STANDING TALL FOR OUR COMMUNITY
As is the case with every community, things are perpetually changing and our needs are ever evolving. Governing the operations of a city, while balancing service levels with population and market changes, is a highly diverse and dynamic process! It is not simply filling potholes and making taxes low if we wish to be sustainable and keep people happy. To illustrate this, below are my compiled responses to the Grande Prairie and District Chamber of Commerce and the Grande Prairie Friendship Centre. You can find these and other candidate responses on their websites.
Labour Attraction and Retention
Developing, attracting, and retaining skills to support business growth in our community is an important priority for chamber members – how would you work with the business community to attract and retain talent in our community?
The City of Grande Prairie and Council are already working with the business community to attract and retain talent in a variety of ways. Firstly, from the establishment of several grants this past term such as the DIG (Development Incentive Grants) and Economic Recovery Programs, that provide funding support to local businesses in ways of business retention & expansion, revitalization, new business development, infill, marketing, and staff training. These have been driven by the voices of our business community and actioned through Council’s revamped and resourced Economic Development Advisory Committee. Secondly, one of the things that draws people and skilled labourers to cities is jobs or the ability to create their own job. Grande Prairie is an innovative, dynamic, young community with many opportunities to develop professionally, be employed in a multi-industry economy, or start a successful small business. In that spirit, we should support our emerging and existing industries and businesses today, while seeking out opportunities to create the jobs and industries that will also support our people tomorrow. We better enable this by improving our processes and working with our partners in the Region, towards a variety of business attraction strategies. Lastly, we should always endeavour to create and showcase our community, as the truly great place it is – one with a high quality of living - that people choose to live, work, play, raise a family, and retire in.
Hospital Staffing
With the new hospital opening later this year, how would you help health officials recruit and retain professionals to our region?
The first thing Council would need to do would be to have proper consultation with Alberta Health and AHS to understand what the needs are, once the new hospital is fully operational. The Alberta Health North Zone already does a good job informing our recruitment efforts and gaps within the community, through the Peace Health Advisory Council. With a clear understanding, we can advocate tandemly as a Region with our health providers to the Ministry, to better resource these areas and speed up the recruitment process. We can also advocate for our state-of-the-art hospital to be designated as a training facility for surgeons looking to have Operating Room time. In a way, this could help the city introduce many young professionals to our wonderful community and hook them in to set up a practice in the area. Working with GPRC’s new designation as a polytechnic institution, there is an opportunity to become the ‘Health Hub of the North’ - the education hotspot for northerners and locals aspiring towards careers in the medical fields. Rather than having our kids leave to find their education and future job in larger centres, we can provide for their education here, thereby creating a natural recruitment and retention centre by training professionals of our own. Of course, we should always be proud to showcase our Region’s world class facilities, river valley and park trail system, our rich and diverse art and culture scene, and our land’s natural beauty to all professionals.
Recreation, Arts and Culture
What options would you like council to consider when it comes to recreation, arts and culture to help attract more professionals and families to the region?
This past term, Council was very intentional with where we constructed new recreation facilities in the City, to balance sporting opportunities for kids of all ages. These included the Drop-In Activity Centre in Smith Subdivision, the Bike Skills Park in Crystal Lake, the outdoor pool in Muskoseepi Park, and the Pickleball Courts near the Comp. We also developed and maintained our super natural trail system, creating connections to nature for almost every neighbourhood, year round. Now, no matter where you choose to live, a family has several opportunities for recreation. We have world-class facilities we should always be promoting the use of, such as the ELC, MCC and Art Gallery, as well as groups within the buildings we maintain like the Curling Club, Golden Age Centre, GPLT and the Centre for Creative Arts that provide quality of life opportunities and generate community through their own programs. I would like the new Council to consider the benevolent impacts of these and other community groups, such as the Friendship Centre, and look towards how we can maintain or increase our support as part of an overall community wellness strategy. I would also like to see an increase in the budget for large scale tourism events, as a means of raising the profile of our community and creating more opportunities to bring our people together in spirit and pride, through a variety of events. When people have more outlets to creativity or activity, pursuant to their passions in the community they live, their ability to establish connections and be happy grows exponentially. And people tend to stay where they’re happy.
