The Mountain View County (MVC) council unanimously approved the Public Participation Policy #1030 on June 13.
The reason to create a Public Participation policy comes from the work the provincial government has done over the past few years asking Albertans what they wanted changed in the Municipal Government Act (MGA).
One thing that was heard, was that Albertans feel they are not included, consulted, or able to participate in governance after an election.
So, the government made changes to the MGA that mandated the municipalities to create a public participation policy by July of this year.
Our MVC administration whipped one together based on some templates from provincial municipal organizations, put it on a website for people to look at, asked council to approve it, and then council did approve it with minor changes.
There were six letters from the over 13,000 county residents commenting on the policy, one in favour and five with concerns. A common concern through the letters was how “public campaigns” would be initiated, as it appears that only the directors within the administration get to decide when to involve the public.
It’s sad that less than 0.05 per cent of the population participated in the public participation policy creation process. I think the policy is a step forward, but could Mountain View County have done more to get public participation, especially for a public participation policy? One of the letters of response quoted George Bernard Shaw : “The single biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”
Robin Tudor
Sundre
