OLDS — During an appearance before the Town of Olds' council, Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills MLA Nathan Cooper was asked to help the municipality obtain more money from the province, especially for projects like sewer and water upgrading.
Cooper said he’ll do what he can, but warned that the provincial budget will likely be very tight and there are competing demands for provincial money from many quarters, including education.
“I just stress we're stretched as far as we can go,” Coun. Darren Wilson said during town council’s Feb. 10 meeting.
Wilson noted that in the past two years, the Town of Olds has earmarked $3.5 million to combat issues like water inflow and infiltration into its water and wastewater system alone.
Meanwhile, he said, the municipality's share of provincial grants has fallen.
Wilson admitted that in order to provide money in one area, it usually has to be taken from another area.
However, he said, “(we) just really need your help to advocate for something.”
“I wonder, maybe the question is, what's the future for the taxpayer? We all know there is only one,” Wilson said. “The taxpayer is getting stretched and pulled every which way.
“Our tax revenue, 30 per cent of it, I believe, is attributable to the provincial education requisition. So our taxpayers feel pinched every time they look around.”
Cooper said, “You know, I agree with you, in many respects, that all levels of government feel the continual challenge that is budgeting."
He noted that for example, health care costs continue to rise.
“When you look at health in the province, there's more people in Alberta today than there ever has been," he said.
“There's more doctors practicing Alberta than there has been, and the costs of health care have never been greater.
“And so the province also feels that pain and burden, if you will, of trying to allocate resources.”
Cooper also pointed out that despite the provincial government announcing millions of dollars for school construction, “there are schools here in the constituency of Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills that are in desperate need of additional resources.”
There will always be “a push and pull” between demand from municipalities for infrastructure funds and what the provincial government can afford to provide, he said.
“Unfortunately, the pot is only so big, and so the province also makes difficult decisions with respect to the allocation of resources,” he said.
“What I can say is that I, as a former municipal councillor, have a sense of the challenges that you face around this table.”
Before being elected as an MLA, Cooper was a Town of Carstairs councillor.
He said many taxpayers say they want more services, but at the same time, also want lower taxes.
“There's not a municipality in the entire province that doesn't have an infrastructure deficit of some capacity, and the same for the province,” he said.
“So my commitment to you is that I will advocate to the best of my ability, both to the Minister of Municipal Affairs (Ric McIver) and the President of Treasury Board (Nate Horner, MLA for Drumheller-Stettler) who’s a good friend and colleague of mine, our constituencies are side by side.
“We'll keep we'll keep at it. (I’m) not always successful in the things that I advocate for, but I can certainly promise the work that goes behind the scenes.”
