Just say NO! to a Calgary VETO
Alberta
Association releases paper on “forced regionalization”
At the urging of Rocky View County, the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties (AAMDC) decided to take an in-depth look at the Alberta government’s trend towards “forced regionalization.” Their paper, released last month, confirms the worst fears about the governance structure of the Calgary Regional Partnership.
“Municipalities have a justifiable concern when elected councils no longer have the power to govern as granted by the Municipal Government Act,” says AAMDC President Bob Barss.
The Association has defined a model of cooperative regionalization that follows 10 principles:
- Voluntary participation – municipalities can choose to join or resign from the partnership at their discretion.
- Partners define the region – the participating municipalities determine which municipalities will be part of the regional partnership.
- Political autonomy – municipalities remain independent and their ability to make decisions in the best interests of their municipality remains intact.
- Non-hierarchical governance – the regional structure does not create another level of government.
- Voting equity – each municipality has one equal vote.
- Consensus decision-making – major decisions that require a vote are approached on the basis of reaching a consensus.
- User-pay cost sharing – for the most part, the cost of delivering a regional service is borne in proportion to the use of that service.
- Regional transparency – the operation and governance of the regional entity is easily observable and understood.
- Accountability of individual municipalities – when a municipality chooses to become a member of a regional service partnership, the individual municipality is accountable to its community for the value of that service.
- Opting out of programs – when a municipality is a member of a regional service partnership, and the partnership addresses more than one service, each partner has the ability to opt out of one or more of the service delivery programs
Rocky View County Reeve Rolly Ashdown has indicated that the County’s position on the CRP is reinforced by the AAMDC’s paper. The County, along with the MD of Foothills opted out of the CRP, while the Town of Okotoks decided to join the partnership on a trial basis.
“Rural development is different from urban development and it needs to be considered differently,” said Ashdown, in the Rocky View Weekly newspaper. “Our position has never changed, we can’t have city-sized lots in the country, and we can’t give up our autonomy.”
Sources:
http://www.aamdc.com/news-release/500-forced-regionalization
CRP has its way with Rocky View County
A prominent architect of the Calgary Regional Partnership (CRP) is now an elected councilor and the Deputy Reeve for Rocky View County. You may remember Rick Butler as one of the two main representatives of the CRP and their Calgary Regional Plan (aka Calgary Metropolitan Plan, as it was renamed AFTER the public consultation was completed). Butler led most of the public consultation sessions and was a paid contractor working for the CRP throughout most of the process.
Just as a refresher, the Town of Okotoks voted to join the CRP (thereby agreeing to the metropolitan plan, which gives Calgary a veto over land use planning decisions within the town). At the same time, Okotoks Town Council voted to honour the population cap, which is totally at odds with the metropolitan plan. This apparent contradiction has been unresolved for the last several years now and is yet to be addressed.
Meanwhile, two of the largest municipalities in the Calgary region (land-wise), the County of Rocky View and the MD of Foothills said “no way” to the CRP and voted not to join, both preferring to remain autonomous in their decision-making. Or so they thought at the time. Little did they know their “single” days were in jeopardy.
Fast forward to more than a year later and CRP front man, Butler, shows up on the ballot in Rocky View County in the 2010 municipal election. Then, not only was he elected to Council but he was elected Deputy Reeve of the County by his peers on council. Gosh. I guess he just suddenly became interested in municipal politics. The County’s flirtation with the CRP had begun.
All became clear this last week when Rocky View County voted to approve a development called Watermark in the community of Bearspaw. The development is considered high density and will see 560 new homes built on the outskirts of Calgary. The development is consistent with the “blue blobs” mapped out by the CRP. Folks, this is urban sprawl in every sense of the word…except it has been cleverly kept below the radar of Calgarians fed up with the high cost of sprawl, because it is technically outside of the City’s boundaries.
The Councilor for the Division (8) is Al Sacuta, who voted against the development. He has posted his reasons on his website in a fully transparent look at the rationale for his opposition (see www.ourbearspaw.ca).
According to the Rocky View Weekly, Sacuta is quoted as saying, “Throughout its history, the proposal has had significant resistance. Neighbourhood resistance continues to be around 70 per cent. The density will be about seven to 16 times that of the adjacent acreage communities.”
