Northern Alberta Elected Leaders 206, 9621-96 Avenue, Bag 900-14 Peace River, Alberta T8S 1T4 Phone: 780-624-6274 Fax: 780-624-6184 DRAFT MINUTES August 23, 2019 Bonanza Agricultural Society Saddle Hills County Attendees Leanne Beaupre County of Grande Prairie Jeannette Danks Northern Alberta Development Council (NADC) Norm Duval Northern Sunrise County Sandra Fox Municipal District of Fairview James Hailes Town of Fox Creek Alvin Hubert Saddle Hills County Peggy Johnson Municipal District of Fairview Jessica Juneau Town of Rainbow Lake Murray Kerik Municipal District of Lesser Slave River Carolyn Kolebaba Northern Sunrise County Myrna Jean Lanctot Village of Donnelly Tracy Lapping Saddle Hills County Todd Loewen MLA, Central Peace-Notley Vern Lymburner Town of Valleyview Gerald Manzulenko Birch Hills County Ken Matthews Big Lakes County Cary Merritt Saddle Hills County Hermann Minderlein Birch Hills County Kevin O’Toole City of Grande Prairie Brian Panasiuk Town of High Prairie Diahann Potrebenko Village of Rycroft Kate Potter Town of Sexsmith Bob Regal Town of Grimshaw Jim Rennie Woodlands County Gary Rycroft Town of Beaverlodge Richard Simard Big Lakes County Paul Smith Town of Rainbow Lake Peter Thomas Village of Rycroft Greg Towne Town of Peace River Terry Ungarian County of Northern Lights Tony VanRootseloar MD Spirit River Tyler Warman Town of Slave Lake Joulia Whittleton Saddle Hills County Robert Willing Municipal District of Peace Page 1 of 14 *Draft meeting minutes to be approved by NAEL members. Northern Alberta Elected Leaders 206, 9621-96 Avenue, Bag 900-14 Peace River, Alberta T8S 1T4 Phone: 780-624-6274 Fax: 780-624-6184 Presenters: - Ethan Bayne, Assistant Deputy Minister, Municipal Assessment and Grants Division, Alberta Municipal Affairs / Steve White, Executive Director, Assessment Services Branch, Alberta Municipal Affairs Secretariat: Kim Pinnock, Manager, NADC Megan Ciurysek, Research Officer, NADC Lisa Williams, Administrative Assistant, NADC Welcome - Chair Jim Rennie introduced Mr. Todd Loewen, MLA Central Peace-Notley, and Jeannette Danks, NADC Member. - Chair Jim Rennie introduced Secretariat, and welcomed all attendees to the meeting. 1. Call Membership Meeting to Order Chair, Jim Rennie, called the NAEL meeting to order August 23, 2019, 10:15AM. MLA Todd Loewen addressed the NAEL members, providing an update on the bills that have been passed by government since the election. The government has fulfilled 58 promises to date and is currently working on ten more. He discussed current consultations and engagements happening across the province, including the Alberta Health Services (AHS) review to find efficiencies and the Farm Tour. He referenced the McKinnon Blue Ribbon Panel recommendations that are under review. MLA Loewen shared his understanding of the north as an economic driver in the province and the current state of the northern economy – with some areas in stronger shape than others across the region. NAEL Member Questions and Comments for MLA Todd Loewen - The library funding is already at 50 per cent. What will funding for libraries look like in the upcoming budget? - What are the debt figures in Alberta? o Alberta is $60 billion in debt and this will grow over this term, as interest is $2 billion dollars a year. - Physician Recruitment - the process for International Medical Graduates (IMGs) is slow and cumbersome. Changes to the Medical Council of Canada Evaluating Examination (MCCEE) and new requirements for incoming physicians to write the Therapeutics Decision Making (TDM) exam are causing delays in certification of potentially qualified applicants. Currently College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta (CPSA) offers exams Page 2 of 14 *Draft meeting minutes to be approved by NAEL members. Northern Alberta Elected Leaders 206, 9621-96 Avenue, Bag 900-14 Peace River, Alberta T8S 1T4 Phone: 780-624-6274 Fax: 780-624-6184 only in January and June. When exams are full, applicants must wait for the next sitting. Some doctors who wrote their exams will have test results expiring as of Dec. 31 and if they do not have an opportunity to take the TDM exam until January, they will have to start the process over, causing further delays. o MLA Loewen will follow up with the Health Minister. - Red Tape – It is taking up to 40 weeks to complete new land appraisals – need to look at new public hires to support this work. Taking 14-16 weeks to re-zoned land. This is impacting business development and investment opportunities in the region. - Education and health facilities are cutting back on front line workers in anticipation of cuts coming. This is impacting local communities and residents. - The Battle River fire in the County of Northern Lights destroyed some fences, the province agreed to pay for the replacement with emergency funds. The County is still waiting on provincial funding. - AHS review is underway. Comments can be shared online at [email