When federal Housing Minister Sean Fraser put out a statement this week saying Alberta (plus Saskatchewan and Ontario) had not formally responded to the Liberal government’s cost-sharing offer made last month to increase supports to address homelessness and encampments, it seemed like just another of the all-too common jurisdictional fights that erupt between the province and Ottawa.
Fraser said the federal government could “no longer wait for them to muster the political will to act” and would bypass the provinces and instead go directly to municipalities.
In Alberta, he said they would approach Edmonton and Calgary and offer them a piece of the $250-million set aside in this year’s budget for partnerships with the federal government to deal with the ongoing housing crisis.
Of course, by Wednesday night, a deal appears to have been agreed to in principle between the province and Ottawa to help Calgary, Edmonton, Lethbridge and Red Deer.
“I actually do not have a clue where the breakdown would have been on the federal side, but I’ll be honest, I’m not overly worried about it,” said Alberta Minister of Seniors, Community and Social Services Jason Nixon in an interview with The Globe’s Alanna Smith.
So while that deal is a bit of a ray of sunshine, the partisan fighting is not particularly well thought of by some. Namely Richard Ireland, the mayor of Jasper, who is burdened with rebuilding his mountain town located in a federally regulated national park situated in a province with a not-particularly cozy relationship with Ottawa.
“The people of Jasper are relying on us to get this housing in the ground,” Ireland said at a recent provincial news conference announcing 250 new modular homes. “It is critical stuff – it cannot be delayed on the basis of factional sparring.”
As The Globe’s Kelly Cryderman wrote in her column this week, the Jasper rebuild is complex and requires participation and cooperation with all levels of government.
And while Nixon, who announced the modular homes for Jasper, “is part of a government that has never been shy about being combative in its dealings with Ottawa, with cause and without” as Kelly wrote, nothing changes the fact that the town’s residents need places to live.
So, hopefully the deal struck this week around homelessness and encampments is a signal that municipal, provincial and federal leaders can find ways to be productive and work together.
As Nixon told Alanna on Thursday: “I’d rather just get this job done.”
And remember, the second season of The Globe podcast In Her Defence is available now. Reporter Jana G. Pruden investigates the death of Amber Tuccaro, a young woman who was killed more than a decade ago just outside Edmonton and whose final words, caught on tape, have haunted her family and investigators ever since.
Where to listen:
This is the weekly Alberta newsletter written by Alberta Bureau Chief Mark Iype. If you’re reading this on the web, or it was forwarded to you from someone else, you can sign up for it and all Globe newsletters here.