In the same article, Butler was quoted as saying, “I believe it is a good plan. It is the plan I worked for for eight years in the Calgary Regional Partnership.”
Which begs the question, just who is Butler serving here? It seems clear that residents are opposed to the development. The ELECTED councilor for that Division opposed the development (Sacuta ran his election campaign on this platform) and yet six other councilors from other Divisions joined forces to decide in favour of the development (two other councilors voted with Sacuta in opposition).
According to Butler’s quote in the media, it seems that he sees this as simply a continuation of his work with the CRP. I guess I naively thought elected officials served the public? The CRP is a private corporation created by the Alberta government to manage land use planning decisions. It is not accountable to anyone but perhaps the Minister of Sustainable Resource Development.*
Of course, all of this is tied directly to the infamous Alberta Land Stewardship Act (which will soon be altered to try and quell a Wildrose-fuelled property rights uprising in the area). The Act is the overarching authority over all of this mess, including the CRP, and it gives the Minister the authority to overrule everyone on land use issues, including local governments.
Most importantly, Butler’s admission that he supported the decision because it is in line with the CRP plan (which the County has not even signed up for yet) deserves to be questioned.
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*It’s disturbing to note the CRP is under no legal obligation to disclose anything it does to the public. Its decisions don’t have to be reported nor do any of the reasons for its decisions.
Read the Rocky View Weekly article here:
Rocky View Weekly: Partnership hoping to entice rural municipalities back to CRP
Truper McBride, the chair of the Calgary Regional Partnership (CRP), says the organization is hoping to entice estranged rural municipalities to rejoin the alliance.
He said the organization is seeking dialogue and cooperation with several municipalities, including Rocky View County.
“The task is to re-engage with the rural communities with a dialogue,” said McBride. “There are some things that we would like to talk about. We hope we can bring the family back together.”
The statement came after a Jan. 20-21 CRP retreat, during which representatives of the 15 member municipalities discussed the Province’s recent response to the organization’s planning document, the Calgary Metropolitan Plan (CMP).
McBride reiterated that residential developments densities of between eight and 10 units per acre are non-negotiable.
“We are committed to the densities,” said McBride. “We can have conversation on how we phase-in over time, we don’t expect everyone to get to eight to 10 overnight.”
Rocky View County Reeve Rolly Ashdown said the County is willing to sit down and talk, as it does see advantages to regional planning. However, he said the CRP’s targets for residential densities are not compatible with development in the county, nor is the current voting structure, which gives Calgary a veto.
“We wouldn’t be able to join,” said Ashdown. “Rocky View wants to maintain its autonomy.”
According to Ashdown, the County will continue to work with neighbouring municipalities.
“We would still look forward to cooperating on a friendly basis,” he said.
In its response to the CMP, the Province directed the CRP to reach out to neighbouring non-member municipalities. McBride said he didn’t sense that the Province was looking to force the non-member rural municipalities into the Partnership, but it could happen.
Crossfield Mayor Nathan Anderson, who represents his community within the CRP, said he wouldn’t support the partnership if it became mandatory, such as happened in northern Alberta’s Capital Region.
“I don’t think (membership) should be forced on anybody,” said Anderson. “I think we should work together as opposed to having the Provincial government try to tell us what to do. If the CRP starts going in a direction, as far as morphing into another layer of government, I won’t be supporting it.”
However, Anderson said his original pessimism about his community being part of the CRP was unwarranted after attending the retreat.
“I am optimistic that the counties will rejoin the CRP,” he said. “Everyone is so close to seeing more or less eye-to-eye. I was very impressed with the way Mayor Truper McBride led the conversation, it was about building bridges with the rurals as opposed to any kind of strategy to get them back in.”
View original article here:
New commentary in Rocky View County News: Rural-urban rivalry impacting region
The contradiction between the Growth Management Strategy (GMS) which calls for a large increase in urban-style residential development in nodes across the county and Councillor Solberg’s call for a larger industrial tax base has been forcefully pointed out by others so I will focus my comments on three specific concepts. The first is the connection between municipal finances and tax revenues, the second on an underlying anti-city bias that has shaped Rocky View policy since the end of regional planning and the third is the lack of a long-term vision for the fiscal, social and environmental sustainability.
