St. Albert Minute: Issue 90

St. Albert Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of St. Albert politics

📅 This Week In St. Albert: 📅

• On Tuesday, at 9:30 am, there will be a City Council meeting. In addition to ratifying the budget, Council will look at supporting a grant application to the Alberta Community Partnership (ACP) program for the “Edmonton Region Collaboration Framework,” with St. Albert as the lead applicant and Strathcona County as the supporting partner. The ACP program provides funding to improve the long-term sustainability of local governments through regional collaboration and capacity-building initiatives, with $13.4 million allocated for 2025-26. Since the dissolution of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region Board in April 2025, member municipalities have been exploring new ways to collaborate regionally. The grant would fund third-party facilitated sessions with regional Mayors and CAOs to develop a framework outlining roles, decision-making models, dispute resolution, and cost-sharing for collaborative initiatives such as investment attraction, infrastructure, and land-use planning. The City would manage the grant and reporting responsibilities as the lead applicant, while participating municipalities would share planning and logistical duties. If the grant is not approved, municipalities would need to reassess how to advance regional collaboration. Approval from Council is required by December 23rd, 2025, to confirm support for the application.
  
  
• Council has approved adding 10 officers to the RCMP, raising the total from 75 to 85, to better meet the City’s target of one officer per 1,000 residents. Currently, only 59 officers are active, with vacancies partly caused by long-term leaves. The increase is intended to strengthen proactive policing, including traffic safety, crime prevention, and school resource officer programs. Council also approved adding a municipal crime analyst by transitioning the role to an RCMP-employed position, addressing long-standing recruitment and retention challenges. The move is expected to use existing funding set aside for the City analyst position.
  
  
• St. Albert Fire Services has officially put its new $3.1-million ladder truck into service, enhancing the department’s capacity. Currently operating out of Fire Hall 1, the truck will move to its permanent home at Fire Hall 4 once it opens. Acting Fire Chief Leigh Sawicki said the second ladder truck reduces reliance on neighbouring municipalities and allows the department to respond to incidents more efficiently. The truck mirrors the original 100-foot ladder in reach but can rotate from the middle of the vehicle, enabling operations in tighter areas and across multiple locations simultaneously. Having two ladder trucks also improves the department’s ability to manage large-scale fires more quickly without waiting for mutual aid. While the truck has already responded to calls, it has not yet been deployed for active firefighting. The addition comes as the city’s population and density increase and a new fire hall prepares to open.
  
  
• A Métis resident and Indigenous groups are asking St. Albert City Council to pause the sale of 13 Mission Avenue to allow for proper consultation with Indigenous communities. Joanne Ladouceur, speaking on behalf of the Wicehtowin Youville Residential School Truthing Initiative, emphasized the historical and cultural significance of the site, which is listed as a level five historic resource, and urged Council to consider the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action. The Greater St. Albert Catholic Regional Division is also exploring the sale of 15 Mission Avenue, and Ladouceur suggested collaborative uses like a children’s park or cultural space. Councillor Amanda Patrick has submitted a motion to pause the sale until consultation occurs, with findings to be reported back to Council on Tuesday, just days before the City’s planned decision on December 19th. City Administration plans to meet with the Otipemisiwak Métis Government and Confederacy of Treaty 6 First Nations, while School Division representatives are meeting with the Truthing Initiative. Ladouceur highlighted past communication challenges and stressed the importance of honouring the heritage of the Youville Residential School site. 
  
  
• The rebuilt St. Jean Baptiste Church in Morinville is set to officially open on December 18th, marking the completion of an $8.7 million reconstruction after the original 114-year-old church was destroyed by fire in 2021. The new church is smaller, accommodating 310 people instead of 600, and features modern elements like video screens, a piano-sized organ, and wheelchair accessibility, while retaining historical connections through salvaged materials. The front doors, scorched in the fire, and timbers from the old church have been incorporated into the new building, along with dioramas from a Belgian monastery and five stained glass windows from a demolished Presbyterian church. The parish also sourced four replacement bells from Quebec and created a Giving Tree sculpture with about 500 leaves honouring donors and volunteers. Murals from the old church have been reproduced on the ceiling, preserving its artistic heritage. The opening ceremony will include Bishop Gary Franken, hymns, liturgies, and the installation of a relic of Saint Maria Goretti.

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