Penhold council successfully submitted three resolutions at the 2011 Alberta Urban Municipalities Association annual general meeting and policy convention last week.
“This was a big year for us,” said Mayor Dennis Cooper in a prepared statement Wednesday.
“We haven’t submitted a lot of policy in the past so it was a big deal to have three in one year. These issues were all very important to our municipality, though, so we were glad they found traction with all the delegates.”
The resolutions focused on senior care, shared facility funding and the Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC).
The resolution for AUMA to encourage the province to move on all three matters was adopted. Each resolution is explained in more detail below:
-CPIC
Penhold council argued that community peace officers need access to CPIC to obtain information on respective vehicles and personnel to ensure their safety before approaching a completely unknown situation.
CPIC, operated by the RCMP, includes up to date information on charges, criminal convictions, warrants and documentation of violence among other information. Because peace officers work alone and unarmed, and sometimes deal with the same individuals as police, they should have access to CPIC, Penhold council argued.
-Senior Care
A program to help families provide care to their aging parents was suggested whereby families could provide care to their parents at home and receive compensation. The suggestion is based on a program called “Kinship Care” which offers parents the option to pay family members for childcare. The argument was made that the aging population in Alberta is growing and there has become a shortage of living facilities. As well, the cost of housing parents in a facility can cause a financial strain on families.
-Shared Facility Funding
Penhold sponsored a resolution for AUMA to encourage the minister of municipal affairs and the Government of Alberta to assist municipalities that are looking for cost-sharing agreements for regional facilities when an equitable solution cannot be reached. Cost-sharing toolkits were suggested.
