ST. PAUL – During a delegation on Oct. 10 at the regular County of St. Paul council meeting, MLA Scott Cyr discussed a variety of issues concerning the St. Paul region with council members and administration.
One of the items of discussion included the Rural Renewal Stream (RRS) program.
Linda Sallstrom, Economic Development Officer (EDO) for the STEP Economic Development Alliance, was also present during the discussions.
Sallstrom said RRS has been a great program that allows employers and immigrants to reduce red tape, and has increased employment in the region, in addition to the advantages it provided for newcomers to gain their permanent residency.
“However, as we’ve highlighted before, the program came with no provincial support,” said Sallstrom. “The [designated] communities are left to fend for themselves and figure out the processes on their own,” including setting up the program and its implementation. In addition, communities need to learn how the process interacts and aligns with the Alberta Advantage Immigration Program (AAIP).
There are many processes and pieces to understand, and the amount of time spent on the project detracts from the EDO’s ability to focus on other areas of economic development, such as investment attraction, according to Sallstrom.
Ultimately, municipalities, EDOs, and workforce consultants are not fully equipped or properly prepared to deal with immigration-related matters.
Cyr acknowledged the concerns, noting that the EDO and municipalities have become immigration experts when they shouldn’t have.
The MLA said the federal government handles almost every part of the program, including immigration, and that permanent residency “seems to be a real issue right now.” The federal government is a couple years behind, said Cyr, and as a result many people are opting to abandon their applications and switch to the RRS as a pathway for immigration, moving to rural areas to do so.
He acknowledged that this is putting pressure on the program, and “We’re going to probably end up with very few of them actually staying in rural [Alberta],” which is contrary to the program’s purpose.
“That’s one thing I would say that we need to use caution on.”
Cyr said he hopes the federal government can deal with immigration issues and reduce strain on the whole system. He asked that a letter of concern be sent to him, so he could bring the topic before the Alberta government.
Health professional recruitment
The issue of health professional recruitment was also brought up during the Oct. 10 County of St. Paul council meeting.
County of St. Paul CAO Sheila Kitz listed examples where a lack of healthcare staff have had an impact on the community, including temporary closures of health services such as emergency, surgery, and obstetrics in St. Paul.
Cyr said there are doctors going through the “system right now... earmarked for our region,” and, “I’m curious what’s holding that up.”
According to Cyr, northern Alberta is looking at around 23 to 40 per cent vacancy rates for doctors, and having a more precise understanding as to why would help with finding a solution.
Efforts from the provincial government include hiring foreign graduates, “But it takes them a while getting into the country,” acknowledged Cyr. He also said rural Alberta needs to train more rural students to increase retention rate.
It’s not easy to find an ultimate solution to the issue, said Cyr, “So, give me a little more time.”
Environment
The County of St. Paul has also come up against issues dealing with Alberta Environment, said Kitz, this includes dealing with Water Act applications, around boat launches and other areas.
“We’ve just had a lot of challenges with getting approvals to fix boat launches, to build roads, to do brushing,” where Water Act approval is required, said Kitz.
She said the County has been working with an engineering firm over the past three years to come up with a process of obtaining approval from Alberta Environment to maintain the County’s boat launches, and the venture is becoming very expensive.
There are also two Water Act applications submitted to Alberta Environment for the removal of an old boat launch, and the upgrade of an existing boat launch, with little movement from Alberta Environment happening. This leaves the County wondering if the applications have even been reviewed.
Kitz said the County is also struggling getting approval regarding road projects requiring environmental approval, “even though we start months and up to a year ahead when we plan to complete the project.”
Cyr said when there is red tape, such as with Alberta Environment, that he first works to understand the issue and see “if there’s a good reason why" things are being held up.
“I can’t just condemn the province of Alberta,” he said, and acknowledged that, “This has actually been around for a while. But it sounds like it’s gotten worse... is what I’m hearing.”
Coun. Darrell Younghans said it’s not just the delays and the time that’s causing an issue, but also the added expense to municipalities as they navigate the approval process.
Cyr said that if the issue has come to a point where it has become costly, “Let’s come up with a compromise that you can live with.” He also asked council and administration to bring forward suggestions to him.
“And we’ll see if I can get that up to Minister Rebecca Schulz,” said the MLA. Schulz is the Minister of Environment and Protected Areas of Alberta.
Senior housing
Senior housing was also among the list of items discussed on Oct. 10 in council chambers. Kitz explained how the MD of St. Paul Foundation has already conducted a study on the number of housing units required to meet the needs of the aging population in the region moving forward.
The study found that the St. Paul region will need a new building to house seniors, and while there are both provincial and federal grants available, it still leaves local municipalities with a significant portion of the funding to cover.
Kitz said the County alone would “have to come up with $8 million,” on top of other capital pressures like infrastructure and operating costs. “There seems to be more expected from municipalities and the tax dollars that we collect than what we can ask the residents to fund,” said Kitz.
Cyr said senior housing in St. Paul will now be among his highest priorities. “I’m going to be pressing on it.”
Cyr requested a copy of the current wait-list to show the actual number of people waiting to get into senior housing, locally. This wait-list will show that there is a “real need,” not only with funding, but with demand.
Other areas of discussion during the delegation included Alberta Transportation, water distribution and wastewater collection systems, emergency services, the tax holiday for industry, Designated Industrial Property (DIP) assessment, Land Titles, cemeteries, and economic corridors such as the need of upgrade in the highways of Northeast Alberta.
Economic corridors
Highways were also discussed, particularly Highway 28 and the Secondary Highway 881 north of St. Paul, leading to Highway 28. Among the reasons the County of St. Paul believes improvements are needed to Highway 28 is due the proximity of 4 Wing Cold Lake, a military air base located in the Lakeland.
Kitz also said the County is hoping for a hemp facility in the region, which would help the local economy. But this would require economic corridors to get connected to the market, which includes better highways or railway access, said Kitz, listing examples.
Coun. Darrell Younghans agreed with the CAO, saying, “We need to get the industry in and the product out.”
Cyr said he would love to see the railway come back to the region. The issue, however, according to Cyr, is that the only location to put in the rails will be the Iron Horse Trail, which was the former location of the railway. It’s possible to create a trail alongside the rail, “But I can tell you right now, [there] would probably be a significant public push-back on that,” he said.
As the meeting wrapped up, Cyr said that if ever he shows up unexpectedly at council meetings in the future, it’s not that there’s an issue. “I just want to sit in the gallery here and hear if you’ve got questions,” or concerns the council would like to bring up, he explained.
