Edmonton Global hopes to listen its way to harmony
Edmonton Global is hiring two consultants as it embarks on a roughly six-month "listening tour" to gather concerns from its 14 member municipalities and consider how it might convince those who want to leave to change their minds.
The organization's move follows decisions late last year by Devon, Fort Saskatchewan, Parkland County, Strathcona County, and Sturgeon County to state their intentions to leave the regional economic development body. The earliest those decisions can take effect is 2025.
An Edmonton Global spokesperson told Taproot via email that the listening tour is "process driven rather than time driven," though the members have requested updates by June.
Ozone Advisory Group Inc. will work with the stakeholders and chief administrative officers in each of Global's 14 member municipalities. Meanwhile, Christopher Steele of Boston-based EBP US will meet with their economic development teams. Details about the engagements are confidential but could result in recommendations for Edmonton Global's board and shareholders.
"Part of this listening tour is really trying to figure out what is the crux of the concerns from those five member municipalities," Edmonton Global CEO Malcolm Bruce told Taproot. "I also think it's important to highlight that the remaining nine municipalities are always looking for continuous improvement, but they're quite happy with the structure, too."
Edmonton Global is an organization that seeks to find foreign direct investment for the region. It was created in 2017.
During a Jan. 25 in-camera meeting among the organization's municipalities, the mayors of Edmonton, St. Albert, Beaumont, Fort Saskatchewan, Gibbons, Morinville, and Strathcona County formed a new subcommittee. Details of the meeting are confidential, even to Edmonton Global's board and staff, though board chair Enzo Barichello gave attendees an opening presentation.
The subcommittee includes urban and rural mayors; two of them represent municipalities that voted to depart Edmonton Global — Fort Saskatchewan and Strathcona County. Morinville Mayor Simon Boersma acts as the new subcommittee's chair. Its first meeting was Feb. 5. St. Albert Mayor Cathy Heron said the subcommittee will meet every three weeks, and has said since it formed that changing Edmonton Global's fee structure could create a path towards harmony.
"It's not a main part of it, it's just something that's on the table," Heron told Taproot. "One of the things I suggested at our first little working group is to find those mayors that were around the table back in 2016 and '17 when this was all really starting — they must have explored governance structures and fee structures — and ask them why they settled on the one they did. I've already had drinks with (former Edmonton mayor Don) Iveson to talk to him about it."
Member municipalities set Edmonton Global's fees and these are based on population and tax base. Sturgeon County has contributed $600,000 since Global's formation in 2017; Strathcona County, meanwhile, pays around $500,000 annually. An Edmonton Global spokesperson said it receives $5 million yearly from members, up from $500,000 in 2017, and that there are no plans to increase fees.
Heron said that making Edmonton Global better for all members involves discussions within the subcommittee about diverging investment opportunities that interest its urban and rural members. Counties have much more land for industrial development; towns and cities, on the other hand, are best suited for housing investments.
"There's been hesitation about how it's never fair that the counties get all the heavy industrial with high investment dollars and very little servicing fees," Heron said. "It's like winning the lottery for a county, and the cities just don't have that opportunity."