Truth and Reconciliation
With a greater understanding of the cultural genocide Indigenous people have faced in Canada, what key principles, organizations or initiatives do you support in conserving Indigenous language, art, and tradition?
I have and will continue to support all of our local, regional, provincial, and national FNMI organizations, their events and initiatives, in the preservation and promotion of indigenous culture, history, art, and traditions. I recognize that I live within Region 6 of the Métis Nation of Alberta and reside upon Treaty 8 Lands, whose people’s ancestors have walked this land since time immemorial. I support the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), as well as the 94 Calls To Action as informed by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Specifically to this question on the Calls to Action, I fully endorse Actions 13-16 (Language and Culture), Actions 18, 21, and 22 (Health and Aboriginal Healing Practices), as well as all of the Actions 62-70 (Education in Reconciliation, Youth Programs, Museums and Archives), as a means to not only conserve and provide access to the art, language, and tradition of Indigenous peoples for Indigenous people, but to also actively promote and educate these to all people so it may grow and find reverence within our collective awareness.
How will you assure that Indigenous people are leading Indigenous initiatives in a way that is in alignment with our values and beliefs-what ACTIONS would you take?
I will listen, advocate and act as a guide towards ensuring Indigenous initiatives, especially those led by Indigenous people, have every opportunity to find success within the city.
Affordable Housing
Access to affordable housing is a major barrier to providing livable communities and attracting and retaining skills that can support business growth – what are your views on ensuring affordable housing is available in our community?
Ensuring people have housing makes wise business sense, as with every dollar spent on housing, it provides at least a 2-1 social return on investment. Housing stability creates economy. Access to affordable housing across the spectrum was my major platform goal 8 years ago, and upon being elected I became known as the “social housing guy” on Council. Relentless in my belief for housing as a human right, I was rewarded with a seat at the table with the Province on the Interagency Council for Housing and Homelessness, as the representative for AUMA from 2014-16. Our work helped create substantial investments in affordable housing with supports across the province, and successfully advocated for the government to take a cross-ministry approach in tackling the issues surrounding homelessness. Upon re-election in 2017, housing became Council’s top priority in our Strategic Plan. This prioritization has led to our Affordable Housing Master Plan, our Affordable Housing Action Plan, P3 partnerships, land transfers to social housing agencies, a stronger partnership with Grande Spirit Foundation, and significant investments in the creation of homes with supports for seniors, youth, persons with disabilities, and people suffering from poor mental health and addictions. There is still a great need for more family housing and a growing need of seniors who wish to have the ability to age at home. I will always be a strong voice creating solutions that address any housing barriers.
Indigenous Land Acknowledgement
Indigenous people need land (within city limits) in which to practice traditional/ceremonial rituals, how would you support giving LAND BACK and giving acknowledgement to the rightful caretakers, including all decision making and caretaking?
I believe firstly, we have to ask where and which ways it might be appropriate. Most recently, The City of Grande Prairie has done exceptionally well in providing these opportunities. From becoming the first municipality to allow smudging within our public facilities, to naming our most prominent gathering places with our Indigenous heritage in mind (Muskoseepi and Muskwoteh Parks, Mamawe Concourse), to supporting events and initiatives that promote First Nations tradition, culture and history (pow wows, Aboriginal Day, National Day of Truth and Reconcilliation), and assisting with land for housing. There are other ideas that we can still explore within partnership, such as Aboriginal Healing Centres, “open park use” policies for FNMI ceremonies and events, Indigenous housing, and even “Urban Reserves” to connect and integrate people traditionally living on reservation lands to homes within the city that are closer to services and opportunities.
Real Estate Development
How would you support the real estate community deal with a growing number of vacant buildings and lots partly due to fallout from the pandemic?
