Northern Alberta Mayors’ & Reeves’ Caucus – October 16, 2015 Northern Alberta Mayors’ & Reeves’ Caucus Denham Inn – Leduc, Alberta Friday, October 16, 2015 10 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Present: Deputy Mayor Louise Bauder Town of Gibbons Mayor Melissa Blake Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo Reeve Ron Bobocel Smoky Lake County Councillor Brenda Burridge Town of Fox Creek Mayor Roxanne Carr Strathcona County Mayor Maryann Chichak Town of Whitecourt Mayor William Choy Town of Stony Plain Mayor Craig Copeland City of Cold Lake Mayor Linda Cox Town of High Prairie Mayor Nolan Crouse City of St. Albert Mayor Bill Elliott City of Wetaskiwin Mayor Tom Flynn Sturgeon County Councillor Frank Garritsen City of Fort Saskatchewan Reeve Bart Guyon Brazeau County Mayor Myron Hayduk Town of Vegreville Deputy Mayor Perry Hendriks Town of Beaumont Mayor Lisa Holmes Town of Morinville Mayor Don Iveson City of Edmonton Councillor Jerry Kaup Sturgeon County Mayor Greg Krischke City of Leduc Reeve Bill Lee County of Barrhead Mayor Ralph Leriger Town of Westlock Mayor Stephen Lindop Town of Devon Mayor Vern Lymburner Town of Valleyview Mayor Bruce MacDuff Town of Vermilion Deputy Mayor Elaine Manzer Town of Peace River Reeve Bud Massey Westlock County Mayor Norman Mayer City of Camrose Deputy Mayor Ed McLean City of Spruce Grove Mayor Omer Moghrabi Lac La Biche County Deputy Reeve Ed Parke County of Vermilion River Mayor Greg Pasychny Town of Edson Mayor Kate Patrick Town of Mayerthorpe Page 1 of 15 Northern Alberta Mayors’ & Reeves’ Caucus – October 16, 2015 Mayor Jim Rennie Woodlands County Deputy Mayor John Schonewille Leduc County Mayor Rod Shaigec Parkland County Reeve Doris Splane Athabasca County Mayor Parrish Tung Town of Elk Point Reeve Wayne Woldanski Lamont County Guests: Paul Ross Executive Director, Economic Sustainability, City of Edmonton Julianna Charchun Chief of Staff, Mayor Don Iveson, City of Edmonton Tony Caterina, Councillor City of Edmonton Karl Kopan, Communications Athabasca County Glen Finstad, Councillor City of Leduc Beverly Beckett, Councillor City of Leduc Dana Smith, Councillor City of Leduc David MacKenzie, Councillor City of Leduc Guest Presenters: Honourable Brian Mason Minister of Infrastructure and Minister of Transportation Danielle Larivee, MLA Lesser Slave Lake Carolyn Kolebaba Vice President, AAMDC Also Present: Michelle Hay, Director, City of Leduc Intergovernmental Affairs and Corporate Planning Joan Laventure, Office of the Mayor City of Edmonton Glenda Kangas, Office of the Mayor City of Leduc Sandra Davis, City Clerk City of Leduc Macarena Hormazabal, Deputy City City of Leduc Clerk Crystal Kuzio, Legislative Clerk City of Leduc Welcome & Introductions City of Leduc Mayor G. Krischke called the meeting to order at 10:04 a.m. Mayor G. Krischke welcomed all participants and gave a brief overview of the day’s activities. Page 2 of 15 Northern Alberta Mayors’ & Reeves’ Caucus – October 16, 2015 Adoption of Agenda That the October 16, 2015, Northern Alberta Mayors’ and Reeves’ Caucus meeting agenda be adopted with the following addition: Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties Update. Moved by: Mayor S. Lindop Second: Councillor T.Caterina CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY Adoption of Minutes – June 12, 2015 That the June 12, 2015 Northern Alberta Mayors’ and Reeves’ Caucus meeting minutes be adopted as presented. Moved by: Mayor B. Elliott Second: Councillor T. Caterina CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY Business Arising Out of Minutes There was no business arising out of the minutes. Mayor G. Krischke introduced Danielle Larivee, Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta (“MLA”) for Lesser Slave Lake. MLA D. Larivee was appointed to co-chair a review of Alberta’s Mental Health Policies, and is here to share information on the Policy review. Government of Alberta’s Mental Health Review MLA D. Larivee thanked participants for their interest in the Mental Health Review (“Review”). As part of the Review, stakeholder engagement sessions were held all over the province. The Review heard from individuals in all walks of life including, but not limited to, non-profit, front line workers, people who live with mental illness, families of those living with mental illness and first responders. The stakeholders helped the government clearly understand that the Province of Alberta has not prioritized mental health enough and there is a need to place more value on it. The Review was conducted by MLA D. Larivee, Dr. David Swann and Tyler White, Health Director for the Siksika First Nation. As part of the Review there were 6 stakeholder sessions across the province that covered topics such as: • Senior mental health • Child abuse mental health • Diverse and vulnerable populations • Urban Aboriginal population Page 3 of 15 Northern Alberta Mayors’ & Reeves’ Caucus – October 16, 2015 • Rural and Northern mental health • Needs of Treaties 6, 7 & 8 As well the Review held one-on-one sessions with a variety of other stakeholder groups and an on-line questionnaire is also available, which will be open until October 23, 2015. There have been 2,000 responses to the on-line questionnaire to date, with 3,000 responses expected by closing. All of the information will be compiled and a team of experts from around the province will analyze the results and look at evidence-based practices from around the world. There are some very clear big-picture responses, with the biggest one being that Ministries need to speak to each other about mental health and housing, which is a huge issue for the mental health population. MLA D. Larivee answered participant’s questions. 