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On Feb. 7 The City of Grande Prairie and the County of Grande Prairie came to a mutual agreement, establishing the “Intermunicipal Collaboration Framework” (IFC). Both sets of counselors were meant to formally sign into law that day.
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The City and the County were negotiating this new ICF for the last three years, as per the requirement of the Municipal Government Act. This requires bordering municipalities to create an ICF, to “facilitate and encourage cooperation and cost-sharing ensuring efficient services are provided to residents.”
Even so, back in April of 2021 a standstill in any progress almost required a provincial arbitrator to take over the discussion.
This new IFC has created several new agreements which will deepen the city and county’s cooperation between each other, which include the following: an agreement on fire department services, the creation of a new Labor Force Study, shared educational and vocational opportunities, as well as the integration of publicly accessible datasets.
Upon the completion of the negotiations, the Mayor of Grande Prairie, Jackie Clayton, had the following to say: “This finalization of the ICF sets the foundation for any future negotiations or agreements between the County and the City.”
“This ICF includes agreement to collaborate on eleven service areas between the City and the County ensuring effective and efficient services for our respective communities,” said Mayor Clayton.
Reeve Leanne Beaupre, counselor from the County of Grand Prairie, hopes this ICF will help improve City and County data collection, saying, “The collection of this data will provide valuable information as a new agreement is developed following the end of this agreement term. ”