In an open letter to Premier Jason Kenney, Blackfalds Mayor Richard Poole expresses his strong disdain for the dismissiveness he has experienced in dealing with Service Alberta, specifically the office of Minister Nate Glubish, regarding bringing an Alberta Registries Office to the community.

As the Mayor and Administration have been actively working on soliciting the provincial government on this matter for over nine years, Mayor Poole states in the letter to the Premier that, “we are beyond frustrated that the latest email from Minister Glubish provides further excuses not to move forward in delivering this service.” He continues, “while the province has advocated reducing so-called ‘red tape,’ we, as a municipality, have continually found ourselves up against a ‘red wall.’”

Council and Administration met with Minister Glubish in the fall of 2019. At that time, [Minister Glubish] recognized that Blackfalds had been previously identified in 2012 as one of three communities to have the next Registry Service outlet. However, three months after that meeting, there was no communication despite numerous attempts to contact Minister Glubish.

Finally, last November, Mayor Poole, CAO Thompson, and the Minister sat in on a conference call when Minister Glubish reiterated that Blackfalds was still being considered but was not prepared to issue the Request for Proposal (RFP) based on his population data, which was found to be incorrect.

As explained in the letter, Council feels that the Ministry of Service Alberta has failed to provide any tangible reason that an RFP for an Alberta Registry Service outlet in the Town of Blackfalds should not be issued and therefore respectfully request that the Cabinet provide leadership and understanding by directing Minister Glubish to issue an RFP for a Registry Office within the Town of Blackfalds.

You can view the official letter here.

** with information provided by The Town of Blackfalds