News

The Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) has engaged the University of Pennsylvania to undertake an intensive eight-month study on how the AER can become a best-in-class regulator.

The study process includes gathering the perspectives of a variety of stakeholders that engage with the AER or are impacted by energy projects in Alberta.

To provide your input on what characteristics a best-in-class regulator should have, complete the brief survey at the University of Pennsylvania’s Best-In-Class Regulator Initiative website.

The AER is the single regulator for energy development in Alberta, and is involved in all stages of an energy project, including application, exploration, construction, abandonment, reclamation and remediation. The AER makes decisions on project applications, monitors the environmental compliance of energy projects, and is involved in all other aspects of energy resource development.

Check out AAMDC's latest CONTACT for further information. 

Congratulations to Joe Duplessie from Lac St. Anne County whose name was drawn as the winner of the show us your license plate contest.  Thank you to all the members who participated.  

Just a friendly reminder that today is the final day to submit your pictures of your truck with your AMSA license plate.  Send submissions by email to Executive Director.  Winner will be announced Friday January 16. 

The Community Aggregate Payment Levy (CAPL) Regulation expires on December 31, 2015, and the AAMDC has been invited to provide input into possible changes that could be made to the existing regulation. 

Click here to read the January 14 issue of AAMDC"s CONTACT for more information on how to provide input. 

On behalf of AMSA, congratulations on your retirement Ed.

Click here to read letter sent to Herb from AMSA president.  

As part of the Volvo Group’s ongoing activities to improve profitability and
reduce costs, Volvo Construction Equipment will discontinue development and
production of its current product line of Volvo-branded backhoe loaders and
motor graders. In the future, these products will instead be manufactured by
Volvo CE’s Chinese company SDLG.

Click here for Volvo's news release. 

Check out the latest CONTACT for information regarding Transport Canada's review of the Canada Transportation Act (CTA).

At AMSA's Fall Convention, Jack Dunsmore from the MD of Taber received the 2014 Peer Recognition Award.  Jack has been an AMSA member for 20 years. 

 

Congratulations Jack!

Each year at the fall convention, AMSA recognizes one member for their long standing commitment not only to AMSA, but to the enhancement of the field of municipal public works.

We are now excepting nominations for the 2015 AMSA Peer Recognition Award.  If you know of a worthy AMSA member that you'd like to nominate for this award, please click here to send an email to the Executive Director.  Be sure to include a brief summary describing the members experience and why they should be selected.

Nominations will be accepted until March 1, 2015. 

New West Premiers and industry work together to support growth

New West Partnership (NWP) Premiers Brad Wall (Saskatchewan), Christy Clark (British Columbia) and Jim Prentice (Alberta) met with industry leaders today to explore ways to improve the long-term efficiency, reliability, and competitiveness of western Canada’s transportation system.

“We had a really good, constructive discussion. The difficulty we had last winter in moving our products to market was a wake-up call. The current transportation system has served us well but is nearing its limit. What we heard today was a commitment from transporters and everyone who depends on the supply chain to work together and build capacity for long-term growth.”

- Brad Wall, Premier of Saskatchewan

Participants agreed on the following vision for the New West transportation infrastructure system:

An integrated and collaborative system and supply chain that stays apace with demand growth, can pivot to stay ahead of shifts in demand, prioritizes safety and environmental protection and has the right options to move goods efficiently and cost-effectively.

“We heard loud and clear from the participants that we must continue to work with private sector, government and First Nations partners to ensure we have the infrastructure to support the unprecedented growth and greater trade in the Asia-Pacific region.”

- Jim Prentice, Premier of Alberta

Premiers stressed the need for a renewed partnership with the Government of Canada. Premiers called for a federal contribution of $1- to 1.5 billion to support and enhance essential port and transportation infrastructure.

A restructured Pacific Gateway Alliance (PGA) with Ministerial representation will begin work immediately on a cost-sharing partnership with the federal government and the private sector. This includes high-volume marine ports, integrated high-quality highway, rail and pipeline systems to maximize Canada’s export capacity. Expanding and diversifying our trade relationship and improving our trade infrastructure will create jobs and strengthen Canada’s overall competitiveness.

Premiers agree that world-class environmental and safety standards must be a key component of future infrastructure planning and development.

Premiers stressed the importance of the engagement and involvement of Aboriginal Peoples. Aboriginal participation and collaboration will be essential to the success this initiative.

A joint submission by the NWP will identify key projects that will increase international trade in all provinces, address bottlenecks, improve safety, and reduce impacts on local communities across the West.

Enhancements will include:
•Greater port access and capacity, including necessary road and rail improvements in the north and south of British Columbia. Projects would include the removal of level crossings that impede traffic and improvements to Highway 1 and 16.
•Twinning major highways and building perimeter roads in Saskatchewan to increase the flow of goods to key markets.
•Widening major highways in Alberta, bridge improvements and twinning of major arteries to support east-west trade.


“Our competitors will not wait – Canada must move quickly if we want to capture the full benefit of the opportunities in front of us. Canada must create a world class supply chain, coordinated across all modes of transportation. With exports and inbound container traffic expected to double in the next 10 years, ensuring Canada has the best infrastructure system in the world is bigger than any one of us and continuing the dialogue that began today will be essential.”

- Christy Clark, Premier of British Columbia

Premiers noted that the Canada Transportation Act (CTA) review presents a good opportunity to review Canada’s regulations and policies to ensure they support international trade and competitiveness. Premiers agreed that using the CTA review to expand monitoring systems, information-sharing, and cooperation amongst stakeholders would improve the efficiency with which goods and services move across the transportation network. Premiers and industry leaders agree that information sharing and coordination is essential to ensuring the entire network can accommodate current and projected volumes of products.

At the summit, participants agreed on the importance of pursuing the following actions:
•Developing a protocol to handle peak demand in the system
•Investigating incentives to increase surge capacity and supply chain innovation
•Encouraging meaningful service level agreements
•Developing a long term plan for infrastructure to meet a doubling of demand
•Adopting truly common trucking regulations
•Ensuring regulatory approvals are timely to support improvements to the transportation corridors
•Ensuring strong federal government spill response capacity
•Supporting recruitment and training of key occupations in the transportation sector
•Benchmarking the performance of our transportation system
•Ensuring environmental and regulatory issues are addressed among the three provinces.

The Pacific Gateway Alliance will lead this work and report back to Premiers in six months.

Created in 2010, the NWP brought Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia into an unprecedented and historic partnership that established Canada’s largest open, efficient and stable market. With a combined population of more than nine million and a combined GDP of nearly $550 billion, the NWP is an economic powerhouse that continues to grow, strengthening the economy, unleashing the creativity of innovators and expanding its presence around the world.