Even if you knew it was coming, a kick in the teeth is still a kick in the teeth and that’s exactly what rural Albertans in the Calgary region got last week, courtesy of the central planning monstrosity known as the Calgary Metropolitan Region Board (CMRB)..By all measures, it’s not too harsh to call this board a monstrosity. Made up of 10 municipalities in the Calgary Region and mandated by the Rachel Notley’s NDP to control land-use decisions and dictate investment for the area, the CMRB was set up under the guise of ensuring responsible development. That’s the mandate, however creating a voting structure that guarantees the urbans vote down the rurals is anything but responsible. The board is not about sound regional planning, it’s all about political protectionism and this was blatantly evident around the table last week..At stake was the County of Rocky View’s Municipal Development Plan (MDP) and the Area Structure Plans (ASPs) for North and South Springbank. Calgary’s neighbours had a thoughtful path forward for their municipality and their economy. The plans were grounded in solid planning principles, and they were approved by the board administration and an outside and unbiased consultant. They paved the way for tens of billions of dollars in investment to the region over the next several decades with countless jobs, communities, and family amenities in the works from several investors and developers. But the urban municipalities hate any good idea that could be theirs for the taking. They have a super majority voting structure around the table, and this allows them to vote down anything that smells like competition on the other side of their fence. So, led by Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi, they voted Rocky View’s plans down, and just like that, years of planning and millions of dollars in studies including countless hours of community consultation was shot down by the big city, central planning protectionists. Do you see what they did there?.This is a bad precedent for Alberta and a terrible signal to outside investment that Alberta is not open for business. That landowners and municipalities can go through the entire planning process, following all the laws, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars planning projects in their own backyard only to have the selfish politicians and bureaucrats from other municipalities look over the fence and kibosh any plan that did not come from them. It is anti-free-enterprise, and anti-Albertan. .Property rights just took a solid blow and rural landowners across Alberta should be ready to ask some pretty direct questions of their governments. If it can happen in the Calgary Region, what’s to stop this central planning philosophy from spreading to other regions: Grande Prairie, Lethbridge, Red Deer and Medicine Hat? If you have a plan for growth and investment outside the urban municipality in today’s Alberta, forget it. Big brother next door will nix your plans thereby eliminating any competition from the marketplace..This is the kind of anti-free enterprise, red tape machination that the UCP promised to eliminate, but so far it seems that politics and the louder voices of the urban mayors and bureaucrats are still freely wielding their vetoes over everyone else’s land while they continue to gladly spend Alberta tax dollars on themselves..The UCP will have to make a decision on this board in the fall. They have been handed a growth plan for the region by the board they need to deal with. The rurals on the board all voted against it of course, but that doesn’t matter as they are consistently outvoted 7-3 by the “super majority” of the urbans. One must wonder if the UCP are waiting for the municipal election to play out and a change in the big chair at Calgary City Hall before dealing with this board. They may face less blow-back and criticism once Nenshi is gone. .Kicking the can down the road on this one is not wise, however. This should be an easy decision. The board should be promptly shut down and each duly elected municipal government should have the right to plan for their own future under the laws of our province. That is exactly what former Premier Ralph Klein did with this central planning model in 1995. He knew a thing or two about free enterprise and wasn’t afraid to take criticism to do what is right. He got rid of the central planning, anti-competitive planning commissions and the Alberta Advantage came roaring to life..Premier Klein did it because it was the right thing to do. He chose principle over politics. Will the UCP show the same courage? Albertans should expect nothing less..Bruce McAllister is a columnist for the Western Standard, Executive Director Rocky View 2020 & is the former Wildrose and PC MLA for Chestermere-Rockyview
Even if you knew it was coming, a kick in the teeth is still a kick in the teeth and that’s exactly what rural Albertans in the Calgary region got last week, courtesy of the central planning monstrosity known as the Calgary Metropolitan Region Board (CMRB)..By all measures, it’s not too harsh to call this board a monstrosity. Made up of 10 municipalities in the Calgary Region and mandated by the Rachel Notley’s NDP to control land-use decisions and dictate investment for the area, the CMRB was set up under the guise of ensuring responsible development. That’s the mandate, however creating a voting structure that guarantees the urbans vote down the rurals is anything but responsible. The board is not about sound regional planning, it’s all about political protectionism and this was blatantly evident around the table last week..At stake was the County of Rocky View’s Municipal Development Plan (MDP) and the Area Structure Plans (ASPs) for North and South Springbank. Calgary’s neighbours had a thoughtful path forward for their municipality and their economy. The plans were grounded in solid planning principles, and they were approved by the board administration and an outside and unbiased consultant. They paved the way for tens of billions of dollars in investment to the region over the next several decades with countless jobs, communities, and family amenities in the works from several investors and developers. But the urban municipalities hate any good idea that could be theirs for the taking. They have a super majority voting structure around the table, and this allows them to vote down anything that smells like competition on the other side of their fence. So, led by Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi, they voted Rocky View’s plans down, and just like that, years of planning and millions of dollars in studies including countless hours of community consultation was shot down by the big city, central planning protectionists. Do you see what they did there?.This is a bad precedent for Alberta and a terrible signal to outside investment that Alberta is not open for business. That landowners and municipalities can go through the entire planning process, following all the laws, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars planning projects in their own backyard only to have the selfish politicians and bureaucrats from other municipalities look over the fence and kibosh any plan that did not come from them. It is anti-free-enterprise, and anti-Albertan. .Property rights just took a solid blow and rural landowners across Alberta should be ready to ask some pretty direct questions of their governments. If it can happen in the Calgary Region, what’s to stop this central planning philosophy from spreading to other regions: Grande Prairie, Lethbridge, Red Deer and Medicine Hat? If you have a plan for growth and investment outside the urban municipality in today’s Alberta, forget it. Big brother next door will nix your plans thereby eliminating any competition from the marketplace..This is the kind of anti-free enterprise, red tape machination that the UCP promised to eliminate, but so far it seems that politics and the louder voices of the urban mayors and bureaucrats are still freely wielding their vetoes over everyone else’s land while they continue to gladly spend Alberta tax dollars on themselves..The UCP will have to make a decision on this board in the fall. They have been handed a growth plan for the region by the board they need to deal with. The rurals on the board all voted against it of course, but that doesn’t matter as they are consistently outvoted 7-3 by the “super majority” of the urbans. One must wonder if the UCP are waiting for the municipal election to play out and a change in the big chair at Calgary City Hall before dealing with this board. They may face less blow-back and criticism once Nenshi is gone. .Kicking the can down the road on this one is not wise, however. This should be an easy decision. The board should be promptly shut down and each duly elected municipal government should have the right to plan for their own future under the laws of our province. That is exactly what former Premier Ralph Klein did with this central planning model in 1995. He knew a thing or two about free enterprise and wasn’t afraid to take criticism to do what is right. He got rid of the central planning, anti-competitive planning commissions and the Alberta Advantage came roaring to life..Premier Klein did it because it was the right thing to do. He chose principle over politics. Will the UCP show the same courage? Albertans should expect nothing less..Bruce McAllister is a columnist for the Western Standard, Executive Director Rocky View 2020 & is the former Wildrose and PC MLA for Chestermere-Rockyview
