The 2018 Alberta Urban Municipalities (AUMA) Conference and Trade Show hosted in Red Deer for the first time in 20 years, wrapped up Friday.
The conference included three days of sessions, workshops and meetings with more than one-thousand delegates from across the province.
“My Council colleagues and I were privileged to welcome municipal delegates from across Alberta to our community for AUMA 2018,” said Mayor Veer.
“Not only did it allow us to showcase all that makes Red Deer unique to our municipal colleagues, but above all, it gave us the opportunity to highlight important issues and challenges in our community with our provincial counterparts.”
Throughout the conference, several meetings were held with provincial cabinet ministers and RCMP K Division to discuss a variety of topics, including Red Deer’s shelter, infrastructure, community safety and policing, and energy infrastructure needs.
“Council raised some of our most urgent and pressing community issues, including the need for shelter and associated supports, with Minister Sabir, Minister of Community and Social Services,” said Veer.
“The minister heard the significant challenges our council raised, and committed to working with the city to find a long term solution for our community.”
With crime and community safety as a top priority for our community and the city, a meeting was also held with assistant commissioner John Ferguson, acting commanding officer of RCMP K Division. Priority topics included downtown safety and crime prevention, 9-1-1 call wait times and the auxiliary program.
“The city values our close working relationship with the RCMP to make significant progress in crime reduction,” said Veer. “Our meeting today focused on how we can continue to respond to our community crime challenges. The addition of 10 new officers this year will help to respond to our community’s need for proactive policing.”
Related to policing, a meeting was also held with Minister Shaye Anderson, Minister of Municipal Affairs, to discuss the police funding inequity that exists between urban and rural municipalities. Currently municipalities with over 15,000 residents pay 90 per cent of policing cost, with a 10 per cent subsidization from the provincial government, whereas municipalities with less than 15,000 residents pay significantly less.
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