In his 1995 book “Building Cities that Work” York University political scientist Edmund Fowler asks “Why did we do it?” that is, why have we built urban places that are, in the long run, unsustainable? One reason Fowler points to is a universal desire for municipal politicians to increase tax revenue. Local government policy encourages intensive use of land in hopes that new uses will bring in more taxes. But intensification requires more urban services, which in turn require more tax revenue.
Read the full commentary by Geoff Ghitter…
SLAPPing residents in Rocky View: Culture jamming and propaganda battles
Just when you thought you’d heard and seen it all, there is growing evidence that residents in Rocky View County are being subjected to legal intimidation in order to silence their ever-growing concerns about the actions of their elected council.
Two community website owners have received “cease and desist” orders from lawyers representing the Rocky View County, raising fears that the County’s own residents are now the target of a campaign known as SLAPP–Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation. (Read the letter received from the lawyers here: http://bit.ly/9ojXMz). The County has recently posted the cease and desist letter on its website in response to hundreds of letters from citizens demanding transparency.
We have what appears to be a “made in Alberta” example of SLAPP happening in the communities west of Calgary, including Bearspaw and Springbank. At http://www.ourspringbank.ca, the site owners received a letter asking them to “cease and desist using the county NAME and mark in all respects” which may be unprecedented in Alberta as an approach to dealing with local citizens who are critical of a municipal council’s decisions. (read a related commentary).
What makes this letter completely “over the top” is its inclusion of the word, “name” in its demand. Residents are not only forbidden from using the mark of the County “in all respects” (including for satirical purposes) but also from using the name? How are bloggers, commentators and residents in the area going to discuss County issues and decisions on line with this type of a gag order hanging over their heads?
Also of interest is that not all websites in the community received the cease and desist orders–only those critical of the County’s actions. Other websites supportive of the County (some of which coincidentally accept advertising dollars from developers and are run by spouses of Rocky View councillors) have NOT been served with cease and desist orders asking them to stop using the name. It appears that certain websites have been singled out for legal action based on their content while others can continue.
What is all the ruckus about?
Www.canadianguerilla.ca had created a spoof of the County of Rocky View’s logo (involving at various stages a bulldozer and a cartoon turkey) and the accompanying slogan, “Paving Paradise.” There was also a parody of the County’s question and answer sheet relating to a recent by-law that was proposed. The by-law was advertised just before Christmas and in early January passed third reading. Critics had charged that the County tried to rush the by-law through over the Christmas holidays when people are less likely to come out and oppose it. (for a taste of what Canadian Guerilla was talking about prior to being SLAPPed)
The by-law was of concern because it essentially paved the way for the County to justify further borrowing on a water and wastewater project to support the CrossIron Mills Mall. The project is already substantially overbudget and many fear it is driving the County much deeper into debt than should be legally allowed. The parody of the County’s original FAQ document attempted to provide residents with truthful answers to questions about the complex by-law. It was titled, “Frequently Asked Questions UnSpun.”
(As it turns out, the County has actually decided to create a private corporation to assume the debt. The water utility will be called “Aquaduct Utilities Corporation” and it’s not at all clear as to the financial model and liability to be assumed by the taxpayer, but that’s another post at: https://nocalgaryveto.wordpress.com/2010/02/06/rocky-view-also-creating-a-new-water-utility/)
Reeve of “Habberville” responds…finally
The Reeve claims in her recently posted response to the growing controversy (see http://bit.ly/9aZr0I) that it is not an issue of free speech but one of mis-use of the brand identity. There is no doubt that the logo was altered, but it was done in the fine tradition of parody logos (see some examples at: http://bit.ly/bA4LHM)? This is known to the rest of the world as “culture jamming” and is a legitimate method of fighting corporate propaganda. Apparently, the local government in Rocky View feels it should be immune to this kind of propaganda-busting and is willing to spend taxpayer dollars to hire lawyers to fight for this immunity. Strangely enough, the county is effectively suing its own boss, as the lawsuits are against citizens they’ve been elected to represent!
At http://www.canadianguerilla.com, the site owner has also received a second legal threat warning him against publishing or posting a publication he was working on called, “Building Habberville.” The short booklet, named after County of Rocky View Reeve, Lois Habberfield and detailing the history of “rampant urbanization” in the county, including a look at tactics used to approve construction of the CrossIron Mills Mall. The monster-sized shopping mall north of Calgary is one of the most controversial developments in the province in the last 10 years. (see background) All work on that book project has been put on hold as a result of the legal action. Another win for the bad guys.
