Lac La Biche County has hired a team of lobbyists, including two former MLAs for the local area, to advocate on its behalf. The county has entered into a one-year contract with Alberta Counsel, at a cost of $60,000.
Lac La Biche County has hired a team of lobbyists, including two former MLAs for the local area, to advocate on its behalf.
The county has entered into a one-year contract with Alberta Counsel, at a cost of $60,000. The Edmonton-based firm has former NDP MLA Leo Piquette and former Wildrose Party MLA Shayne Saskiw on its roster.
Piquette served as MLA for Athabasca-Lac La Biche in the 1980s, while Saskiw represented the Lac La Biche-St. Paul-Two Hills constituency until just last year.
The other three members of the lobbying team-senior associates Pascal Ryffel and Heather MacKenzie and principal Jonathon Wescott-also have previous political party experience.
Mayor Omer Moghrabi said the inclusion of two local ex-MLAs did factor into the county’ s decision to hire this particular firm, but the company has more qualifications than just familiar faces.
“The (company’ s) background touches all parties,” Moghrabi said.
According to the Office of the Ethics Commissioner of Alberta, the firm has been authorized to lobby for extending legislation that allows Lac La Biche County to set different property tax rates for urban and rural areas.
The company is also being paid to lobby for a full-time, indoor dialysis unit at the hospital in Lac La Biche, and fully paving Highway 858, which becomes a gravel roadway after crossing the La Biche River north of Plamondon.
Moghrabi maintains that he and county councillors are effective lobbyists in their own way, but they can’ t be in Edmonton every day to bend the ear of this minister or that bureaucrat.
“We felt there were some matters that are so important that we want to take every chance, every opportunity to make ourselves heard,” he said.
The mayor said the government needs to remember that there are still pressing needs in this part of the province, where the NDP’ s representation is considerably less than in the larger urban centres.
“We need them to know...not to forget the actual constituencies,” said Moghrabi.
County councillors discussed a government relations plan behind closed doors last Tuesday. The item was discussed privately because of Section 24 of the provincial Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, which says that “advice from officials” can be kept out of the public eye.
Moghrabi confirmed that council was conferring with Alberta Counsel that day.
After Tuesday’ s meeting, Deputy Mayor John Nowak said the county is taking advice on how to proceed because of potential changes to the municipality’ s split mill rate ability and the “tenuous political climate” in Alberta.
Regarding the split mill rate, Nowak said previous governments have made promises to the county that, in the end, were not kept. He hopes the current government understands that fact and respects it.
“I would hope that we can find common ground with the provincial government,” he said.
The split mill rate was one of the outcomes of a deal struck in 2011. Lac La Biche County lost jurisdiction over the Cold Lake Air Weapons Range, in exchange for a divided tax structure to offset the loss in revenues.
It later became clear that the provincial legislation allowing the split mill rate was not permanent. The legislation is currently set to expire in 2017, but the county has been trying to avert that by changing its official status from municipal district to specialized municipality.
There are only five specialized municipalities in Alberta, but Moghrabi said Lac La Biche County deserves to be numbered among them because of its large land area, relatively low population and mixture of urban and rural areas.
The split mill rate is an added benefit, he said, and it is odd that it’ s applicable only on a temporary basis.
“No one was aware that it was set on a five-year term,” said Moghrabi. “Our municipal leaders and council did not know that. I’ m not sure if Municipal Affairs even knew that.”
He wasn’ t in office at the time the split mill rate was introduced so he can’ t speak to broken promises, but “the proof is always in the pudding,” he said. “We had the understanding that it would be in perpetuity and, in fact, it has not been.”
He said the ongoing lobbying for the continuation of the split mill rate and other matters is on a “trial basis,” but he’ s confident it will turn out to be a worthwhile investment.
Alberta Counsel has been contracted to lobby until Jan. 19, 2017. In the meantime, don’ t underestimate local officials’ ability to influence people, the mayor said.
“The best lobbyists we have are ourselves,” Moghrabi said.