The hopeful part of me says that this is an ebb in the market and the real estate community handling these properties should see a rebound as we start to move out of the current Covid reality. Of course, any future market demand could continue to wane and that would be problematic to both the real estate community and our tax base in the long run. The first part would be to continue to have open dialogue with our home builders, developers, and real estate agents through their various groups (CHBA, UDI), both informally and with Council. Having a full understanding of the market situation on a quarterly basis and engaging in regular discussions for solutions early, would be paramount to developing strategies that address this issue. Our Economic Development team is currently well resourced to be able to work with the real estate community and act as conduit to Council, to present the issues and any potential viable solutions.
How would you characterize the amount of green space in the city and its importance in any new development?
Green space is very important to the character, beauty, and sale-ability of all developments. Outside of aesthetics, green spaces provide numerous benefits to the community such as flood mitigation, water storage, carbon reduction, habitat creation, ecosystem health, pollinator promotion, and food production. People seek out neighbourhoods with old trees, nice parks and green spaces, or close access to our river valley. Having natural areas to walk, sit, or play in is vital to our physical and mental health. If you say ‘trees’, I say ‘yes please’.
Regional Project Planning
Regional planning brings together multiple communities and areas to find projects that improve our ability to move people and goods around the region and province. How would you propose to work with other municipalities to prioritize and pursue infrastructure projects that are focused on improving economic outcomes for our region?
We used to have a Regional Planning Commission back in the day, before it was dissolved in the 90’s, that by all accounts functioned fairly well. Since then, we have moved into more of a competitive relationship with our regional partners, which is why the province mandated the ICFs (Intermunicipal Collaboration Framework), so we could all address the inequities caused by an unlevel playing field between urbans and rurals. Currently, our ICF with the County is in the arbitration phase of its completion. Once done, we can get to work on updating our IDP (Intermunicipal Development Plan) and start to engage in the potential of bringing back a Regional Planning Commission. This would help us equally in planning, as we could actively work in tandem to draw investment into our Region, and start putting developments where they need to go, rather than competing for the tax base. This would also save money in our economic development and planning departments via staffing and travel, by working together for a common cause rather than our own self interests. Regardless of whether this becomes a thing, the City, County, and our Regional partners have a good history of advocating for the Region when it comes to Economic Development. Some recent advocacy projects that we have worked together successfully in seeing forward movement with the province on, is the 43X bypass, the twinning of Highway 40, the Nautical project, and housing creation through the Grande Spirit Foundation.
Public-Private Partnerships
Public-Private Partnerships provide an opportunity to build the infrastructure we need while allowing the private sector to help us get the best deal possible. If elected, how will you work with elected colleagues to engage the private sector to participate in building major infrastructure in our community and region?
Private-Public Partnerships are an intriguing solution, to a growing problem across Canada, in closing the gaps of our infrastructure and housing deficits. This past term, the city sought out P3’s, towards the building and creation of affordable housing in our community. Two of those projects fell through due to funding, while one is still working towards its completion in the renovation of the old Fletcher Building. With road construction projects, the only significant one that I could see the city benefitting through a P3 currently, is the old bypass that we inherited and requires significant upgrades. If we chose to go with a more permanent road structure (ie. concrete slabs vs asphalt), the cost would be higher, and it might be better to employ a private company to build and maintain it for the term of a contract. As councillors holding the public trust, we should always weigh the benefits and consequences of our actions today for tomorrow. I would encourage all solutions that positively impact the longevity of our assets, fill infrastructure or facility gaps, and minimize our costs though it all. The first step in this process would be to discuss further with administration where they see P3s providing the most benevolent outcomes in our infrastructure maintenance and creation. The new Council should also be receiving our first ever “State of Infrastructure” report upon election, that would help inform a strategy, as to where a P3 could provide the most benefit.
Infrastructure
The balance between the need for new infrastructure and the maintenance of current roads, sidewalks, curbs, and paths is an ongoing challenge for communities everywhere. What would your priorities be when it comes to infrastructure in the city?
If you ask a man to dream, he will reimagine the world!! My number one priority for infrastructure within the city, would be an overpass crossing the tracks to the east side of town. It is this or we build a new fire hall and police station across the tracks, as currently these services are at the mercy of the train schedule, when it comes to responding quickly to an emergency. To date, and lucky for us, this has yet to become an issue. As we grow out further to the east, the need for an either/or solution becomes more pressing. New stations and halls with accompanying staff, building, and associated costs or an expensive one-shot deal to ensure response times, with the services and staffing we already have? I advocate for the roadway as a solution today, even if it means negotiating deals and making concessions with CN to do so.
