ABmunis in the News: Q3, 2024
As the unified voice of our members, Alberta Municipalities works hard to bring attention to our members’ priorities. We were mentioned more than 1,900 times in news stories in the third quarter of 2024 (Q3, 2024), and we maintained our position as Alberta’s leading voice on municipal matters. We are continually expanding our social media presence, engagement, and following across our primary platforms: LinkedIn, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and Instagram. When ABmunis speaks, provincial government officials, opinion leaders, journalists, and many other Albertans hear what we have to say.
Health care in smaller, more remote communities
Faced with a chronic shortage of medical doctors and limited health care services, the Town of Hinton declared a “state of local health care crisis” in late June 2024. Town council approved the spending of $500,000 per year over the next two years to attract and retain medical professionals.
Alberta Municipalities President Tyler Gandam said municipally funded subsidies and incentives for doctors are increasingly being offered in smaller, more remote communities. Depending on how much traction Hinton gets, Gandam thought other municipalities could soon be making similar calls to the provincial government for help. “This is an opportunity for (the provincial government) to start working more closely with communities and figure out ways to get health-care providers (and) doctors to those communities, without communities having to subsidize them,” said Gandam.
Harassment & abuse of local officials by residents
President Gandam gave several media interviews on the topic of harassment and abuse of local officials by residents in July 2024. He said things have drastically changed in the last decade, especially when it comes to the amount of mistreatment local officials are experiencing on social media platforms.
“People can post anonymously, they can post using a fake account, and feel like what they’re saying is totally fine,” said Gandam. He noted that online attacks are more personal than ever before and have little to do with policies or issues. Gandam said that harassment and bullying frequently extends beyond elected officials and targets their families, too.
The Town of Devon’s recently adopted code of conduct gained province-wide attention in Q3. The code establishes steps town officials can take when residents display inappropriate behaviour towards employees. That includes threatening or hostile actions, harassment, bullying and unwelcome conduct.
“The old adage the customer is always right doesn’t work when somebody’s mistreating you, yelling at you, swearing at you or threatening you in any way,” said President Gandam. He went on to say that policy alone is not enough to prevent municipal staff from being mistreated, and suggested a “cultural shift” is needed.
Drought & water management
The Government of Alberta announced in early August that it is allocating more than $30 million to community-led projects that will protect public safety and critical infrastructure from drought and floods.
Alberta Municipalities responded with appreciation.
“Funding from the provincial government that will be used to protect Alberta’s communities from droughts and floods eases the financial burden on the already stretched budgets of local governments,” said President Gandam. “Our member municipalities know best how to invest in local infrastructure projects, so we appreciate these funds being made available for direct application to the most pressing needs.”
2024 Convention & Trade Show in Red Deer
Alberta Municipalities received news coverage in the weeks leading up to our annual Convention & Trade Show in Red Deer, which took place from September 25 to 27. We highlighted key activities and events, including speeches from Premier Smith and Alberta NDP leader Nenshi, and outlined various resolutions.
During Convention, we repeated our call for additional provincial funding for municipal infrastructure and addressed the provincial government’s hesitancy to increase the amount it pays municipalities in Grants in Place of Taxes (GIPOT). We also proposed changes to the way in which policing is delivered in communities throughout Alberta and talked about the need for greater collaboration and co-operation between municipalities and the Government of Alberta.
Several of the resolutions presented at Convention received widespread news coverage, including one on the provincial government’s ban on electronic vote tabulators that passed and another on permanent residents being given voting rights in municipal elections that received impassioned debate but narrowly failed to pass.
