Municipal Affairs - Provincial Policy

Pressure on affordable housing across Alberta and Canada is growing. It is neither feasible nor sustainable for governments to address the issue on their own. P3 (Public-Private Partnership) models show the greatest potential to address the magnitude of the issue while creating a sustainable program. More affordable housing units can be rapidly brought on stream by activating the private development sector to meet demand.

Municipal Affairs - Provincial Policy

Municipalities are now required to operate and maintain utility infrastructure on any private property which provides service to more than one parcel within a development versus entering into joint use agreements with developers.

Municipal Affairs - Municipal Policy

Excessive regulations in planning, building and development processes can slow the progress of development in our community. In order to encourage economic prosperity of our region, there are ways to reduce the regulatory burden on businesses and ensure the City of Medicine Hat is viewed as 'Open for Business."

Municipal Affairs - Municipal Policy

Economic activity in our region is below the desired pace, and this slowed economic activity is having a noticeable local impact. Residents of Southeastern Alberta are earning some of the lowest average wages in the Province which, with the current economy and interest rates, leads quickly to a standard of living below that of our neighbors.

Municipal Affairs, Municipal, Provincial

The current process to discover, investigate, remediate, and redevelop brownfields is onerous, costly, and frustrating for local governments and does not encourage and incentivize the private sector to redevelop brownfields. While Alberta's Municipal Government Act enables local governments to cancel, defer, or reduce the municipal taxes on brownfields through a property tax bylaw, the provincial portion of education taxes remains on the property. In addition, legislation and regulations for remediation and reclamation.

Finance & Taxation - Municipal Policy

The off-site levy bylaw #4721 was adopted on November 22, 2022 under the Corvus model with levy rates reviewed each year commencing in 2023 and adjustments made annually based on that same model. With the economy and businesses just starting to recover from challenging financial and regulatory circumstances an incentive program should be implemented to ensure maximum benefit for development in our community and to ease the process and create stability and predictability.

Municipal Affairs - Municipal Policy

An economic development strategy plays a key role in directing and focusing economic development efforts within a region. Currently, several initiatives and organizations are involved in contributing to economic development within the Southeast Alberta region; however, there is no overarching strategy to provide direction to these organizations or to address their role and guide their activities.

Finance & Taxation - Provincial + Federal Policy

There is a relationship between the size of government and economic growth. While government spending is needed, there are studies that have shown that when government grows beyond a certain size it can hinder economic growth and lead to lower living standards for citizens.