SUNDRE – The municipality’s administration does not expect to find itself burdened by processing additional paperwork now that the Alberta government has officially rolled out the new Provincial Priorities Act.
“It’s not really a huge impact on us. We don’t have a lot that we would have to go through this process,” said Chris Albert, Sundre’s director of corporate services.
Asked how many agreements and how much grant funding the town receives from the federal government that would now first require either an approval or exemption from the provincial government, Albert said the municipality receives funding from the federal government through the provincial government.
“Our agreements are actually with the province,” he said.
“It’s kind of normal grant funding.”
There is of course always the possibility of something coming up in the future that might involve more specialized federal funding, he said, citing as one such example a federal program that might be applicable to the new wastewater treatment technology that the municipality could take advantage of.
“But right now, we don’t see any of those,” he said.
“There’s kind of nothing that’s available to us,” he said, adding that in the “short-term, there’s not really a lot of impact, and not a lot of impact that we could see kind of going forward.”
The Provincial Priorities Act, which came into effect April 1, requires provincial entities such as municipalities and post-secondary institutions that are seeking federal funding in amounts exceeding $100,000 to first obtain approval from the Alberta government. But even though amounts of less than $100,000 are exempt, entities must nevertheless still submit a notification for the exemption to apply.
Funding agreements with the federal government worth more than $5 million will require cabinet approval.
Last spring, Alberta Municipalities (ABMunis) expressed concerns about the legislation, with President Tyler Gandam outlining the following suggestions the provincial government should consider when developing regulations:
• Setting a high threshold for federal agreements that would be subject to provincial review and approval;
• Building the administrative machinery necessary to review agreements and funding opportunities that come forward on an expedited basis;
• Setting clear parameters, guidelines, and definitions as to what Alberta’s provincial priorities are;
• Making active efforts to encourage municipal, post-secondary and other public agencies to continue to pursue funding opportunities;
• Embracing the fact that Albertans will expect their provincial government to provide matching funds for federal grants and programs which align to Alberta’s provincial priorities; and,
• Developing and maintaining productive relations with the federal government.
Asked whether he considers the legislation warranted or whether the new regulations amount to more time-consuming bureaucratic red tape to navigate through, Albert said, “I wouldn’t call it unnecessary. Is it really warranted? Maybe not; not for smaller municipalities.”
However, the provincial government “for whatever reason” considers the regulations warranted, said Albert, adding he could see some justification for larger municipalities.
“Yes, it is more burdensome for them, but I could also see it being more warranted. There’s a lot more funding that’s coming in from the federal government,” he said.
“When you’re talking hundreds of millions – or billions – of dollars, I think it’s important for everybody to recognize where that money is coming from,” he elaborated.
“I think it depends on the scale of the project, whether or not it’s warranted.”
