Achi news desk-
Alberta legislation aimed at protecting provincial priorities could slow grant funding and allow federal money to be spent elsewhere, officials representing rural municipalities and faculty members at post-secondary institutions say.
Bill 18, introduced by Premier Danielle Smith last week, would require the provincial government to approve all federal funding to provincial entities.
That would include federal money going to cities, towns and universities across Alberta.
“I simply can’t see how it helps anyone in the province,” said Dan O’Donnell, a professor at the University of Lethbridge and president of the Confederation of Alberta Faculty Associations.
If passed, the legislation could slow down grant funding or force him to go to other researchers out of state, O’Donnell warned.
“(It forces us) not to compete on a level playing field with every other academic, every other researcher, every other scientist,” O’Donnell said.
In a statement released Monday, the Mount Royal Faculty Association (MRFA) shared some of the same concerns as O’Donnell.
Bill 18 “will have a negative impact on the amount and type of research conducted in the province,” the statement said in part.
“We had no idea this was coming down and I find it kind of sad,” said MRFA president Lee Easton.
The premier has said the legislation is needed to keep federal government “ideologies” out of Alberta municipalities and academics, but the faculty association said that’s not how federal funding is transferred to students and researchers.
“These grants are awarded by arm’s length agencies through a competitive peer review process, and only those deemed to have the strongest application receive federal funding,” the statement said.
Easton also said the proposed rules threaten academic freedom in Alberta and could cause federal grant money to be awarded to researchers in other provinces.
“What this means is that people are going to say, ‘No, I won’t go there. Why would I go there when I can’t get my research funded?'” said Easton.
Rural borough group ‘definitely concerned’
The group representing small and medium-sized towns and cities in Alberta says it was also caught off guard by the proposed legislation.
Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA) said the rules would reduce municipal autonomy when it comes to federal funding and the projects for which the money is needed.
“We’re definitely concerned, as we see this as another level of bureaucracy for us and another level of bureaucracy,” said Kara Westerlund, Brazeau County councilwoman and RMA vice president.
“Many of our rural municipalities do not have the capacity within their administration to be spending even more time trying to get through a grant application.”
The province says the legislation is needed to ensure each municipality gets its fair share of funding.
“Bill 18 is about getting more money for municipalities and Albertans in general,” Ric McIver, Alberta’s minister of municipal affairs, said Monday.
“That’s what we were elected to do and, by golly, we’re trying to keep our promise.”
Details of how federal funding would be reviewed and what could be excluded from the legislation are not yet known.
The province says it will establish those details in the coming months through consultation with stakeholders.