Why should I care?
According to Wikipedia, SLAPP is a technique “intended to censor, intimidate and silence critics by burdening them with the cost of a legal defense until they abandon their criticism or opposition.” Quebec is the only province to have anti-SLAPP legislation in place. British Columbia had such legislation in 2001, but it was repealed after only a few short months. The Church of Scientology has been known to employ the SLAPP technique to silence its critics.
As the authors of the http://www.ourspringbank.ca website point out, the Ontario Superior Court has said:
“… Governments are accountable to the people through the ballot box, and not to judges or juries in courts of law. When a government is criticized, its recourse is in the public domain, not the courts. The government may not imprison, or fine, or sue, those who criticize it. The government may respond. This is fundamental. Litigation is a form of force, and the government must not silence its critics by force.”
Even more disturbing is that the residents report they have requested that the Minister of Municipal Affairs step in to order retraction of the cease and desist notices. Thus far, the residents’ plea for help from the Minister have gone unanswered. A letter sent to all MLA’s asking for their help received not a single response, let alone any offers of help. The MLA for the area, Finance Minister Ted Morton, has been strangely silent on the entire debacle. It seems that the provincial government also sees nothing wrong with threatening legal action against citizens who voice disagreement. The ramifications are frightening.
Rocky View also creating a new water utility
It’s called “Aquaduct Utilities Corporation” and soon it will be joining the list of utilities providing water and wastewater systems to municipalities across the province.
(By the way, one of the reasons the County is doing this is because of a monstrous mall on the outskirts of Calgary that continues to be plagued by water and wastewater problems costing taxpayers tens of millions of dollars. Read the background at http://bit.ly/b9YkRM)
The City of Grande Prairie, the County of Grande Prairie and the Town of Sexsmith created the Aquatera Utilities Inc. in 2004. (www.aquatera.ca) and now the County of Rocky View is getting in on the act. They’ve already incorporated the municipally owned and controlled corporation.
The scope of the corporation is “to fulfil a role of owning and operating treated water production and distribution system assets and services, wastewater collection and treatment systems and assets, and solid waste collection and disposal assets. Initial focus will be on water systems.”
The full discussion paper can be found on the Rocky View County website at:
http://bit.ly/aviVrU (PDF download)
Accompanying the discussion paper is a draft policy (pp. 35-37), but there is no statement recognizing the limited supply of water. They talk about geographic limitations, economic realities and infrastructure limitations but it’s perhaps not surprising at all, that there is no mention of limitations on the actual supply of water!
Following in Calgary’s footsteps towards rampant urbanization
The principal goals of Aqueduct include “capital expansion, growth and infrastructure.” This utility was created using taxpayer dollars and my guess is that it will need to keep adding customers to stay profitable. This seems similar to what the City of Calgary is doing by creating its own water utility. We are not only accommodating growth, we are creating a necessity (and an incentive) for growth. It’s a treadmill that we just can’t seem to get off!
I think ratepayers in Rocky View should ask questions about the financing of this new utility, the transfer of infrastructure from County ownership to private ownership and the financial model driving it all. My take on this is that it’s the County’s answer to the accusation that they will be going to go into debt to finance the water and wastewater systems–technically, it is the private company that is going to assume the debt. But what exactly are the risks and liabilities to County residents? That is certainly downplayed in this document.
Given the make-up of the board of directors of the similar Grande Prairie corporation (Aquatera http://www.aquatera.ca) where the majority on the board are elected officials, I think we can safely assume that several members of the Rocky View council are probably looking at a some supplementary income for their new gig on the board of Aqueduct. It is customary for board members of private companies to receive compensation of some type. Can we assume that this board will be any different?
Calgary Regional Partnership and the “water supply business”
The discussion paper also offers some insight into the behind-the-scenes discussions about water. The following section outlines the position of the Calgary Regional Partnership with respect to water:
Over the last three years, the Calgary Regional Partnership (CRP) has also staked a position in the water supply business. The focus of the CRP has been on examining and planning for the potential water supply to urban style developments from a central supplier (Calgary) or from sub-regional centres such as Cochrane. Studies conducted have focused on triple bottom line analysis which has been over-shadowed by the economic considerations. Clearly, supply from a single plant through pipelines is, in most instances, less expensive than building and operating several new water treatment plants.
