Leader staff

The Government of Alberta budgeted a fair amount of money in 2025 for municipal infrastructure improvements. Late last month it was in the mood to talk about it.

On July 25, the province issued a news release saying $114.6 million has been provided to support road, bridge and water projects. Only one of the ones mentioned is in this region. That’s the $2.4 million allocated to the M.D. of Opportunity for upgrades to its water treatment plant. (They’d applied for a much bigger grant for a new plant, but were turned down).

Otherwise, $3.6 million for a new bridge on a township road over the Little Red Deer River, west of Innisfail, $2.6 million for a range road re-build in Newell County, $8.9 million to the City of Brooks for a wastewater treatment plant, and so on.

No mention of any funding for the bridge over the Athabasca River at Smith, which is what the M.D. of Lesser Slave River – not to mention the people that live there and use the bridge – are hoping to hear. Engineering is completed, says Reeve Murray Kerik, and that’s where it stands.

“We just need the government to come to the table and determine funding levels and timelines,” he says.