Some small Alberta villages say voting themselves out of existence may be a path to prosperity

CBC

06-04-2025

It's a critical moment in Delia's 110-year history.
And this tiny community is proud of that history and insists there is a future, even though it may seem a bit murky.
In less than three weeks, residents will vote on whether Delia will remain a village with its own elected council members, or dissolve into a hamlet and become part of the surrounding Starland County, represented by one councillor who oversees a larger area.
The town has seen its struggles over the years.
It's had trouble attracting a chief administrative officer and candidates for the three-member council.
A viability review, released ahead of this month's amalgamation vote, reveals a $9.5 million infrastructure deficit and a number of shortcomings related to meeting municipal benchmarks.
'Significant challenges'
While it has struggled to hire and keep a chief administrator, it has also "faced significant challenges" submitting annual audited financial statements, according to province's Department of Municipal Affairs.
The province appointed an official administrator last year to help get things back on track. The overdue financial reports were all submitted last year.
The viability review's recommendations included holding a vote on the future of the village. The three sitting council members want to maintain the status quo.
"Yes, we want to stay a village," said Jordan Elliott, Delia's mayor.
The three are confident the village can address its infrastructure deficit without dissolving, using provincial grants and tax revenue.
Residents have raised concerns about taxation, garbage collection, recycling and snow clearing if they become a hamlet.
The councillors fear Delia will lose its identity if it's dissolved into the county.
"There's so much to lose, no gain," said councillor Dave Smeyers.
He says there are challenges as the Alberta government cuts back on funding for smaller villages.
"So, we're always fighting to stay alive, but it's like community spirit, you can't put that down and you can't measure it in finances," said Smeyers.
Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver said in a statement to CBC News that the province is providing $820 million in funding for municipalities this budget year, an increase of $98 million from last year.
"Municipalities have called for funding that is predictable and tied to provincial revenue growth, and this year's allocation of LGFF (Local Government Funding Framework) answers that call," said McIver.
Delia is set to receive $200,000 in LGFF funding this year and $175,000 in 2026.
Worth fighting for
The councillors say there is a lot to fight for.
A new $14 million school opened a few years ago, there's a library, curling rink and arena. There's a campground, volunteer fire department, cenotaph and museum.
And people here are proud of Delia's history.
Markers are located outside old homes and commercial buildings that tell the stories of the people and businesses that used to call Delia home. There's a plaque that honours Violet Barrs, Canada's first female mayor, appointed in 1920.
The old saloon and eight-room hotel, which is now up for sale, was used in the film Knockaround Guys starring Vin Diesel and John Malkovich,
It's unclear how many people actually live in Delia.
The councillors believe the number is approximately 230.
Last year, the province pegged it at 146.
The government also lists 113 dwelling units and 21 businesses.
The village recently did its own head count, but it hasn't been made public. Population is important in determining how much transition funding will be provided to the county if residents vote to dissolve.
From villages to hamlets: 'There was no choice'
The list of former villages in Alberta is slowly growing.
An hour north of Delia, is the former village of Halkirk, which is now a hamlet within the County of Paintearth.
And two hours west is where you'll find Caroline, which is now a hamlet in Clearwater County. Both villages officially dissolved into hamlets at the beginning of the year.
Caroline is home to just over 500 people. It's where figure skater Kurt Browning grew up. The arena there bears the four-time world champion's name.
"There was no choice, like in terms of long-term viability, there was no choice," said Barbara Gibson, the former village councillor who is now an interim councillor with Clearwater County.
Gibson says with shrinking government grants and rising infrastructure maintenance and renewal costs, village council took a proactive approach and started amalgamation discussions with the county more than a year ago. She believes the dissolution was inevitable given the village's finances and future capital cost obligations. A study that looked into the community's viability several years ago came up with the same conclusion.
"Do you wait and have it happen to you or do you join it and do it the way you would like to have it done?" she said.
Gibson said people were concerned about the future of their library, fire hall and post office, along with snow clearing and garbage collection. Gibson has tried to reassure people that there shouldn't be a noticeable change in service levels.
She said people who live in the county expressed concerns that their tax dollars would be used in Caroline, and people in Caroline felt their tax dollars would go toward county projects.
She said people asked if Caroline would disappear and lose its voice.
"Are we going to be written off the map? You know, and it's not that way."
She says while Caroline will lose it's five councillor positions, the community will still be represented.
"With us being allowed to have one voice on county council, [that] has shown that they are not going to sweep us under the rug and they are going to listen to what we want."
Economic development, prosperity
Reg Dean is a longtime business owner in Caroline who's seen several heated amalgamation debates over the years. He believes amalgamation will spur economic growth.
Dean, who owns a fishing, hunting and camping equipment store, says the county has much deeper pockets and will be able to service new building lots and pave the way for development.
He hopes to see new utility services to develop a long-term care home near the Kurt Browning arena and an industrial business park on the east side of the community.
He says a seniors lodge would attract more people to the community and he believes some people want to see that growth.
"That means 25 brand new residents and that's significant in this community," said Dean.
Five years a hamlet
The former, troubled town of Granum, known for previous viability reviews, sustainability concerns and political upheaval, is marking its fifth year as a hamlet after voting to dissolve and join the Municipal District of Willow Creek in 2020.
Mike Sherman spent nine years as mayor of Granum.
The now 82-year-old was originally against dissolution, he thought the town could turn itself around. But he changed his mind and voted in favour of becoming a hamlet.
He says the town was really struggling back then.
"We were so poor in this town when I was mayor, that we would have enough dollars in our budget to do maybe three ... squares of sidewalk," he said.
Now, Sherman says with the MD, entire blocks are getting done. There's a new park where the grain elevators used to stand and improvements have been made to water and sewer lines, street lighting, the veterans' memorial and cemetery.
He says the MD is chipping away at the community's $15 million infrastructure deficit that existed in 2019.
Sherman says the community has grown by about 100 people over the past few years and now stands at an estimated 500.
The reeve of the MD of Willow Creek says communication has always been a priority to help residents in Granum who weren't in favour of dissolution.
Maryanne Sandberg says there were a series of open houses held during the transition and the annual $235,000 levy that was brought in to help cover infrastructure projects includes a detailed list of which jobs will be completed each year.
"Whether it's storm water management, whether it's sidewalks, whatever we're doing, they're always aware of what we're up to," she said.
She says people who told her they weren't happy with the vote results are coming around.
"Now when you talk to those same people, they don't regret it at all," she said.
Converting the old town hall
Sabina Wurz sees a bright future in Granum.
She's opened a restaurant and purchased the former town hall office, a century-old two-storey brick building that's undergoing renovations and upgrades.
She wants to convert it into a space for artists, possibly a retreat of some kind.
"This is a good investment. It has been for us, there's been some struggles, but for the most part, people are very receptive about what we're doing," said Wurz.
She says she's invested more than a million dollars in the former town.
For her, she doesn't care if it's a town, a village or a hamlet.
"This is where people reside. I don't care what name you put on it."
More funding, support needed
The president of the Rural Municipalities Association of Alberta says the province is not providing enough funding to support small, rural municipalities, which are struggling with less financial support from the province and rising costs.
Kara Westerlund says the association strongly believes in local autonomy and keeping municipalities whole, but in some cases small villages cannot sustain themselves in the face of shrinking grants and rising costs for things such as policing.
And she says those costs don't go away for the absorbing counties.
"When a municipality does go down, it doesn't fix the problem by absorbing it into the larger municipality around it, it actually makes it more complicated and more difficult moving forward," she said.
Westerlund says, while the province provides a transitional fee to help the absorbing municipality, it's often not enough and ends after one or two years.
The municipal affairs minister says dissolutions are generally driven by municipalities and their residents, as they are in the best position to determine if it's "an appropriate option to consider."
"Dissolution may be beneficial to a municipality for a number of reasons. For example, it may be more efficient to have one municipality providing many of the same services, such as emergency services and water infrastructure, to a larger area," he said.
Vote set for Delia
Back in Delia, the vote has been scheduled for April 23 and 24. The question will ask residents if they would like Delia to remain a village "and implement changes to achieve viability," or dissolve and become a hamlet in Starland County.
The councillors want to continue the job they started, growing their community and ensuring Delia has its own voice.
"The town's been around for a long time. It would be a shame to lose it all now," said Jim Adams.
"Delia's really great. We have an awesome volunteer base. We're always running community events. It would be really sad to see some of that stuff change," said Mayor Elliott.