nuclear power generation in support of both provinces' need for affordable, reliable, and sustainable electricity grids by 2050."

According to the release issued by the Saskatchewan Government, "the MOU will support collaboration and information sharing on key areas of nuclear power generation, including nuclear supply chains and workforce development, the security of supply of fuels, and the development and regulation of nuclear reactor technologies, including small modular reactors (SMRs). The provinces will also work to advance industrial decarbonization and enhance grid capabilities."

The Alberta government is still in the early stages of nuclear implementation as it currently sits in the feasibility study stage. In addition to SMRs, the provincial government has recently mused about using "conventional nuclear" such as the power plants used in Ontario and New Brunswick.

Master Plan Released for Alberta Passenger Rail

For the last number of years, many have discussed and explored the potential of expanding Alberta's passenger rail service. On April 29th, the provincial government released high-level details about the vision it has for exactly that.

Accrording to the provincial government's release, "Alberta’s Passenger Rail Master Plan will look forward decades and identify concrete actions that can be taken now as well as in the future to build the optimal passenger rail system for the province. The Master Plan will assess the feasibility of passenger rail in the province, including regional (inter-city), commuter and high-speed services."

Among the ideas in the passenger rail vision are:

·         a commuter rail system for the Calgary area that connects surrounding communities and the Calgary International Airport to downtown;

·         a commuter rail system for the Edmonton area that connects surrounding communities and the Edmonton International Airport to downtown;

·         regional rail lines from Calgary and Edmonton to the Rocky Mountain parks;

·         a regional rail line between Calgary and Edmonton, with a local transit hub in Red Deer;

·         municipal-led LRT systems in Calgary and Edmonton that integrate with the provincial passenger rail system; and

·         rail hubs serving the major cities that would provide linkages between a commuter rail system, regional rail routes and municipal-led mass transit systems.