Conclusions reached by the CRP assume that only urban style development is economically feasible to service and sets aside any other development opportunities. That leaves many of the developments contemplated outside urban nodes searching for solutions for water services. Politics aside, the studies and conclusions of the CRP should not be lost on the County. Fewer treatment plants and longer trunk lines are still less expensive than building and operating several treatment plants.
The discussions above put the County in a position to carefully consider its needs and long term directions, thereby charting its own course for the supply of water to its constituents.
The County of Rocky View decided not to join the CRP and is looking for alternate ways of securing water. During the public consultations on the Calgary Metropolitan Plan (CMP), representatives of the Calgary Regional Partnerships were less than forthcoming about the partnership’s position on the “water supply business.” There was no mention of Calgary getting into the business of supplying water to their rural neighbours as part of the CRP.
In fact, when residents turned out to the open houses in large numbers and identified water supply as a major concern, it didn’t even rate as one of the top concerns in the final report on the public consultation. The rationale was that water issues would be covered in the consultations for the South Saskatchewan River Regional Plan. There certainly was no clear communication of the plans by the City of Calgary to create a new water utility to provide water and wastewater services to members of the CRP. As if having a veto isn’t enough, the City is also given the green light to control the water distribution to communities on the outskirts.
New corporation was quietly approved by Cabinet
The discussion paper also indicates that the new Aqueduct Corporation has already received Cabinet approval. Ironically, the author of the paper, Rocky View’s Chief Administrative Officer, Robert Coon goes on to say that prior to any action there is a need for “policy development and adoption by Council to provide direction and care and clarity to administration, system operators and developers about how water services are delivered in the County. Without those policies and their coordination with other planning documents, including the Growth Management Strategy, Rocky View is left without formal direction and unable to supply consistent answers to concerns raised by constituents.”
I guess none of that direction and coordination was important to Cabinet, as they approved the corporation anyway! If this isn’t an example of irresponsible decision-making, I don’t know what would be. Basically, what he’s saying is: “Jiminy Cricket, we’ve gone ahead and made the decision, without the facts–so we’d better hurry up and get our facts together so that it looks like we knew what we were doing.” (see page 7).
Ah, it’s these little nuggets buried in a 41 page document that make reading the other 40 pages worthwhile.
P.S. In case Rocky View County decides to remove the report from their website, I’ve also posted a copy on this blog at:
Canadian Guerilla: Offsite, offside, gravel, mutiny, etc.
Excerpt from the latest newsletter by Canadian Guerilla:
Tuesday, 05 January 2010
109 households sent in comments to the offsite-levy bylaw. I didn’t see one in favour, so let’s see if I can do the calculation: that would be … ummm … 100% against. Feel free to check my math.
Rocky View Council has deliberately tried to hide what this bylaw does. They have deliberately limited public knowledge and debate.
When I first saw the notice on the county’s website, I dismissed it. Who knows what an offsite levy is, let alone cares about a bylaw dealing with it? But, a little voice said, “Check it.” I looked up “offsite levy” on the web; I read about it in the Municipal Government Act (MGA); I read the municipal how-to cheat sheet published by the county’s lawyer (http://www.cpaa.biz/OffSiteLevyChecklistE0693042.pdf); I downloaded the bylaw.
In short, “offsite levy” is arcane terminology used to mask insidious behaviour: subsidizing developers at taxpayer risk. (On its face, it’s not supposed to do that; however, in practice, that’s exactly what it does.) Only warped minds could dream up this crap; only criminal minds would use it to hide development and borrowing on a staggering scale. The only reason council publicly announced this bylaw is the MGA requires that they do. Look at when they announced it (Christmas); look how much time they allotted for comment (a few weeks over the holidays); look at the informationless notice on their website. These scammers tried to sneak one past us. You know it; I know it; they know it….
Read the full post at: http://bit.ly/5oqBWl
Look west to see what can happen when a council is out of control
If you’re like me, you may think that municipal governments in Alberta are accountable to taxpayers and will respect their wishes. In this last year, I’ve become more actively involved in monitoring municipal politics in and around Calgary. What I’ve seen is shocking and disturbing.