Other infrastructure priorities I have would be to close the connection gaps in our trails and pathways, as well as sidewalks to bus stops; Sloped curbing into crosswalks and roadways giving easy access and better mobility for people with disabilities who need to get around in wheelchairs; More electronic speed display signs in high ticket/collision areas to create safer streets and reduce the reliance on photo radar contracts; More affordable family housing, youth housing, and a continuing care centre in the city for seniors who can no longer age well at home; And finally… investing in renewable/clean energy projects.
Taxation
What possible ideas would you suggest to balance spending on necessary services for residents while keeping taxes from increasing exponentially?
Council and administration did a glorious job this past 4 years, doing exactly just that. We employed Priority Based Budgeting (PBB) to ensure we were making investments and resourcing services that were in alignment with our highest priorities of our Strategic Plan. This put a focus on our budgetary process and helped to eliminate a lot of extra spending. City administration also employed LEAN processes across our departments to improve corporate efficiencies and maximize our returns on staff workloads. Collectively between council and administration, we able to chart a direction through PBB and LEAN that saw minimal negative impacts to our service provisions (and in some cases even created higher levels of service), while keeping our tax rate flat over the terms duration (0% total tax increase over 4 years). Currently, administration is finishing up a robust analysis of all city departments and developing a new Corporate Efficiencies Strategy for the new Council to digest and reap the benefits from. The big question remains, through these processes and strategies, will a new council be able to come in and maintain our service levels while keeping the impact to our taxes low amidst a rising tide of inflation? Only time with the proper direction, our will to find solutions and make tough decisions, and how we better enable administration to execute their processes, will tell the tale fully this next term.
Crime, Enforcement and Emergency Services
What are your priorities when it comes to crime and law enforcement in the city?
My priorities for crime and law enforcement in the city are that our RCMP is properly resourced to be able to respond quickly to domestic emergency situations, be a deterring and visible presence in our core, and mitigate the negative impacts of property crime, theft, and vandalism.
What suggestions do you have to help deal with issues such as drug and alcohol dependency and homelessness in our community?
With Grande Prairie recently receiving a contract to establish a Drug Treatment Court to deal with crimes caused by addictions, this will go a long way towards giving addicts the opportunity to get the help they need through treatment and reparations rather than incarcerations, which usually places them back in the same circles of people at risk to reoffend. It will also greatly improve our court times, leave more room for our Crown Prosecutors to prosecute major offences, decrease our prison population, and hopefully reform the offenders. The Community Care Campus will also be beneficial to providing people dealing with trauma influenced mental health and addictions issues, the type of housing and wrap-around supports that will help give them stable ground to recovery, healing, and hopefully keep them off the streets. I would also like to continue with our highly successful Mobile Outreach Program (MOP) and look to resource them further, to better respond as an immediate intermediary to our businesses and vulnerable populations.
What changes if any would you like to see as far as emergency services are concerned?
There is not much currently I would change about our emergency services. Our GPFD is a world class group of incredible people with big hearts, who also happen to save lives and property in emergencies. Their work is invaluable to our community. If there is an area I think we could resource better for our firefighters and first responders though, it would be to provide more access to counselling and trauma services. Being on the front lines of emergencies (especially during Covid), can weigh heavily on the mental health of our emergency services people, seeing things sometimes we all would never even wish to imagine. Trauma counselling, therapy, peer support, and mental health supports are all ways we can support our front-line heroes in maintaining their well being and should be strongly encouraged from governance through management.
Grande Prairie Friendship Centre
What do you feel you know about the Grande Prairie Friendship Centre and would you be willing to provide more funding for Indigenous programming?
