ACRA - History and Successes
Published, October 25, 2006
As the fifth member of your County Council to talk with you about regional cooperation, I am going to use this week's column to give you more information on the history, purpose and successes of the Alberta Capital Region Alliance (ACRA).
Up until the early 1980's, decisions on planning in the Capital Region were made by a regional planning commission. The smaller area municipalities had to live with decisions not always in their best interests. A decision of the regional planning commission caused a lengthy battle over the annexation of lands from four of the Capital Region's counties, including Strathcona County, to Edmonton for population growth and the development of industry. This result was the City of Edmonton being the recipient of the largest land base of any urban municipality in Canada, including Vancouver and Toronto.
As you can well imagine, relationships were strained in the region. The early 1990's saw the regional planning commissions dissolved by the Minister of Municipal Affairs and a subsequent full review of the Municipal Government Act.
By 1995, most of municipalities in the region saw a need to come together in the spirit of cooperation to discuss regional issues, as the global marketplace was focussing on regionalization. The City of Edmonton was a leader in the development of the Alliance, as was Strathcona County. Currently, to the credit of all of the area municipalities, ALL 23 are now voluntarily members of ACRA. When the Alliance formalized and incorporated, its Articles of Incorporation included one member, one vote to guarantee fairness. All municipalities (each a single member) had to agree before the position was carried forward to other orders of government or used as a strategic plan. The region now had a single strong voice of reason.
Since its inception, ACRA has had many successes. I would like to highlight a few.
ACRA created a long-range regional transportation plan which identifies regional transportation priorities to the provincial and federal governments. The successful development of Anthony Henday Drive is a direct result of ACRA's recommendation that it is a regional priority for completion by 2011. The ACRA Transportation Committee updates regional priorities annually and has representation at its table from Alberta Infrastructure and Transportation at each meeting.
ACRA also successfully came together and took a regional voice to the Federal Government when it was looking to relocate military communities. As a result, Edmonton is one of largest military centres in the country.
ACRA's partnership with the University of Alberta has resulted in the establishment of the City/Region Studies Centre.
Regional economic development is a priority for ACRA. It has successfully marketed our Capital Region internationally. ACRA has partnered with the Edmonton Competitiveness Strategy in a project to focus the region's outreach marketing program together and attract investors to the region.
The prosperity we are currently experiencing is due in large part to combined efforts to attract investment to the region. The benefits of this investment extend beyond the boundaries of individual municipalities. Cooperation works.
Jacquie Fenske
Councillor, Ward 5
780-464-8147
fenske@strathcona.ab.ca
Last updated: Thursday, March 25, 2010
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