I’ve seen the creation of a new entity called “‘The Calgary Regional Partnership,” (CRP) an incorporated body paid for by the taxpayers who live in and around Calgary. This entity falls outside of government, it has no obligation to share information directly with the taxpayers who fund it. It reports directly to a Cabinet Minister.
It also has a governance model that gives one member veto power over the other 16 members. If Calgary does not agree with plans in a neighbouring municipality relating to land use, they have the power to shut it down. This power is guaranteed in the Alberta Land Stewardship Act, passed in the Legislature this past fall by the Stelmach government. In order to pass this Act, the government had to make amendments to more than 25 other Acts, including the Municipal Government Act. The Alberta Land Stewardship Act is at the top of the hierarchy of government Acts. It supersedes all other acts, giving the new Land Use Framework ultimate authority, and along for the ride is Calgary and Mayor Dave Bronconnier.
The Stelmach government continues to ignore rural voters who are vehemently opposed to the governance structure of the CRP. All three rural municipalities next to Calgary have rejected the CRP…but one municipality stands out. The MD of Rockyview has thus far opted out of the CRP, but not for the reasons you might think. The MD of Rockyview by all accounts, is opting out because it wants to urbanize and develop the MD even more than the Calgary Metropolitan Plan has in mind. They are alone in their single minded pursuit of “rampant urbanization.” And no one in the Stelmach government seems prepared to stop them. If there was ever a reason to intervene, Rockyview’s council is IT.
Now, in the latest sad chapter of the ongoing controversy in Rockyview, the residents found out recently (December 8, 2009) that council wants to borrow up to $200M to pay for a Balzac-Langdon wastewater system that was only supposed to require a loan of $41M because developers were going to cover this debt via levies. That was 2005 and now they’re proposing a new borrowing by-law and residents have only until Jan. 5, 2010 to comment. Activists have calculated that each household in the MD will be responsible for a $15,000 debt as a result of this latest by-law.
Read the full background at: www.ourspringbank.ca
Not to worry, you might think. If enough people are opposed to this new by-law, council won’t pass it. Not so, council has so far shown no regard for residents or even its own paid consultants, who’ve warned as part of the Growth Management Strategy process, that residents are opposed to council’s plans. Several councillors may be in a conflict of interest, but Municipal Affairs Minister, Ray Danyluk has refused to get involved. Some residents are considering a lawsuit. By the time the election is held in October of this year, a lot of damage can be done by a council that refuses to recognize it is out of step with the majority of residents.
Holding the previous $41M debt has already cost the county $9M in interest payments, more than the $8M that went to pay down the debt, which now stands at $35M. In addition to this financial fiasco, the by-law assumes that 16,000 acres of agricultural land will need to be developed.
This is the state of democracy in Alberta. Look to the west and see what is happening in Rockyview and be afraid, be very afraid.
Paying for “water for life”: Calgary creates utility to deliver water to neighbours for a fee
In a development that reminds me of a Godfather movie, Calgary has taken steps to create its new water utility and Airdrie will be the first to sign on. Instead of the drugs that fuelled the infamous fictional crime family, this transaction will involve water and Mayor Bronconnier is looking more like Don Vito Corleone every day. Here’s the way it will work–the elected officials of a number of smaller communities surrounding the city are poised to enter into an arrangement for “protection.” They will sign on to this agreement to pay a newly created utility (soon to be approved by Alberta Environment) for water to be delivered to their community’s doorstep from the Bow River. And those of us living in the rural municipalities outside of Calgary will be on the hook for the cost–forever. It amounts to a new water tax that none of us had a chance to vote on.
Here’s the background from a short article that appeared in Airdrie City View, a free publication from Rocky View Publishing. (read the original) and a longer version in the Calgary Herald (read it here).
City of Calgary reorganizes water distribution
BY STACIE SNOW
Airdrie is among a group of municipalities surrounding Calgary that will have the opportunity to buy water from a new utility designed to provide excess supply to surrounding neighbours in the region.
