"Uniquely Rural" RMA lays out focus areas for Rural Candidates

The Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA) is calling on rural candidates in the upcoming May 29th Alberta provincial election to prioritize the organization's needs.

In a document titled "Uniquely Rural" released by the RMA the rural municipal organization in the province of Alberta outlined six key areas of focus for candidates to consider when making their campaign promises.

According to the RMA, their members are responsible for delivering a wide range of services and managing massive infrastructure networks. However, they are impacted by provincial policy, spending, and operational decisions across many different ministries.

This according to RMA means that rural municipalities have so many election priorities in different policy areas that it can be difficult to include them all within election advocacy.

The RMA's document is intended to supplement its election website and candidate guide by providing a quick list of key rural municipal goals within each of the RMA's six election priority areas.

The six areas RMA is focusing on are the adoption of a rural lens, Municipal funding, Municipal access to property tax revenues, Municipal autonomy, Rural healthcare and social services and Rural internet.

In a one-on-one interview with Cross Border Interviews, RMA President Paul McLauchlin said, "We want to make sure that MLA candidates are having those discussions."

The RMA's document is similar to a political party platform document, with specific policy issues falling within each of the RMA's election priority areas.

McLauchlin said that he knows that he can have a priority list but the list always comes down to one thing, "I think that I can list my wish list of rural internet and increased infrastructure funding and health care and social services. But the best way to approach this conversation is to get back to good government on behalf of Albertans."

The RMA's document is intended to encourage further discussions between candidates, the RMA, and rural municipalities.

The Rural Municipal Association is hoping candidates follow up with the RMA or local rural municipal leaders within their riding to learn more about any of the specific list items in the document.

"Uniquely Rural" outlines key areas of focus that RMA is hoping candidates will consider when making their campaign promises.

While the document outlines the six key priorities, the rural organization does outline some key goals they hope the provincial parties keep in mind as well including, discontinue efforts to investigate the creation of the Alberta Provincial Police Service and instead prioritizing improving rural policing service levels under the existing contract policing model.

Review the current bail system which allows for no-cash bail for repeat offenders and do a jurisdictional scan of other provinces which use alternative bail packages and bail ladder systems.

The entire document can be found at the following link: https://rmalberta.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/ElectionStrategy-PlatformPackage-1.1.pdf