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Current Opportunities for APPI Membership Involvement with the MGA Amendments

Provincial activity regarding the MGA is currently progressing on a couple of fronts simultaneously.  It is important that APPI members stay apprised of these initiatives and take time to convey their thoughts regarding how the future of Planning in Alberta may be affected.  Bill 20 and Bill 21, complete with amendments to Bill 21 that were introduced in the legislature, have been proclaimed and now comprise the Municipal Government Act.  

Once proclaimed, there is no further opportunity to provide input into the content of these provisions.  However, opportunities exist to review and provide input into the draft regulations that will govern implementation of these provisions, as well as to provide input into the feasibility and implementation of some “emerging topics” that were identified during public consultation on Bill 21.
The opportunities to inform APPI response to these two initiatives are outlined below:

These initiatives are:
•    Wanting to “close the loop” on the response that APPI Council submitted to the Province when amendments to the MGA were being considered in 2014, the APPI MGA Task Force has prepared a document detailing each of the issues APPI raised and the response that was included to each of these by provisions, as contained in Bill 20 (the Municipal Government Amendment Act, 2015) and Bill 21 (the Modernized Municipal Government Act).  This has recently been posted to the APPI website click here for the "Legislative Changes (Bill 20 and Bill 21) Provincial Responses to APPI Recommended Changes to the MGA" document.

•    Bill 21, was proclaimed on December 6, 2016, including a number of amendments to the bill that were introduced in the legislature prior to Third Reading.  The Province is currently drafting regulations regarding implementation of these new provisions and will post them to the provincial website for a 60 day review and feedback period. www.mgareview.alberta.ca.  The APPI MGA Task Force will prepare an official response on behalf of APPI Council.

The content of both Bill 21 and Bill 20 that affect the future of planning in Alberta have been summarized in a second document recently posted to the APPI website click here for the "Bill 20 and Bill 21 MGA Changes Affecting Planning" document. In advance of the release of the draft regulations, APPI members are asked to review this document and share their thoughts about any implementation issues that should be addressed in the regulations.  The Task Force will incorporate these concerns in an APPI official response to the draft regulations.  Members are asked to forward their concerns directly to Gail Sokolan, Task Force Chair at [email protected] by January 31, 2017.

•    “Continuing the Conversation” – A discussion paper containing a number of emerging topics that could be the content of potential MGA review was released in late November.  These topics were identified as a result of public engagement over the summer regarding the contents of Bill 21.  Previous APPI e-news editions have contained an invitation for members to provide input to the MGA Task Force, to be included in an official response that will be submitted to the Province by APPI Council.  Input needs to be received by the Task Force by January 10, 2017 and can be submitted directly to Gail Sokolan at [email protected].

For more information on the work of the APPI MGA Task Force click here.