DIDSBURY - Town council has passed a motion backing a resolution put forward by the Town of Olds that calls for support for small and medium sized municipalities in having a voice in the development of the new $250 million federal Rural Transit Fund and for the fund to provide operational support.
The resolution is set to come before the Alberta Municipalities convention this fall. If passed the resolution would be used to advocate for government action.
Under Alberta Municipalities policy, a resolution coming before the convention must be put forward by a sponsoring municipality, in this case the Town of Olds, and seconded by another municipality, in this case the Town of Didsbury.
The Town of Olds approved the Operational Transit Funding for Small to Medium Sized Municipalities resolution on March 28, with Didsbury passing the supporting motion at the recent regularly scheduled council meeting, held in person and on YouTube.
The resolution specifically calls on the Alberta Municipalities to advocate to the government of Alberta to “ensure sustainable and predictable operating funding opportunities be expanded under the new Rural Transit Fund for small and medium sized municipalities to even begin their transit planing journey.”
As well the resolution calls on Alberta Municipalities to advocate to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities to ensure the new Rural Transit Fund be expanded to include further operation funding, outside of active transpiration fund and the zero transmission fund for the small and medium size municipalities.”
The background note accompanying the resolution states, in part, that the $250 million Rural Transit Fund is “dedicated to supporting transportation solutions in rural, remote and small communities, as there is no one size fits all. As part of the Investing in Canada plan, this fund will support the planning and deployment of innovative mobility solutions in rural communities.”
The resolution builds up the City of Edmonton’s approved 2020 resolution on permanent transit funding by highlighting the importance of small to medium municipalities have a voice in the development of the new rural transit fund and for the fund to provide operational support, councillors heard.
“The challenges for small to medium sized municipalities are very real,” the background note states. “Just in the last few years, many provincial areas have become municipal responsibilities, without accompanying operating dollars and the inability to generate revenue as an offset to the operations of these new responsibilities.
“For many of these smaller municipalities, the challenge to be able to provide forms of transit for their residents, especially the vulnerable populations is three fold: the ability to provide potential dollars towards capital projects; grant writing resources and cumbersome applications processes; and finding additional dollars to operate.
“Including municipalities in the development of this fund is imperative and all municipalities should have a voice in the creation of programs that can complement local solutions.”
Alberta Municipalities represents more than 275 Alberta municipalities. It advocates on behalf of its members to the provincial and federal governments.
