Next week's Alberta Mid-Sized Cities Mayors’ and CAOs’ Caucus will be a rare opportunity for the Town of Cochrane with the leaders of all four provincial parties confirmed to attend.
Premier Rachel Notley, UCP leader Jason Kenney, Liberal leader David Khan and Alberta Party leader Stephen Mandell each confirmed their attendance late Wednesday.
Mayor Jeff Genung says the bi-annual conference is a chance for Cochrane to shine and will further one of his campaign platforms of enhancing the town's profile, which will be almost guaranteed with media from around the province expected to attend.
"I want to make our own people proud and show the backdrop of the Cochrane RancheHouse and the town logo for all these press conferences," he said.
Representing 22 towns and cities of population above 15,000 people, the conference's attendees – 44 delegates – represent around one million Albertans, a fact Genung attributes to what attracted the party leaders to attend.
"We need to raise our status with the province whether it be for funding for 1A/22 (interchange) or getting 1A twinned through town or seniors housing or whatever," said Genung. "I said during my election campaign that I was going to try and do something different. Yes, we can write letters. Yes, we can make phone calls. Yes, we can go to the conferences that we always go to and get our meetings with ministers, but what else can we do that raises the profile of Cochrane in the provincial eye?"
That has been the goal of this conference since the town began working on the logistics back in October and Genung says having all the party leaders at the event will be major opportunity to not only raise awareness of Cochrane's needs but also build relationships with whomever is at the province's helm come the spring election.
Collectively, it will also be an opportunity for the other town leaders to address a variety of issues and top of mind this year will be municipal funding. The Municipal Sustainability Initiative, the province's direct line of funding to municipalities, has been a point of contention as towns seek sustainable funding.
"The province has now got their big city charter where Edmonton and Calgary has secured their funding profile," said Genung, adding the towns are looking for a funding model that will not only be more consistent but also be more sustainable.
That charter ties Edmonton and Calgary's funding to provincial revenues and a percentage of the Carbon Tax to go towards transit initiatives. The future of the program should the UCP be elected is uncertain due that party's platform promise of axing the Carbon Tax.
"What like that can we see out of the province for the rest of the communities? This government has cut MSI funding. Will Jason Kenny or whomever continue to go down that road?" Genung asked. "We would like to see long-term sustainable funding that we can budget on."
The mayor emphasized the importance of MSI funding when it comes to the town's ability to conduct infrastructure projects – such as the bow river bridge - that would otherwise fall solely on the shoulders of municipal taxpayers.
Cochrane's upgraded interchange at the intersection of highways 1A and 22 is also expected to come up over the two days - Wednesday and Thursday. The NDP government has committed to the project, but construction would not begin until after the next election. If the NDP were to lose the election, the question would be if the new government would honour that commitment.
"I'm optimistic, but it's a risk for sure," said Genung, which he said highlights why having all the party leaders at the conference is so vital.
Optimism is something Genung, who is chairing the event, said he hopes will come from the conference, which is why his aim is to have it be a relationship building exercise, where both levels of government look for ways to work together.
"I hope whoever is elected does something to spur some positivity back into the province," he said, adding there is a sense of pessimism across Alberta. "Everybody has been focused on doom and gloom, oil prices, we said no to the Olympics. I think the province is mired in that right now and for good reason, people are out of work, businesses are closing. I think Cochrane has been fairly well insulated from that, but not completely immune."
Pricetag
Normally, the Alberta Mid-Sized Cities Mayors’ and CAOs’ Caucus runs upwards of $10,000 to host, but Genung said Cochrane is proud of the fact they are hosting it at no cost to the town.
"We've always had a fund for this but we had the idea that because this was so high profile and that changed the dynamic of what we have to do as a host community so we went out and got sponsors," said Genung.
Those include Urban Systems, TransCanada, Southland Transportation and Caron & Partners.
Security
With the premier and four high-profile leaders in town at the same time security will be tight, but Genung said each leader is handling their own security.
"They've already been here, checked out the venue and told us what to have in place and what not to have in place. It's all under control," he said.
The possibility of protests have been discussed considering the number of such events that have occurred in recent weeks in locations across the province and the country.
"I hope not, I hope this goes off pretty smoothly," he said.
No public access
The meeting is restricted to dignitaries and press for a number of reasons, including venue availability and security.
"For the average Cohranite, it's an opportunity to put our face in front of our next premier for them to remember this day," he said. "There have only been four (premiers) in my lifetime that have been here."
The town is also looking at posting the event on its YouTube Channel for the public to watch.
