OLDS — Councillors agree with the reeve of the Municipal District of Bonnyville No. 87 that the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) seems to care more about the concerns of Ontario and Quebec municipalities than Western Canadian ones.
They also think the organization caters more to the concerns of big cities than small rural municipalities.
As a result, Olds council directed Mayor Michael Muzychka to write a letter to Municipal District of Bonnyville Reeve Greg Sawchuk outlining council’s views on those issues.
Copies of that letter were sent to Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA) President Barry Morishita and Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA) President Paul McLauchlin.
The matter arose when councillors considered a letter from Sawchuck during a meeting last month.
In that letter, Sawchuk wrote, “the past few years have presented convincing evidence of the continued lack of advocacy and blatant disregard at the federal level for Western Canada's needs and one of its highly significant industries that impacts us all: the natural resources industry.
“Our council here at the Municipal District of Bonnyville (M.D.) is beyond frustrated with this lack of effective representation that Western Canadian municipalities receive.”
He asked Olds council if they feel that the FCM advocates for the needs of the town or Western Canada, and whether annual FCM agendas and tours “provide relevant value” for the municipality.
Coun. Heather Ryan said Sawchuk's letter makes “a valid point.”
She said although a few FCM tours she participated in did prove beneficial, she also found that “some of the other information that was presented was very centric to Ontario and Quebec.”
“There are times when I feel that they are not responsive to Western Canada; especially to rural communities in Western Canada, and I think that sometimes they need of a bit of a wake-up call,” Ryan said.
She said council should discuss whether an FCM membership is worth it.
Coun. Mary Jane Harper said in her opinion the FCM is “big city-centred.”
“Most of their conferences are of course in big cities because that's who can accommodate those kinds of conferences. But they seem to be forgetting that most of the municipalities are under 5,000 people or 5,000 to 10,000 people,” Harper said.
On the other hand, she said the networking that occurs in FCM conferences can be useful for the town.
Muzychka agreed those conferences do seem to be oriented more to Central Canadian municipalities and to big cities rather than small towns, so he too questioned the value of belonging to the organization.
However, the mayor said Alberta should have some clout because at two FCM meetings he attended, there were large delegations from Alberta.
Coun. Mary Anne Overwater agreed with all those points.
“I have to say, it does centre around Ontario and Quebec a lot, really,” she said.
Overwater wondered if the solution would be to set up a “Western Canadian municipality alliance” that would meet in addition to FCM conferences.
She said at least Muzychka should still attend FCM conferences because of the networking that occurs and because it attracts major federal ministers who might not be so readily available at conferences in Western Canada.
