The regional growth plan for Calgary Metropolitan Regional Board (CMRB) was approved on Friday, May 21 and submitted to Minister of Municipal Affairs Ric McIver despite opposition from its three rural municipality members, including Wheatland County.

CMRB is composed of 10 municipalities--seven urban, and three rural--including the cities of Airdrie, Calgary, and Chestermere, and the counties of Foothills, Rocky View, and Wheatland. The growth plan shows proposed growth for these municipalities over the next 40 to 50 years, though the majority of growth was projected for urban members.
“There was majority support for the plans, but the three rural municipalities did vote in opposition due to numerous concerns,” Wheatland County Reeve Amber Link said during the regular Tuesday, June 1 Wheatland County council meeting.
Representatives from HDR Calthorpe previously presented the draft plan to Wheatland County council in March 2021.
During this meeting, council voiced concerns regarding the draft, including the lack of growth projected for Wheatland County. While other member municipalities are fully included in the regional plan, only a small “panhandle” of Wheatland County, which represents approximately one eighth of the county’s total land mass, is included in the CMRB regional plan.
HDR Calthorpe presented a revised draft of the regional growth plan to Wheatland County council members during the regular Tuesday, May 18 council meeting. Although the revised draft showed some changes to projected growth for the three rural member municipalities, this change was still minimal.
Reeve Link noted during the council meeting there was some good news which came out of recent CMRB meetings, with the board approving to send a letter to the waste policy section of Alberta Environment and Parks regarding a draft code of practice for composting.
The regional growth plan was approved by CMRB board members in a seven to three vote, with the urban municipalities voting in favour and the rural municipalities voting in opposition. The regional growth plan was submitted to Minister McIver for final approval on Tuesday, June 1.

For the first time, the Progress Pride Flag was raised in Drumheller to mark the beginning of Pride Month.
On Sunday, June 6, Badlands Pride Association organized a parade from Extra Foods to Rotary Park, where they raised the flag in a community of support.
“This is something we have been working on for a long time, and I am just so happy and excited to see it come to fruition,” said Brett Litwin of Badlands Pride.
It has been a steady growth over the last year for Badlands Pride and lots of hard work went in to put together this event, and this week’s activities.
The flag-raising attracted about 50 people, and there was representation from Mayor Heather Colberg and Councillor Jay Garbutt on behalf of the town.
“Last year we weren’t involved with anything, so we bit off a lot this year, probably more than we could chew, but we figured it was time for Drumheller to have some visible representation,” said Jade Scott of Badlands Pride.
The group has plenty of activities this week to mark Pride Month.

On Monday, they repainted the Pride Crosswalk in downtown Drumheller. With COVID-19 a few events are planned online, including a Roundtable on Facebook that took place on Tuesday, and a book reading on Wednesday evening on Facebook and Instagram. On Friday, members will be doing a dino makeover, repainting the dinosaur at Ascend Financial, starting at 3 p.m.
To learn more, join or see what is all planed this week, check out the Badlands Pride Association Facebook page.