Nathan Cooper, Wildrose MLA for Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills, made an appearance at the Oct. 5 Irricana council meeting, fulfilling a campaign promise to attend councils in his riding at least once a year.
Nathan Cooper, Wildrose MLA for Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills, made an appearance at the Oct. 5 Irricana council meeting, fulfilling a campaign promise to attend councils in his riding at least once a year.
The purpose of the visit was to touch base with the council and hear any concerns and challenges it faces when interacting with the provincial government.
"The relationship that the opposition and the government currently have is still quite positive," he said. "I can't say it will stay that way forever, but at this point and time it's still quite positive."
Councillor Lora Peterson inquired to the extent of power Cooper had to push forward issues to the government as a member of the official opposition.
A question he said he receives often from his constituents. Cooper said in a normal, healthy democracy there shouldn't be an issue addressing concerns brought forward and that interactions between the NDP and Wildrose have been good.
He noted there are two ways to accomplish tasks in Edmonton as an opposition MLA member.
"One is to use sugar and the other is to use vinegar," Cooper said. "Really trying to determine which one of those two to use is the key factor."
Councillor Laura Thiessen asked if Cooper had heard anything about education funding and infrastructure in the provincial budget, which is scheduled for release on Oct. 27.
Though the opposition was unlikely to see eye-to-eye on the budget, especially in terms of spending, Cooper said it is very possible Rocky View Schools could receive additional funding to build schools.
"There is certainly no question we will see a massive deficit," he said about NDP spending he anticipates will be in the budget. "At the end of the day, while fundamentally I disagree with the perceived directions of the current government, it's healthy to change governments every 10, 12, 15 or 40 years."
Utility billing collection notices will be sent out in October after Administration had not made any collection efforts since October 2014, said Irricana CAO Geoff Stephenson.
With almost 500 utility accounts, Irricana has more than 100 that are in arrears and will be receiving collection notices.
"The staff, if you will, have been pushing this aside," he said. "I admit, since I've been here in July it has not been a top priority."
Thiessen questioned if the nine per cent penalty for late payment was actually working as a motivator to pay bills on time if there had been no collection enforcement.
Stephenson said the accounts in question would be collected on. He noted the municipality has a very strong ability to collect on these accounts given its power of taxation, but added that's not something that should always be leveraged.
"The goal is for people to pay their bills," he said.