1. Concern was expressed that the Mayors and Reeves were unaware of the Review or the stakeholder engagement sessions. MLA D. Larivee was asked what the criteria was for choosing stakeholder groups, as many in the audience had not heard about the Review. MLA D. Larivee advised that the team ensured they had a good geographic spread and as much representation as possible. 2. The Mayors and Reeves asked if the government can extend the time for online portion of the Review beyond October 23, 2015, to ensure better participation. Although not able to extend the time, the link was provided and all those in attendance were encouraged to complete the online survey. The survey could be printed off and mailed back and they will be accepted after the closing date. The timelines for the report are very tight and the report must be submitted to the Premier by December 23, 2015. 3. Has the Review looked at PTSD’s and the number of suicides among the military and emergency personnel? Yes, the first responders have had a very strong voice in the Review. 4. Have the RCMP and court system been involved? Absolutely. There has been representations from the Ministry to the frontline of the policing services and the justice system. 5. Are you looking at the transportation of patients from Northern Communities for treatment or assessment? Is it a proper use of resources to use an ambulance to transport patients for treatment? MLA D. Larivee advised that she was a nurse in Slave Lake for nine years and understands the northern perspective. The government will work to ensure proper access for rural communities to alleviate the problems relative to too few ambulances and not enough beds. Page 4 of 15 Northern Alberta Mayors’ & Reeves’ Caucus – October 16, 2015 Concern was expressed that the change has been requested for many years, yet Northern Communities have not seen results. 6. When asked if it would be better to extend timelines in order to get a better quality report, the response was that there have been a large number of studies done and this survey is a validation of information received, and issues that need to be attended to. In this survey, the Review panel has not really heard anything different. There is the understanding that there has to be ongoing review and feedback and that the Government must be responsive to the need. MLA D. Larivee advised that the Minister and the Premier expect that the recommendations of the review will be moved forward. The Premier has stated that mental health is a priority and changes need to be made. Participants urged the Government to use Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (“AUMA”), Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties (“AAMDC”), Northern Alberta Mayors’ and Reeves’ Caucuses, etc. to get the word out on future initiatives. Mayor G. Krischke thanked MLA D. Larivee for her presentation. AUMA Update Mayor G. Krischke introduced Lisa Holmes, Mayor of Morinville and President of AUMA. Mayor L. Holmes stated she appreciated the opportunity to provide an update on the AUMA’s work. Mayor L. Holmes introduced two of the Vice-Presidents, Mayor Maryann Chichak, Town of Whitecourt and Tony Caterina, Councillor for the City of Edmonton. Both worked very hard in the last year to get so much accomplished with the MGA. AUMA has been focused, over the summer, with building relationships with new government and to raise awareness of the issues facing municipalities. In support of the meet and greets, two separate documents have been created: Municipalities 101 and AUMA 101 which are now available on the AUMA website. The AUMA submitted a document that profiled a number of compelling priorities for the October 27th budget that included the: • protection of Municipal SI funding • use of the Building Canada Fund for municipal projects and the need for provincial matching funds in order to keep pace with project requirements. This is a big focus for AUMA as there was not enough dollars for the number of projects. Page 5 of 15 Northern Alberta Mayors’ & Reeves’ Caucus – October 16, 2015 • need to restore water and waste water funding, while increasing supports for policing • importance of continuing the grant-in-lieu of taxes for social housing, and • need to freeze or reduce the education property tax.