Minister and AUMA president work out differences
Posted Feb 15, 2012 9:26 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A feud between the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association and the P.C. government appears to have come to an end.
It broke out after AUMA President Linda Sloan was quoted as saying her organization wasn’t consulted in the budget process, and that the government is playing favourites in the funding game.
Urban Affairs Minister Doug Griffiths replied by sending a letter to Sloan withdrawing MLA participation from a scheduled breakfast meeting with the AUMA Thursday morning.
MLAs are now heading to the breakfast meeting after all thanks to a phone call between Griffiths and Sloan, in which the AUMA president denied making some of the comments attributed to her.
However, Griffiths says Sloan is still insisting her group deserved more consultation, but that wasn’t what got him riled-up anyway.
“It was never about comments about the budget, I always encourage open discussion, it was the comments about the we distribute fund based on how communities vote in provincial elections,” said Griffiths.
Griffiths says he hopes to talk with Sloan during the meeting about the consultation process.
Premier Alison Redford weighed in on the conflict Wednesday in the Legislature.
“I do not condone the comments and I have already directed my chief of staff to apologize directly for them,” said Redford.
The Wildrose is also calling for an apology, while the Liberals want him to resign.
