by Morinville News Staff
The Metro Mayors Alliance signed a Memorandum of Understanding outlining a commitment to plan, decide, and act as one Edmonton Metro Region on regionally significant issues Monday morning. The Alliance say the MOU is “the first step in a process recommended by the Advisory Panel on Metro Edmonton’s Future.”
Nine regional mayors – whose communities represent 95 per cent of the region’s population and 96 per cent of its assessment base appointed the Advisory Panel, charging them with providing advice on how to optimize the region in the coming decades.
Be Ready of Be Left Behind, the panel’s final report recommended that Strathcona County, Sturgeon County, City of Edmonton, Leduc County, City of Leduc, City of Fort Saskatchewan, Parkland County, City of Spruce Grove, and City of St. Albert build regional systems in three critical areas: economic development; public transit; land use and infrastructure.
The Panel see the three items as the primary factors investors consider when deciding where to locate new industries and major facilities.
“We’ve accomplished a lot as individual municipalities,” said Leduc Mayor Greg Krischke in a media release Monday. “By acting together on economic development, public transit, and land use and infrastructure, we can more quickly build a globally competitive Metro Region that attracts people, investment, and opportunities from across Canada and around the world. Signing this MOU is the all-important first step to achieving this goal.”
Strathcona County Mayor Roxanne Carr also spoke tot he benefit of the MOU. “This MOU is an example of what we can achieve by working together,” she said. “Obviously, a lot of work still lies ahead of us, but we have to continue moving forward on this path. The potential benefits of a Metro Region that competes together to win together are simply too great for our communities not to.”
The next step, as recommended by the Advisory Panel on Metro Edmonton’s Future, is the negotiation of a legally binding Master Agreement formalizing the commitment to planning, decide, and act as one region.
Sturgeon County Mayor Tom Flynn and St. Albert Mayor Nolan Crouse of St. Albert were unable to attend the ceremony. Both previously signed the MOU on behalf of their municipalities.
Next question: ” AND JUST HOW DOES THIS AFFECT MORINVILLE?”
I don’t really expect our erstwhile mayor, in EITHER of her two capacities, to provide an answer, but I’m rather hoping that at least one of our Councillors will examine the issue on behalf of the citizens and point us in the right direction…
Perhaps this will be the “straw that broke the camel’s back” and get us moving to a full-blown joining with Sturgeon County??
Innovation Neighborhoods applauds the “Memorandum of Understanding outlining a commitment to plan, decide, and act as one Edmonton Metro Region on regionally significant issues”. This will certainly help the Edmonton region to become more competitive region for the digital economy !
http://innovationneighborhoods.com