Wheatland County council ponders time well spent

By Sharon McLeay Times Contributor

There are many meetings and conferences slated for representatives from Wheatland County council members to attend. One is the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) conference, which was held in Quebec this May. Larger cities can host conferences, but is awarded on a bid basis. Wheatland County has a membership in the organization.
“We’re making the most of the tools we’ve got to build better lives, and recent gains are helping. But to unlock the potential of our rural communities, we’ll need to modernize how we work with the federal government, and this election campaign is a pivotal opportunity to make that happen,” said Ray Orb, chair of FCM’s Rural Forum.
Speakers, panels and workshops were slated over three days and the goal was to allow attendees the ability to network, learn new ideas, promote their community and contribute to federal governance by talking with government representatives. The second day of the conference covered rural municipalities.
Wheatland County Councillor Tom Ikert attended, but he said he wanted council to reconsider membership and future attendance. The membership fees are charged on a per capita basis.
“It was interesting (but) I am not sure. I would love to have everyone attend an FCM (conference) and then have a meeting as to whether it is worth our time or not,” said Ikert.
He said Albertans make up the largest contingent at the conferences, but he said smaller municipalities and Alberta rural issues were not represented well.
“We are not getting anything done. The closest I came to rural was a municipality of 30,000 people. So Wheatland County doesn’t even register. In my opinion (with) the energy we put in, we never get anything back,” said Ikert.
Councillor Ben Armstrong agreed with Ikert, but noted a lot of the federal funding programs are delivered through FCM.
“Yes, it seems we are wasting our time down there, but our voice is being heard. A couple years ago it wasn’t like that,” said Armstrong.
Councillor Glenn Koester listed a few projects in Wheatland County that received funding through FCM. They included $100,000 legal fees in a Supreme Court challenge on a bylaw matter, over $60,000 for the Carseland floating island project, money for the Rosebud symbiotic project and money contributed to Southern Alberta Energy from Waste Association (SAEWA).
Koester said the main reason Wheatland County belongs to FCM is the funding, and attempting to have a voice on a national level.
Ikert said that energy might be better spent supporting the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association and the Rural Municipalities of Alberta Association.
Council received the information for future consideration.