Policy and the Pandemic: Getting Back to Our Agenda

As an industry safety organization and an association driven by our member companies, Utility Safety Partners has an obligation to ensure that public policy debate is informed and that policy makers, both elected and within the public service, have access to timely information and credible data to support their regulatory and legislative work. While governments have responsibilities to legislate and regulate on a myriad of issues, they are generally not experts in the businesses, services or industries under their jurisdiction. They seek to engage with associations, individual companies, the public and other stakeholders for their views on potential policy directions and the impacts their decisions will have on the sectors they are responsible for. 

Engaging with government as an industry association has distinct advantages for our members as well as for policy makers. As an alliance of like-minded businesses, we can effectively communicate messaging, objectives and concerns to government about existing and potential regulations and legislation that impact our sector as a whole. This also streamlines processes for government by reducing the need to navigate the potentially competing interests of individual companies.

Over the past several years, Utility Safety Partners (formerly Alberta One Call) worked closely with various contacts within the Alberta government to develop proposed legislation to mitigate the impacts of damage to critical utility infrastructure in the province. Like everyone and everything else, our efforts were derailed by the pandemic. The government necessarily needed to devote the majority of its attention to managing the issues associated with COVID-19. The past 12 months, however, have given us new opportunities to re-engage with our public sector stakeholders in an effort to bring about important utility infrastructure damage prevention legislation in Alberta.

This engagement has given us the opportunity to explain our position and to highlight the need for a comprehensive, legislated approach to minimizing the threat of costly damage to Alberta’s utility infrastructure. Our work has also allowed us to respond to the government’s inquiries as it develops its own perspectives which, we hope, will lead to a legislative framework that serves the public interest of all Albertans.

Governments have a responsibility to engage with all members of society to ensure their policies and legislation benefit their citizens and residents. Business and industry have an obligation to participate in that engagement to provide their views and expertise so that public policy is not developed in a vacuum without real-world information. Utility Safety Partners takes this obligation seriously and looks forward to continuing our engagement and relationship-building with the governments in our operating areas.

Concentric Public Affairs