The provincial government has signed an agreement with the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association and the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties that will see a new Municipal Government Act in place for 2016.
AUMA President and Grande Prairie City Councillor Helen Rice has been pushing for changes to the province’s relationship with municipalities for some time, and is pleased with the urgency towards finishing the review.
“We want the province to recognize the municipalities as a partner and a level of government, not a stakeholder or a child of the province; that recognition that there are three levels of government, and we’re seeing that kind of respect from the province already.”
The review began back in 2012, and included input from citizens at a series of community meetings, including one in Grande Prairie last April.
The MGA is the second largest piece of legislation in Alberta.
