Alberta’s Minister of Municipal Affairs told the Calgary Metropolitan Region Board (CMRB) Friday that it would no longer provide funding to the group and that membership was no longer mandatory.
Minister Ric McIver spoke to the group in camera during their Nov. 22 meeting, and then reported his decision publicly after the closed session. Those remarks, however, were not captured on the CMRB meeting livestream.
The province provides roughly $1 million annually for the operation of the CMRB – a provincially-mandated board. Without their help, Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek said that the other members will have to pony up the cash.
“It was a very interesting announcement from Mr. McIver today to defund the Calgary Metropolitan Region Board that is actually working in the best interest of all regional partners to make sure that we are successful and that our economy drives forward,” she said.
“The bind that we’re in, the purgatory we find ourselves in, is that the legislation hasn’t been revoked yet. So, under the legislation, we still have a statutory regional plan, so we still have to do things according to the legislation, but we have no funding from the partner who instituted the legislation.”
The CMRB is an eight-member, non-profit government corporation that has been in operation since 2018. Previously there was a similar organization called the Calgary Regional Partnership, however, inclusion in that group was voluntary.
The group is charged with land-use planning, growth management, regional infrastructure investment and service delivery and promoting the economic well-being of the region. The cities of Calgary, Airdrie, and Chestermere, along with the towns of Cochrane, High River and Okotoks, and Foothills County and Rocky View County belong to the group.
Province said the group was supposed to be self-supporting
The provincial decision came at the same time as the delivery of an Area Structure Plan for the Prairie Economic Gateway. This is a cross-jurisdictional partnership that Mayor Gondek said would make the area the biggest inland port in Canada.
It’s those activities that are fostered by the CMRB, she said.
“We all rely on each other. We rely on each other for amenities, for transportation, for water service. We work well together. We care about each other,” the mayor said.
“We understand that the region’s success is our individual success as well. So, all of us are now shaking our head at why they would do this when the economic uplift to the province is so great.”
The province confirmed they met with the CMRB today and informed them of the decision.
“When the CMRB was established in 2018, they were always intended to be self-funding and that is why funding has always been single year (currently $1 million),” read an email statement from Minister Ric McIver.
“The CMRB has worked hard, and we are hopeful that they will choose to continue to work together to responsibly plan and manage development. Our government is open to suggestions on how each board can work collaboratively and we look forward to their ideas as we move forward.”
The province did not answer any questions as to the motive for the funding end, nor the change to a voluntary membership.
In the past, different members have expressed a desire to get out of the CMRB.
The City of Calgary said that the CMRB was partially funded by membership contributions that were calculated using relative population and assessed property value. Calgary pays $715,000 annually.
The City said they haven’t had time to assess how this may impact the work done by the board.