However, the offer is only valid for those that are part of the Calgary Regional Partnership (CRP). Once the utility is approved by Alberta Environment, Airdrie, Cochrane, Turner Valley, Black Diamond, Irricana and Okotoks would have access to Calgary’s water supply on a cost-recovery basis.
Key phrases here are “excess supply” and “cost recovery.” As far as excess supply, make no mistake folks, communities surrounding Calgary are “second tier” when it comes to water from the Bow River, as far as Calgary is concerned. This is not a case of “sharing” water as has been suggested previously or recommended by various task forces and advisory groups. One can only hope that the municipalities are negotiating some type of supply guarantees and efficiency standards so they are protected from Calgary’s gluttonous water use! (Average Calgarian consumes 437 litres of water per day while the average Okotokian consumes 265 liters of water per day).
And as far as “cost recovery,” the question is,”what qualifies?” If it is the actual hard infrastructure costs, then eventually, that should be paid off, theoretically. However, I think we all know that the cost recovery will include ongoing maintenance of the utility in perpetuity. Communities surrounding Calgary are signing on to be at the whim of “Broncorleone.”
Airdrie Mayor Linda Bruce said while Airdrie’s water is already supplied by the City of Calgary, a utility makes sense.
“This is the first step to start really looking at delivering water among the region,” said Bruce. “I can’t imagine it will change the way we work with the City of Calgary much but in some ways Airdrie is a prototype. We have had a strong connection with Calgary for about 30 years and this is a great demonstration of how Calgary will ensure service to the rest of the region.”
However, those communities outside the Calgary Regional Partnership, such as Rocky View County, Wheatland County and the MD of Foothills, would be left high and dry.
At this point, Mayor Bruce is sounding like one of the Broncorleone’s most loyal thugs…
“It is a CRP initiative and Calgary always maintained that water is part of the land use and that is what the CRP deals with,” said Bruce. “The members of the CRP have worked hard to be a part of this and move forward.”
Calgary mayor Dave Bronconnier said the water supply is part of the region’s larger plans to curtail sprawl and make more environmentally sustainable choices. It would not make sense to push for higher densities in the city and then provide water to communities that weren’t on the same path, he said. The new utility would be a not-for-profit corporation that would reflect a return to Calgary taxpayers for the investment they have made in their plants and equipment.
The contention that Calgary is curtailing sprawl and making environmentally sustainable choices is just not supported by the facts. The recent “watering down” (excuse the pun) of the Plan It Calgary strategic plan has been blasted by critics as a failure (read related article). Calgary’s densities are now likely LESS than the densities that the CRP is insisting for rural areas (Calgary 9 units per acre vs. CRaP plans for a minimum of 10 units per acre). Of course, the ultimate irony is that pushing urban densities into a rural setting is completely ludicrous. It’s like building a skyscraper in the middle of a farmer’s field and saying that it’s not sprawl. The Suzuki Foundation commented on this in 2009 and said, “Density is often used as an excuse for more development. Increasing density within city areas that already have development can work to minimize a city’s footprint. Developing areas where there is little or no existing development is nothing more than sprawl.”
Calgary’s water licence currently provides enough water for about three million people. Only about half of that supply is currently used.
“Calgary’s water licence is for the population in the Calgary region and that is expected to more than double over the next 50 to 75 years,” said Bruce.
“This will ensure service to the region into the future.”
I’ll just end on two notes related to the above statement. First, let’s not forget that this is, after all, only “paper water.” We don’t actually have reliable information on how much water is available and the provincial government is making no effort to find out either. If you don’t believe me, read the status of the surface and groundwater studies for the South Saskatchewan River Basin. A government-appointed advisory group made recommendations in 2004 that have yet to be acted upon, including strong support for the need for “improved studies of the environmental condition of the rivers and the use of these studies in future adjustments to water management.” Relying on water license allocations to determine actual supply is a lot like my pal, Al Sacuta (www.canadianguerilla.com) says, “looking at the number of hunting licenses you’ve issued to determine how much food is in the larder.”
And secondly, if the City is licensed for more water than it needs, why wouldn’t the licenses be revisited and the water supply more equitably distributed? The water doesn’t belong to Calgarians, it belongs to all of us. (see here for a related article)
Towns like Okotoks, in particular, would be better served by building their own infrastructure and sourcing an alternative water supply than hooking up with Calgary for the city’s leftovers. At a minimum, a cost comparison of the two alternatives should be required before any decision is made regarding taxpayer dollars. Unlike the Godfather’s tagline of “an offer you can’t refuse,” we DO have a choice and should be exploring all options and considering their consequences.
