The Lloydminster Chamber of Commerce has released its 2016 Policy Resolutions.
Each year, members are invited to participate with the board of directors and the political action committee to determine the policy direction for the year. The policy development round table is held in January and the policy debate is held in February. Through the use of news releases, news conferences, and presentations to all levels of government, the Chamber aims to act as a representative for constructive change.
This year the Chamber is trying to tackle several hot button topics for Lloydminster by appealing to different levels of government for funding.
Chair of the Political Action Committee, Angela Minish, mentioned 3 major policies to fund policing costs in the city, the proposed wastewater treatment plant, and creating affordable housing.
The Policy regarding housing reviews the current state of Social and Affordable housing in the city, reporting a drop of about $300.00 in the average rental fee per month for a one bedroom apartment in Lloydminster, resulting from the state of the economy. Lloydminster is currently one of the only communities in Alberta or Saskatchewan of its size without a formalized housing and homelessness strategy.
Minish said some of the policies are municipal but there are also provincial and federal ones as well. Another of the municipal ones, is regarding the wastewater treatment plant that will cost an estimated $94 million.
“We’re actually going to appeal to all 3 different regions… the Saskatchewan Water Securities Agency is requiring the city of Lloyd to upgrade its system by July 2017… We’ve received $1.8 million from the Alberta Small Communities Fund, but we’re looking for increased funding and support from Saskatchewan because we haven’t received that at that point, and more from Alberta, as well as on the federal funding level too,” explained Minish.
The wastewater treatment plant is under the policy regarding the allocation of Saskatchewan government funding to Lloydminster infrastructure, as well as the project for improvements to Highway 17.
Minish also discussed the Chamber’s goal to gather more funding from Saskatchewan for police services in Lloydminster. The Chamber estimates that about 30 per cent of Lloydminster residents live in Saskatchewan, equaling almost 12 thousand people.
Because of those numbers, the Chamber is appealing to the province for increased funding towards policing.
“Currently, Saskatchewan doesn’t provide targeted funding for policing services in Lloydminster. If we’re looking at the cost for policing in Lloydminster, about 90 per cent is going to be paid by the city, so about $5.8 million, and Alberta also contributes $580 thousand,” said Minish.
You can look at the full 2016 Policy Resolutions document at lloydminsterchamber.com.