Posted Dec 8, 2007, 10:24 PM
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Edmonton: City will have veto in regional decisions
Quote:
City will have veto in regional decisions
Board would need 'super majority' of 17 out of 25 municipalities
Jeff Holubitsky, The Edmonton Journal
Published: 7:59 am
EDMONTON - Edmonton will get a veto over its neighbours in regional decisions, says a leaked provincial report obtained by The Journal.
The recommended voting power on a proposed Capital Region super board is expected to be the most contentious issue in the report written by consultant Doug Radke. Even with its veto, the city must still win the approval of 16 other communities to go ahead with its own proposals before the board, the report recommends.
"The voting structure will be a super majority, which is 17 municipalities -- which must include Edmonton -- of the 25," St. Albert Mayor Nolan Crouse said of the plan.
"So you could have a 24-to-one vote to adopt an initiative, but if Edmonton is the one, the vote fails."
The province briefed the 22 mayors and other officials of the 24 communities that form the Alberta Capital Region Alliance at a four-hour meeting Friday morning.
Representatives from two smaller communities were absent.
"It came across as highly sensitive and its schedule is very tight ... to have the model in place before a provincial election," Crouse said. He added the mayors were told the premier will announce before Jan. 31 which recommendations of the Radke report he would accept.
Edmonton stopped attending capital region alliance meetings two years ago. Mayor Stephen Mandel was not at the Friday meeting. His office said he would not comment on the report until he meets Monday with city council.
Crouse said Mandel's absence Friday was a concern. "Edmonton needs to be at the table in all of this."
Premier Ed Stelmach's spokesman Tom Olsen said the report will be released Dec. 14, the same day the premier meets with regional political leaders to get feedback. The province's response will be given Dec. 18.
The report, called Working Together, was ordered by Stelmach to solve ongoing problems in the capital region caused by massive growth. It looks at a range of issues including water, sewage, garbage, airports, housing, health care, social services, emergency services, policing, education and recreation.
"For St. Albert to move forward on an initiative, we have to make sure Edmonton is on board," Crouse said. "But it also really means Edmonton has veto power over any municipality."
The reports states that two-thirds, or 17 of the 25 municipalities in the region, have to agree before a motion can be passed. The report also recommends the voting structure must recognize the principle of representation by population. Edmonton has about 71 per cent of the people in the region.
"Edmonton is the predominant player in the region when it comes to many services, especially social services, and deserves to have a substantial voice in the determination of what happens in the region," the report states.
Crouse said that St. Albert, the third largest municipality in the group with about 60,000 people representing about 5.5 per cent of the region's population, would have enough power to influence, but not control votes. This could theoretically make the community a tie-breaker, for example, if other communities such as Strathcona County and Edmonton appeared to be at loggerheads.
"There's an old saying that if you are always on the side of the majority then maybe you are wrong," Crouse said. "There's a certain amount of good that will come from a 17-to-eight vote because it forces you to be really sharp on issues."
And while the idea of revenue-sharing from the huge upgrader projects in Sturgeon and Strathcona County has also caused controversy, Crouse said the mayors were told the report was against it. "It is recommended not to be considered," he said.
He also said the mayors were told the cost of operating the board for its first three years would be picked up by the province, as the communities find ways to fund their projects.
"Edmonton not being at the meeting is this continual indication they are not wanting to work with the process, but also at the end are receiving this ability to veto," Crouse said. "That was a specific concern with people expressed several times."
Strathcona County Mayor Cathy Olesen could not be reached for comment.
jholubitsky@thejournal.canwest.com
FULL REPORT
Go to online extras at edmontonjournal.com to read the full 94-page Working Together report, detailing recommendations for regional government.
© The Edmonton Journal 2007
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