Don Corleone said it best, “I want no inquiries made. I want no acts of vengeance. I want you to arrange a meeting with the heads of the Five Families. This war stops now.”
Western Wheel: Conservation plan for southern Alberta taking shape
View original article online at: http://www.westernwheel.com/2009/news/local-news/conservation-plan-for-southern-alberta-taking-shape-1038
by Don Patterson – Staff Reporter
Increased conservation efforts for southern Alberta are a good step forward but protecting water supplies and property rights are also crucial, said area residents at an open house on the South Saskatchewan Regional Plan last week.
MD of Foothills resident Jody MacPherson said the framework and process to date have not put enough emphasis on water supply.
“I want to see some kind of recognition that you can’t develop land without having water first,” she said.
MacPherson said conservation initiatives are important and needed, however, they should be based with on solid information.
Okotoks resident Laurie Hodson said there are positive elements emerging in the plan.
However, he said he would like to see more empirical data on how much water exists in the region.
“They have not to date engaged the best scientists in terms of an objective determination of how much water we have to divert as we proceed through a very dry cycle,” he said.
MD resident Rob Lake said he is pleased to see efforts at conservation, but he doesn’t want it to be too onerous on landowners.
“We want to find out the impact it’s going to have on our ranch and our style of life,” said Lake.
The plan will cover southern Alberta south of Calgary as far east as the Saskatchewan border and will include the foothills area.
Duncan MacDonnell, Alberta Sustainable Resources Development spokesperson, said the region is expected to see its population grow by two million people by 2076 with1.6 million people predicted to settle in the Calgary area. The regional plan has not been written yet, but he said it will balance the variety of land uses in the region while ensuring a healthy economy and environment.
“Population growth and water demand versus supply are the major drivers of change in the South Saskatchewan region,” he said.
MacDonnell said protecting the watershed will remain the priority land use in the eastern slopes, along with providing appropriate recreational opportunities.
Once the plan is in place municipalities will have the same authority to make land use decisions, but they will have to be consistent with the regional plans.
“They have to honour the parameters laid out in the regional plan… look at this as setting the goalposts,” he said.
The plan will include a vision for the region as well as identifying economic, environmental and social outcomes and strategies on how to achieve them.
“The final plan is going to explore relationships between urban and rural lands, watersheds, air sheds, conservation areas and tourism and recreation in the South Saskatchewan region,” said MacDonnell.
The Province has created seven regions and has mandated a plan will be created for each area. The Province has also called for the creation of plans for the Calgary and Edmonton areas.
The goal is to complete the regional plan by late 2010 and the Province is aiming to complete all seven by the end of 2012.
MacDonnell said each regional plan can be drafted to meet the unique needs of all areas.
“Each region will be a little different in how they approach things, but as long as they serve that original mandate they’re fine,” he said.
Key elements of the framework are calls to develop strategies for conservation on public and private lands and reducing the human footprint on the landscape.
As part of the Land Use Framework, the province is developing new legislative tools to encourage conservation.
MacDonnell noted a new policy created under the Alberta Land Stewardship Act is a conservation directive, which states, for any land identified to be set aside for conservation measures, compensation will be provided to landowners for any loss of market value.
“The land would stay in place and you’ll be compensated for it. It’s not like we’re taking the land away for you,” MacDonnell said. “The compensation is paid for any loss of market value.”
A second tool is transfer of development credits, which he said would allow landowners in areas identified for conservation to be able to sell the right to develop to other landowners.
The Province is holding open houses across the region to gather input from the public.
All information gathered will be given to regional advisory councils for review and consideration.
The councils will provide advice in a number of areas including future development, how provincial policies can work together, balancing competing land uses, impacts on aboriginal communities and location of major transportation and utility corridors.
Once the draft plan is completed, the councils will go back to the public for more input.
The provincial cabinet will review the final plan before it is ultimately approved.
For more information on the Land Use Framework see www.landuse.alberta.ca
dpatterson@okotoks.greatwest.ca
Just say NO! to a Calgary VETO 