The Main — April 19: When the Muni and MLA Disagree
1. Why the 'COVID 18' could influence October's elections 2. Ambulance dispatch redux 3. Lethbridge Police hand Madu their plan 4. Things we're watching
A power imbalance is developing in Alberta after 18 United Conservative Party members publicly questioned their own government’s COVID-19 policy.
Nowhere is this more true than in the Bow Valley.
On April 7, one of the ‘COVID 18’ defying their government’s decision to return to step one measures in response to the third wave of virus spread was Banff-Kananaskis MLA Miranda Rosin.
Rosin wrote on her Facebook page:
“I have heard resoundingly from citizens and small businesses alike that they cannot take this much longer. Especially as the MLA representing Alberta's most prominent tourism and hospitality communities — communities who are reliant almost solely on visitation and witnessed unemployment rates peaking above 85% (sic) earlier in the year — the need to progress forward, not backward, is dire.”
But while the mayors of Canmore and Banff agree that the pandemic has damaged tourism and businesses in the region, they’ve pushed back against Rosin’s call to loosen new restrictions and question whose feedback she used to make the decisions.
On April 12, Banff Mayor Karen Sorensen, and Canmore Mayor John Barrowman both sent letters to Rosin, asking for her continued support fighting the pandemic. “[A]nd that [support] includes avoiding words and actions that undermine the public health messages to our population,” read Sorensen’s letter.
Banff is a unique municipality in Alberta. Unlike most towns of its size, Banff often partners with both the provincial and federal governments because it’s not only a town but also a town within a national park. Many of its residents live in shared accommodation and many work in hospitality. Tourism isn’t just an industry in Banff, it’s the industry. Anything that threatens tourism is an existential threat.
During the pandemic, the Bow Valley had province-leading infection numbers on a per capita basis at one point. Alberta Health Services has also set up mobile assessment sites in Banff in an effort to keep the virus contained. Businesses in Banff are not clamouring for new restrictions to be lifted, according to Sorensen, but instead, some are even voluntarily closing to keep staff safe.
While Rosin claimed she’d heard a message from constituents, both Barrowman and Sorensen have questioned that.
“The majority of people in Canmore, that I hear from — and that's a lot — are very supportive of continuing to do everything we can to slow the spread (of COVID). There's been strong support for the regulations and restrictions that have come through the public chief public health officer,” Borrowman said, with CTV. “I was very disappointed that the MLA would sign a letter like that, indicating that she had consulted with thousands of constituents and not reach out, at least to my knowledge, to constituents in this part of her constituency.”
In an interview with Rage, Sorensen echoed Barrowman’s sentiments.
“Most of the feedback that I’ve heard is that they are disappointed in MLA Rosen in taking that position,” she said. “In Banff, we absolutely share the concerns about the impact of the pandemic on our economy and the livelihoods of our residents, but we are very concerned about the health and safety of our community. We have a third wave and variants. It’s like we have three viruses going around now. While there is much angst and fear in our business community, I would suggest most do not agree with the stance that we should not have gone back to stage one.”
Sorensen also said Rosin’s message now makes the situation confusing for residents.
“I don’t think that’s in the best interest of our province. The government has been elected, the premier has made a decision … but sending mixed messages out to the public I think causes confusion and additional division. There are obviously people who agree with those [18] MLAs and it’s divisive. When the provincial government has sent mixed messages it’s confusing. Everyone must follow the COVID safety requirements. From our point of view, we’re following scientific advice from health experts. I’m an elected official, I’m not a health expert.”
Rage asked Sorensen if this small drama will play out in the election this October (which she’s not running for re-election in).
“For somebody running for mayor or council, will their personal beliefs and values, or actions taken during COVID be listed during campaigns? Quite possibly. Will it impact how people vote? Quite possibly.”
On Friday, Rosin posted to her Facebook page that she was out and about in Banff to speak to business owners. Her rebellion stance on re-opening was absent from her comments.
“While businesses I spoke to were thankful for government supports over the past year, one message rang clear: vaccine availability and a vibrant summer tourism season will be paramount for their survival,” she wrote.
Someone Call 911 for Cochrane
New data collected by the Health Sciences Association of Alberta suggests Cochrane residents have been left for hours at a time without ambulance coverage.
Association President Mike Parker told Cochrane Now that one patient was left for 40 minutes. Parker also said the shortages seem to link to when nearby Calgary’s ambulance calls are overburdened.
In January, Alberta Health Services consolidated ambulance dispatch calls from the community-led system to one centralized service, with the changes affecting Red Deer, Calgary, Lethbridge, and the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo.
Then came the outcries.
In February, Don Scott, the mayor of the Wood Buffalo, created a motion for the council to order municipal staff to refuse to transfer any 911 calls to the new dispatch system. He and many other community leaders said the new system was creating too many safety concerns. Wood Buffalo’s council adopted the motion unanimously.
"There are circumstances when acts of defiance and resistance, I believe, are absolutely necessary,” Scott told CBC.
A few days after the motion, AHS won a court injunction to implore Wood Buffalo to transfer calls to the new dispatch. The fight will continue in court.
In February, Rage wrote about the broken relationship and the implications for the coming municipal elections in October, from the point of view of Lethbridge Mayor Chris Spearman (our emphasis added). These implications only seem truer today than back in February:
Many expected the upcoming municipal election, which is the focus of this newsletter, to be about political alignment — or, in other words, about partisan politics, which are not a feature in most municipal councils in Alberta.
Indeed, there’s been a lot of anticipatory discussion about the UCP or those loosely in its orbit creating candidate slates that support a UCP agenda over local agendas in their run for mayor and council seats. But Scott’s open defiance, as well as the provincial, municipal-heavy uproar and subsequent walk-balk by the UCP on its changes to provincial coal policy, suggest that all might be collapsing.
Who, after all, would run in Wood Buffalo right now while openly supporting the Kenney government? Further, why would the UCP actively want to make the coming municipal elections a direct litmus test for its lagging popularity?
Lethbridge Police Respond to Madu’s Demand
Lethbridge Police have responded to the extraordinary demand by Justice Minister Kaycee Madu to reform themselves with a plan.
“We have all seen the negative publicity the Lethbridge Police Service has received as of late,” Lethbridge Police Chief Shahin Mehdizadeh said, as reported by Global. “As a result, some citizens may be questioning the ethics and integrity of the men and women who serve you every day.”
In late March, Rage discussed Madu’s extraordinary action in the face of damning evidence that Lethbridge Police had monitored NDP MLA Shannon Phillips.
We wrote:
Our take: The main interest in this at Rage Against the Municipal is what this could mean for the 2021 municipal election. If Madu does step in and clear house in Lethbridge, it will establish a strange precedent during an election year.
Things We’re Watching
This past week’s AUMA leaders’ conference was interesting. Our live-tweeting got an unroll here:
Municipal leaders in Athabasca are not happy with Premier Jason Kenney:
We are 99 per cent sure know who got a tour here as a mayoral candidate but we’ll wait to have it confirmed (email us if you can). Until then, here’s a strange story on Edmonton Police Service offering councillors tours of homeless shelters:
We’re hosting a panel with hyperlocal indy media covering the municipal elections in 2021. You should tune in — Wednesday, 7:30PM, live on our Facebook page: