Drumheller is joining the Mayor’s Caucus of the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA) to advocate on the province’s decision to not reinstate the Grants in Lieu of Tax’s (GILT) for social housing.
    The Mayor’s caucus met in Edmonton earlier this month and expressed frustration in the Minister of Seniors and Housing Lori Sigurdson’s statement that they would not be restoring the program. Province wide, this amounts to $15 million not granted to municipalities. In Drumheller this amounts to about $55,000.
    In a statement from AUMA, “The province’s decision is particularly disappointing given AUMA’s extensive advocacy through our news release following Budget 2015 and our numerous meetings and correspondence with the ministry over the fall and winter period.  Despite this advocacy by AUMA and letters from several municipalities to the Minister, it is clear that the government does not understand the impact of this downloading of costs.”
    It further states that while AUMA would continue to advocate, it urges its municipalities to take action at the local level.
     Drumheller Council has drafted a letter to Minister Sigurdson in support of maintaining the Grant in Lieu of Taxes Program for Public Housing projects.
    “This downloading of costs on municipalities is not appropriate.  These properties receive municipal services like every other property in Drumheller, and as the key property owner, the Government of Alberta should be responsible for paying the same taxes that all other property owners pay in order for this essential infrastructure and services to be provided,” states its letter.

Alberta’s Badlands will rock again this summer when the iconic Canadian country-rock band Blue Rodeo performs in the stunning amphitheatre of the Canadian Badlands Passion Play in Drumheller, Alberta on Saturday, August 6, 2016.

Blue Rodeo is one of the most successful and well-known contemporary Canadian bands, selling more than four million copies of their albums since they were formed in 1984. Blue Rodeo was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2012.  They joined other Canadian music icons including Tom Cochrane and Red Rider, who were the first-ever rock musicians to perform at a sold out Canadian Badlands Passion Play amphitheatre last summer.

That inaugural event was recognized with two 2015 Alberta Tourism Awards, for tourism marketing as well as for collaboration, “Our collaboration with Canadian Badlands Tourism, as well as with producers of Big Valley Jamboree and many local businesses, made last year’s event hugely successful,” said Vance Neudorf, executive director of The Canadian Badlands Passion Play Society. “We’re confident that this year’s Blue Rodeo concert will be another great experience for locals and visitors alike.”

Barry Morishita, president of Canadian Badlands Tourism, which again is partnering with the Canadian Badlands Passion Play to facilitate and market the event, added: “Working together is what we do best in rural Alberta and we have a proven formula to attract visitors to the Canadian Badlands.”

Just 90 minutes from Calgary, the 2,700-seat Canadian Badlands Passion Play amphitheatre, has been the stage for an award-winning dramatic presentation about the life of Jesus Christ for the past 22 years.

Tickets for the Blue Rodeo concert will be available online March 29, 2016 at 10am at www.canadianpassionplay.com or by calling the box office at 403-823-2001.