Rural Alberta leaders hope premier, government pays more attention to their concerns following UCP approval vote

Alberta rural leaders meet with premier Rural Municipalities Alberta met with the premier Tuesday. Chelan Skulski has more on what members would like to see.

Speaking to a crowd of 700 rural leaders Tuesday in Edmonton, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith outlined her government's priorities, talking about updating the province's bill of rights and fighting the federal government over the carbon tax and the emissions cap, among other things.

But Paul McLauchlin, the outgoing president of the Rural Municipalities of Alberta, says affordability should be the premier's No. 1 issue, suggesting her attention has been elsewhere.

"I think there's been a tremendous distraction by the leadership race," McLauchlin said Tuesday, referencing last weekend's vote by members of the ruling United Conservative Party on Smith's leadership.

The premier received 91.5-per-cent approval during the UCP annual general meeting on Saturday in Red Deer.

"What Albertans want is to be able to put food on their tables," McLauchlin said. "They want to be able to keep their lights on and heat their homes."

With the leadership review now over, McLauchlin hopes the province will focus on investing in aging infrastructure and reform municipal funding.

Other leaders attending the Rural Municipalities of Alberta's fall convention at the Edmonton Convention Centre say they just want to understand provincial decisions, such as the government's plan to expand the role of sheriffs.

Reeve Terry Ungarian, reeve of the County of Northern Lights, said he's "basically asking for accountability for this independent police agency that's being rolled out by the province."

His resolution is one of 21 up for debate at the four-day convention.

It's one Ungarian says is needed after rural Alberta strongly voiced opposition to the idea of a provincial police force.

"Really a lack of consultation, lack of information and kind of lack of any mandate for this new independent policing agency," said Ungarian, whose county in northwestern Alberta is headquartered in the town of Manning.

Smith told media Tuesday that municipalities "don't have to do anything they don't want to do" on the policing question.

"We're just enabling. We have a lot of municipalities who want to look at other options for policing," said Smith, pointing to the example of Grande Prairie, which established its own municipal force earlier this year.

"They realized that they would be able to get more officers and save $8 million. That's a pretty big advantage, which is why they're in the process of moving towards a municipal police force on their own and away from the RCMP."

Grande Prairie's police force will fully take over policing in the northwestern city of 60,000 from the RCMP in 2028.

Naheed Nenshi, the leader of the Official Opposition Alberta NDP, says the government's focus on bolstering provincial police powers is further proof the premier refuses to listen to rural Alberta, votes he hopes to steal in 2027.

"Last week, I was up in the riding of Morinville-St. Albert, chatting with people about their concerns, and it is very clear that this government is taking them for granted and assuming they're going along with that rural Albertans are going along with their radical-right proposals," Nenshi told media on Tuesday.

"Best example of this is the Alberta police service. Nobody wants it. No rural organization has said, 'Please give us this.' Instead, they've said, 'Focus on the real issues of rural crime', and the UCP has shown no inclination of doing that."