Rural Municipalities of Alberta president Kara Westerlund joins Alberta Primetime host Michael Higgins to discuss dealing with unpaid property taxes from oil and gas companies and more.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Michael Higgins: The Smith government is promising a new complaints process and new consequences to address municipal demands for accountability measures.
Let’s start with dealing with delinquent oil and gas companies – what’s at the heart of the promise the premier made of this new process?
Kara Westerlund: We are excited with that announcement, alongside the announcement that Minister McIver and Minister Jean made regarding a task force that will be sitting down to look at solutions to this issue.
I did have the opportunity to be a part of that announcement before our membership yesterday, as well as a meeting right afterwards to sit down with both ministers, to kind of carve out and set that path forward on how we’re going to address this issue once and for all.
MH: How much confidence do you have that this will finally address your longstanding concerns and put delinquent dollars back into municipal coffers?
KW: I’m fairly optimistic. I am willing to sit down at the table to have these conversations, but I have set a pretty tight timeline.
I would like to have some answers heading into the fall, especially with our fall convention planned in November. I’m the third president to tackle this issue. We’re on our third premier, and we’re also on our third energy minister. So quite frankly, enough is enough. Let’s get to work. Let’s put a stop to this for once and for all and move forward.
MH: Still on the topic of the oil patch: Premier Smith indicated this week a plan is coming for the cleanup of abandoned and inactive wells.
How much insight have you been given in that regard?
KW: Again, we’re going to stay cautiously optimistic with the announcement. I’ve been around in the municipal world for 15 years now and the proof is in the pudding, so hopefully we can have a conversation in a few months and some of this work is actually getting done, and we’re making a move in the right direction.
MH: You may have seen in recent days, a draft government report leaked to the media recommending public funding be used to clean up these wells.
The premier has said public funding won’t be needed. Where do you weigh in on that?
KW: We were a part of the process so we were well aware of the report. We put a number of calls in asking for the official release of that report. As you said it, it’s already out so we’re still hoping to have that report officially released.
The other issue that we have talked about with that report specifically as it was known as the “Mature Asset Strategy” - we have yet to have a definition of what a mature asset is actually. That call was made throughout that entire process and during those meetings at that time, and we will continue to put that call out.
It’s great that the recommendations are out there, but at the same time, it’s pretty hard to move forward when you don’t know what the actual definition of what you’re trying to do is. and in But we remain optimistic.
We’re a willing partner to be at the table. We want to find the solutions. Because at the end of the day, it’s residents that are affected by these type of companies and by this type of industry.
MH: Shifting gears, a lot of anticipation for a federal election call coming Sunday.
How was that weighing on the minds of rural municipal leaders when you were meeting at convention this week?
KW: It was a big topic for us. Of course, it’s probably the worst kept secret in Ottawa. I think it’s long overdue to get this election over and done with.
Couple that with the issues of the border and the constant threat and the implications of the tariffs that that are having right now, I think we were excited and we’re ready to move forward on that pace too. So it was definitely a big conversation with how things are going to turn out here in the next couple months.
MH: What is the mood at the rural level around how best Canada should be responding to the Trump tariffs and sovereignty threats?
KW: We do keep in constant connection with our friends south of the border, whether it’s through government on our level or if it’s through companies because obviously a lot of business that municipality does, especially on the procurement side, comes from the U.S. So we’re optimistic.
They’re hurting as much as we are down there when we’re having those conversations. I will be surprised - and I hope I’m right in my thoughts - but I think the tariffs may come to a close sooner than later, for the sole reason that we’re not the only ones hurting in this.
The businesses and the people in the U.S. are hurting just as much. The other positive spin on this has been it’s opened up the door for interprovincial conversations. It’s interesting that we talk about the difficulties dealing with the south, but at the same time, it’s shone a bright light on interprovincial trade and the barriers that exist there.
I think this is going to be a huge opportunity to sit down at the table and have meaningful conversation to remove those barriers to as well.
MH: Previously, we’ve touched on the RMA efforts around your wildfire working group.
Alberta is now more than two weeks into wildfire season.
What level of confidence do municipalities have, is the degree of readiness there?
KW: I seem to be using the same phrases over again: We’re cautiously optimistic.
I do know that we’ve dealt with a number of serious fires already this season, even right before officially wildfire season opened.
I know the MD of Big Horn, which sits between Calgary and Banff, has already dealt with a number of substantial fires in that area. We had fires that continue to burn right through the winter up in the northern region, particularly in the McKenzie County area.
We will remain cautiously optimistic. I think the last couple years has been very hard on municipalities. It’s been very hard on our volunteer firefighters, and it’s been extremely difficult for the boots on the ground. So the conversations are happening, the reports throughout, recommendations have been made, and we look forward to making sure that we can learn from our past mistakes as we move forward.