protected]. NAEL members suggest the Health Minister consider a face-to-face sit down with communities and former board members from former health regions who can comment and share valuable input. - The Mighty Peace Watershed and other Water Alliances have confirmation from the province that funding will be forthcoming, but funds have not been received and there is uncertainty about when they will be released. This has made it difficult for Mighty Peace and other Alliances to operate and some may have to shut down. - Red Tape workshop will be held in Peace River, September 12, 2019. - The ministers who travel do not make it out to rural areas surrounding urban locations and there is more are multiple municipalities in each area. Invitations should be sent to all surrounding municipalities when ministers are in an area. - Resiliency funding – on hold with no timeframe provided by the province. Municipalities are asking for an update on the status of this funding – in order to plan for the future. o MLA Loewen indicated that there is no update on this at present. However, he would like to see stable long term funding for municipalities, and more clarity may come with budget. 2. Adoption of Agenda It was MOVED by Myrna Jean Lanctot THAT the agenda be adopted as presented. CARRIED 3. Adoption of Minutes – January 18, 2019 Northern Sunrise County, St. Isidore, AB - Corrections: Page 3 of 14 *Draft meeting minutes to be approved by NAEL members. Northern Alberta Elected Leaders 206, 9621-96 Avenue, Bag 900-14 Peace River, Alberta T8S 1T4 Phone: 780-624-6274 Fax: 780-624-6184 o Page 1 Remove Paul Smith from attendance list. It was MOVED by Diahann Potrebenko THAT the minutes be accepted with the corrections listed above. CARRIED 4. Chair Update / NAEL Administrative Housekeeping 4.1 Chair Update NAEL Membership - Required corrections were made to January 18, 2019 Meeting Minutes. - Five cannabis bylaws were distributed to the NAEL membership for information purposes in the NAEL January 18, 2019 Post-Meeting Package. - Changes were made to the Hosting and Expense Policy – outlined in Finance Committee Meeting Minutes 2018 and NAEL meeting Minutes Jan 18, 2019. - A NAEL webinar with a presentation from Alberta Environment and Parks was coordinated and delivered on February 28, 2019. - A Post-Webinar Meeting Package was sent on March 14, 2019. - An invitation to the Minister of Municipal Affairs was sent to Minister Madu to attend the August 23, 2019 NAEL Meeting. - The Rural Policing Brief was reviewed to confirm accuracy, no updates were found to be required. - NAEL Membership o Records show we currently have 40 NAEL member communities. o Secretariat will clean up the list of NAEL members. o NAEL membership does not currently include any First Nations or Metis Settlements. Membership is open to all communities in the NAEL defined area. It was MOVED by Ken Matthews THAT First Nations and Metis Settlements within the NAEL area be invited and encouraged to join NAEL making sure to include in the letter that all NAEL member communities are responsible for their own expenses. CARRIED 4.2 Financial Report - No changes since last meeting, January 2019. Discussion on how NAEL should use their funds to support the north: - Need to educate government on northern issues. Page 4 of 14 *Draft meeting minutes to be approved by NAEL members. Northern Alberta Elected Leaders 206, 9621-96 Avenue, Bag 900-14 Peace River, Alberta T8S 1T4 Phone: 780-624-6274 Fax: 780-624-6184 - Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA) and Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA) are limited to issues that affect the whole province. As a regionally specific group NAEL has an opportunity to represent issues that are localized to the north. - Consider a marketing plan for the north. - NAEL members discussed the possibility of collaborating with other municipalities to educate government on rural and remote issues. o Carolyn Kolebaba shared that Northern Sunrise County received a letter on June 21, 2019 from Lac Ste. Anne County. The letter purposed coordinating a meeting of all northern Alberta rural Counties and Municipal Districts to be hosted in northern Alberta in late August or early September. - Discussed setting up a sub-committee to implement an action plan. - NAEL asked Secretariat to find dates when the Northern, Southern, and Central Caucuses are meeting – in order to coordinate a northern delegation. - Work with the Advocacy Group, Alberta Counsel – they work well with MLA’s. It was MOVED by Alvin Hubert THAT a sub-committee be formed, consisting of Jim Rennie, Leanne Beaupre, Carolyn Kolebaba and Myrna Jean Lanctot, to make recommendation on options for NAEL to consider with respect to promoting the north. CARRIED It was MOVED by Terry Ungarian THAT the Financial Report be accepted for information. CARRIED It was MOVED by Carolyn Kolebaba THAT the membership fees for the 2019/20 fiscal year be waived.