STAY CONNECTED: Have the stories that matter most delivered every night to your email inbox. Subscribe to our daily local news wrap.
Grande Prairie City Council will be responding to the province, after Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver said the province would not be helping with costs associated with running the vaccine clinic at the Montrose Cultural Centre (Photo: Curtis Galbraith / EverythingGP staff)
By Shaun Penner
Funding Help Requested

City Council to continue pushing for province to help with vaccine clinic costs

Jun 29, 2021 | 12:19 PM

Members of Grande Prairie City Council voiced their displeasure with a response they received from the provincial government during Monday’s meeting.

Minister of Municipal Affairs Ric McIver responded to a letter sent by Mayor Jackie Clayton on behalf of council in April, in which the city had requested to have the province help cover some of the costs associated with operating the rapid flow COVID-19 vaccination clinic at the Montrose Cultural Centre, which was opened on April 5.

McIver responded by saying that while he appreciates “Grande Prairie’s collaboration and support in vaccination efforts”, and after what he calls thorough consideration, the province would not be granting council’s request.

“I’ll say in a parliamentary way, (the letter) completely misses the point,” Councillor Dylan Bressey told his colleagues Monday.

In his letter, McIver points to the Municipal Operating Support Transfer (MOST) and the Municipal Sustainability Initiative (MSI) as funding sources the city could utilize to help cover the costs of the clinic.

“MOST funding, when it was offered, vaccinations clinic like this were not on the radar,” said Bressey, during the meeting. “MSI is long-term, ongoing funding that is used for regular operations, since we have to deliver the majority of services that residents access, while only collecting about 10 per cent of tax revenue.”

“These are not funding sources that were put aside for this.”

Bressey added that he feels this is just another example in an ongoing pattern of Grande Prairie not receiving the same treatment as other municipalities in the province.

“Whether it’s (the provincial government) forcing us to cover healthcare for the region, whether it’s cutting Grande Prairie Regional College funding more than funding at other institutions, whether it is giving us less medical resources for our homeless and vulnerable population,” said Bressey.

“This is just another example of the government being happy to give Grande Prairie an unfair deal.”

Also during the meeting, Councillor Chris Thiessen echoed the sentiment of Bressey.

“This letter might as well have said that I am pleased to slap you in the face,” said Thiessen. “I’m sorry to Mr. McIver for saying that, but it is the truth.”

Thiessen felt the province not helping to fund the operations of such a clinic in Grande Prairie is a sign of poor budgeting on the province’s part.

“Frankly, I think it is fairly disgusting… because we were told for well over a year that the only way back to normalcy was to have the vaccine being put in peoples’ arms,” he said. “And a year-and-a-half later, Alberta Health Services and the province had no idea on how they were going to budget or fund for this.”

Mayor Jackie Clayton told councillors while she was glad the city was able to quickly help by providing a mass vaccination site for area residents, she feels it is unfair of the province to not at least provide some support.

“The problem here is the support after the fact. The province continues to appear to not be supportive of our needs,” said Clayton. “To give us no financial consideration is, in my opinion, quite unfortunate.”

Council has now directed Mayor Clayton to respond to the letter from Minister McIver, a response which will also be sent to Premier Jason Kenney, Grande Prairie MLA Tracy Allard, Grande Prairie-Wapiti MLA Travis Toews, Health Minister Tyler Shandro, as well as members of the opposition NDP.

by Shaun Penner