Advocacy
Advocacy works to ensure that provincial and federal decision-makers, industry and other relevant stakeholders understand and incorporate rural Alberta’s best interests in their policies.
The Board of Directors and Advocacy sit on numerous committees and task forces in order to build strong working relationships with key stakeholders. This increases our ability to influence legislation.
To ensure full transparency and accountability, Advocacy provides communications updates of all issues and meetings.
Advocacy positions are based on member resolutions passed at each convention.
New in Advocacy
In December 2012, the Responsible Energy Development Act was approved which created a single regulator for upstream oil, gas, oil sands and coal projects within Alberta. The new single regulator is known as the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) and will combine the regulatory functions of the Energy Resources Conservation Board and the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Resource Development into a single-window service. On June 1, 2013, the AER will begin a phased-in approach to its operati [ ... ]
Throughout early 2013, Alberta Justice has been leading stakeholder consultations on how to reduce the number of marijuana grow operations (grow ops) within Alberta. The AAMDC had the opportunity to participate in two of the consultation sessions, which were led by MLA Rick Fraser. In addition to the municipal perspective, Alberta Justice has sought input from police agencies, fire officials, health, safety and building investigators, utilities, mortgage and real estate companies and the mini [ ... ]
Times have changed and social media is evolving at, what seems like, a lightning speed. AAMDC is on Twitter, sharing pertinent information to our followers and we encourage you to join the conversation.
Follow @aamdc and watch for important tweets regarding, new developments, helpful reminders, and need-to-know information concerning government updates and rural programs. We are happy to see that several rural municipalities are actively on Twitter, along with councilors and staff. If you [ ... ]
Yesterday, the Government of Alberta released their budget for the 2013-14 fiscal year. Municipalities were aware that this would be a difficult provincial budget due to revenue issues; however, the AAMDC is disappointed by the government’s lack of funding for municipal infrastructure and its disproportionate impact on rural municipalities.
The most impactful change for the AAMDC membership will be the removal of funding for the Strategic Transportation Infrastructure Program which [ ... ]
This week, the government released the Health Quality Council of Alberta’s (HQCA) review of emergency medical services (EMS) in the province, as well as the government’s response. The full report can be found here and a summary of the recommendations with government reactions is located here.
Recommendations and Government Responses
The report makes five recommendations with 16 required actions outlined. The following four recommendations were accepted by the government:
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