You know what’s interesting? Municipal dispute resolution. No, wait. Don’t all leave at once. We’ll break this down into little bits and I’ll answer your questions one at a time. That way it’ll be fun!
Oh, all right then. What do we need to know?
First off, you need to know that I’m not an expert on this stuff. It’s a complicated issue. I’ll do my best but I urge you not to stake your life/house/reputation on anything you read here. I’m writing this because I think somebody should, and there doesn’t seem to be anyone else who can. Or at least nobody else who we can afford to pay to do it.
Boy, you’re really giving this the hard sell. What’s going on?
Brazeau County and the Town of Drayton Valley are locked in a seemingly interminable dispute over recreation funding.
Why should we care?
There’s quite a lot of money involved. The amount they’re arguing over is somewhere around $500,000 a year.
Blimey! Can you give us a bit of history? That’s a lot of spoondocks.
I don’t think that word means what you think it means. Anyway, without getting too bogged down in the details, the two municipalities share the cost of recreation facilities that are used by both town and county residents. Almost all of those facilities – things like the Omnipex and Park Valley Pool – are operated by the Town. The current disagreement is about how much the County should pay.
This has been going on for a while then?
It has. They were sharing the costs 50/50, which pretty much equates to the usership levels from each municipality. But the County believes that the costs are too high and what they’re being asked to pay is out of line with what you’d find elsewhere in the province. A while back, County council decided they were going to pay a flat rate per capita. But that flat rate worked out to a lot less than they were paying in the past. Cue wailing and gnashing of teeth at the Town.
Couldn’t they talk things out?
They went to mediation, which is a process where the two sides sit down with an impartial third party and try to come up with a solution everyone can agree on.
And what happened?
They failed to come up with a solution everyone can agree on.
Oh oh. Then what?
Then they went to arbitration. That’s a process where the two sides sit down with an impartial third party who tells them exactly what to do. No ifs ands or buts.
I’ve heard about this! Wasn’t there an arbitration ruling that said the costs should be shared 50/50?
There was. And that made the County unhappy, so they launched an appeal.
And?
Well, you can’t actually appeal an arbitrator’s decision. The entire point of arbitration is that you bring in an outsider to settle the issue once and for all.
But?
But you can ask for something called a judicial review. A judge will look at the arbitrator’s ruling and determine whether he exceeded his authority or overstepped his jurisdiction. That’s the point we’re at now.
And do you think he did?
Well, this arbitrator was given the job by Municipal Affairs, so it’s hard to see how he wouldn’t have authority to make the decision he was specifically appointed to make. But I’ve been wrong before. Just ask my wife.
Then there’s the issue with the Early Childhood Development Centre.
I’m listening
Right. Pay close attention. The ECDC hasn’t been covered in previous agreements between the Town and the County. The Town has funded its deficit on its own. The Town asked the arbitrator to include the ECDC in his decision. The County argued that he didn’t have the jurisdiction to do that. The arbitrator ruled that he did have the jurisdiction. Then as part of his final judgment he said the County should take on some of the ECDC’s operating expenses.
I bet they weren’t happy
They were not. They appealed, saying the arbitrator should not have given himself jurisdiction to consider the ECDC.
What happened then?
A Court of Queen’s Bench judge ruled that the County had left it too late to appeal that bit. Right now it’s unclear as to whether the ECDC ruling might still be covered under the overall judicial review, if and when that goes ahead.
So this could go on for a while then?
Tough to say, but the court system is not notorious for its lightning fast decision making.
Aren’t all these hearings expensive?
Yes they are. Last I heard the County’s bill for the process was well into six figures. The Town’s expenses can’t be too far behind.
Who pays for that?
You do.
I have no social life whatsoever and I find the intricacies of municipal law fascinating. I wish I could learn more.
You can! The County has the full text of the arbitrator’s ruling available on its website for your reading pleasure.
Now I’m off for a nice lie down.
