The Rural Municipalities of Alberta Association (RMA) – formerly called the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties – has set out its official position on rural crime and the need for rural communities to work with police and others to help combat it.
The RMA, which represents 69 rural municipalities, recently updated its official position statements on issues facing rural communities.
The association advocates for rural interests with the provincial government and other stakeholders.
Mountain View County councillor Al Kemmere is the president of the association. He calls the updates an important step in ensuring rural Alberta communities are well represented with the community at large.
“The updates are based on resolutions that have been passed or from discussions on items that have come forward,” Kemmere told the Gazette. “We want to ensure that those who are looking at us know what our positions are on the issues.
“Rural crime is one of the things that is gathering the most attention these days.”
The updated rural crime position statement reads as follows:
- As rural crime rates have increased recently in many areas of Alberta, the RCMP and the government of Alberta must collaborate with rural municipalities to seek local strategies to prevent and report criminal activities.
- The government of Alberta rural crime action plan and associated funding commitment have the potential to significantly reduce rural crime rates. To be successful, the action plan must include a role for municipalities and local organizations to report on crime and provide feedback on the action plan’s effectiveness.
- Community input must be at the heart of a municipality’s relationship with local RCMP.
- Many rural municipalities currently contribute to the funding of police administration staff, community peace officers, and, in some cases, police headquarters.
- RMA does not support downloading of additional costs of funding front-line police services onto property taxpayers in rural municipalities.
- If increased funding responsibility is downloaded onto rural municipalities, it must be accompanied by improved service and more local input into policing practices.
The updated position statement regarding cannabis states:
- The legalization of cannabis will bring land use planning challenges to rural municipalities. Although they will be economic contributors, cannabis production facilities may have environmental, public safety, and infrastructure impacts for rural municipalities.
- The rural municipal perspective must be considered in the federal approval process for all cannabis production facilities.
- Rural municipalities should be empowered to determine where cannabis retail facilities are located within their boundaries. The RMA appreciates the government of Alberta’s flexibility in empowering municipalities to modify default provincial zoning requirements to meet local needs.
Another updated position statement involves broadband:
- Broadband Internet is essential to rural community-building and to attracting qualified professionals and industry to rural areas.
- Any funding programs developed by the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) related to improving service in underserved areas must focus on isolated rural areas with the poorest connectivity speeds, and not allow funding recipients to only target areas that are slightly below the minimum threshold.
- To this point, the Alberta SuperNet has not been an effective tool to support rural final mile broadband access. However, the RMA is optimistic that Service Alberta’s creation of a new SuperNet operating agreement will lead to the SuperNet realizing its potential to support rural broadband access throughout Alberta.
The updated farm and ranch safety position statement includes the following:
- It is important that paid agricultural workers have the same rights and protection as other workers in Alberta and that these right are enshrined in legislation. However, it is also important that farm safety legislation does not unfairly compromise the ability of agricultural producers to operate sustainably.
- The RMA continues to advocate to the government of Alberta for effective communication of farm and ranch workplace safety requirements to both employers and employees in the agriculture industry.
The updated agriculture plastics statement includes the following:
- Growth and change in the agriculture industry has led to greater use of agricultural plastics by producers to help manage their storage, improve efficiencies and improve cost-effectiveness. While there are local initiatives for some plastics, there is a lack of western Canadian or Alberta-wide options for environmentally safe end-of-life management of all agricultural plastic.
- The lack of comprehensive end-of-life management of agricultural plastics continues to have adverse impacts on the environment and human health.
A complete list of the updated position statements can be found at rmalberta.com.
