Chestermere was host to 22 municipalities Sept. 29 and 30 for the fall’s Alberta Mid-Size Cities Mayors’ Caucus.
“This is the first time Chestermere has hosted the Caucus,” said Mayor Patricia Matthews in a press release, “We were thrilled to show off our beautiful community, and also engage in constructive dialogue with other municipalities, benefit from the wisdom of those who have experienced similar growth challenges, and share learnings amongst our peers.”
The twice yearly caucus brings together the Mayors and Chief Administrative Officers of Alberta municipalities with populations over 15,000 people. Calgary and Edmonton are excluded from this meeting.
Guest speakers at this year’s conference included Alberta Municipal Affairs Minister, Danielle Larivee who spoke Thursday night on the progress on revisions to the Municipal Government Act.
“We heard about… municipal funding and how the Province is looking for more stable revenue from non-oil sources from Minister Laravee,” said Matthews in an interview after the caucus.
On the Friday, Brian Mason, Minister of Infrastructure and Transportation and Alberta Senator Doug Black presented as well as several other speakers.
“We heard about infrastructure funding from Minister Brian Mason…and we heard from Senator Black that we should be more forceful in our advocacy for pipelines in Ottawa,” said Matthews.
She felt that the conference was a worthwhile event that will help the city to better plan for the future with lessons learned from the other participants.
“It was great to share various concerns, such as transit pass funding and Water For Life funding criteria questions with our other municipal peers,” she said.
One presentation that Matthews found particularly interesting was the broadband uses and advantages presented by the Calgary Regional Partnership.
“As technology advances and we continue development, we need to think about how we’re going to provide better access to the public,” she said.
For the first time hosting Matthews felt that the event went really smoothly and credits city staff for that success.
“I’d ask for longer days and perfect weather but overall don’t think I’d change much else,” she said.
“We got great feedback from the attendees,” said Matthews.
After the caucus finished, city officials took time to showcase Chestermere to the visiting mayors and CAO’s.
“We were proud to showcase our growing city’s lakeside amenities, commercial developments, new and established residential communities, and emergency services facilities,” said Chestermere CAO Randy Patrick.