I feel I know quite a bit about the GPFC. I know that it is held in high praise with the National Association of Friendship Centres for all the cultural programs, events, and services for the FNMI and greater community that it provides between their 3 local sites. They are a community hub and a place to go to find connection, a warm meal, or clothing when in need. They help create supports for parents and children to early learning, as well as youth and young adults to higher education. They are an advocate for truth, reconciliation, understanding, healing, and the Rights of Indigenous People. And I know that I do not know what we would do without the Friendship Centre in our community. So… yes. I would 100% be willing to provide more funding to Indigenous programming.
Grande Prairie Regional College
How would you characterize the importance of Grande Prairie Regional College programs and how do you think they could best be supported?
The programs offered at the GPRC are crucial to us sustaining our growth towards becoming a major city centre. By educating and training nurses, teachers, technologists, builders, entrepreneurs, and so much more, GPRC acts as a hub in Grande Prairie to degree granting status - developing a homegrown workforce of essential services that improves the well-being of our entire community. This keeps our kids here and draws other people from the north to choose post-secondary options closer to home. As a newly designated polytechnic institution, GPRC will be able to provide more program choice and will support Northern Alberta’s growth, economic diversification, and competitiveness. Council can best support GPRC by continuing to be engaged in the conversation with GPRC, to ensure that we are lockstep in advocating for the things that will not only improve student life, education quality, the college’s own reach and growth, but the quality of life created that having a high-calibre post-secondary institution in the city provides.
Labour Attraction and Retention
Developing, attracting, and retaining skills to support business growth in our community is an important priority for chamber members – how would you work with the business community to attract and retain talent in our community?
The City of Grande Prairie and Council are already working with the business community to attract and retain talent in a variety of ways. Firstly, from the establishment of several grants this past term such as the DIG (Development Incentive Grants) and Economic Recovery Programs, that provide funding support to local businesses in ways of business retention & expansion, revitalization, new business development, infill, marketing, and staff training. These have been driven by the voices of our business community and actioned through Council’s revamped and resourced Economic Development Advisory Committee. Secondly, one of the things that draws people and skilled labourers to cities is jobs or the ability to create their own job. Grande Prairie is an innovative, dynamic, young community with many opportunities to develop professionally, be employed in a multi-industry economy, or start a successful small business. In that spirit, we should support our emerging and existing industries and businesses today, while seeking out opportunities to create the jobs and industries that will also support our people tomorrow. We better enable this by improving our processes and working with our partners in the Region, towards a variety of business attraction strategies. Lastly, we should always endeavour to create and showcase our community, as the truly great place it is – one with a high quality of living - that people choose to live, work, play, raise a family, and retire in.
Hospital Staffing
With the new hospital opening later this year, how would you help health officials recruit and retain professionals to our region?
The first thing Council would need to do would be to have proper consultation with Alberta Health and AHS to understand what the needs are, once the new hospital is fully operational. The Alberta Health North Zone already does a good job informing our recruitment efforts and gaps within the community, through the Peace Health Advisory Council. With a clear understanding, we can advocate tandemly as a Region with our health providers to the Ministry, to better resource these areas and speed up the recruitment process. We can also advocate for our state-of-the-art hospital to be designated as a training facility for surgeons looking to have Operating Room time. In a way, this could help the city introduce many young professionals to our wonderful community and hook them in to set up a practice in the area. Working with GPRC’s new designation as a polytechnic institution, there is an opportunity to become the ‘Health Hub of the North’ - the education hotspot for northerners and locals aspiring towards careers in the medical fields. Rather than having our kids leave to find their education and future job in larger centres, we can provide for their education here, thereby creating a natural recruitment and retention centre by training professionals of our own. Of course, we should always be proud to showcase our Region’s world class facilities, river valley and park trail system, our rich and diverse art and culture scene, and our land’s natural beauty to all professionals.
Recreation, Arts and Culture
What options would you like council to consider when it comes to recreation, arts and culture to help attract more professionals and families to the region?
This past term, Council was very intentional with where we constructed new recreation facilities in the City, to balance sporting opportunities for kids of all ages. These included the Drop-In Activity Centre in Smith Subdivision, the Bike Skills Park in Crystal Lake, the outdoor pool in Muskoseepi Park, and the Pickleball Courts near the Comp. We also developed and maintained our super natural trail system, creating connections to nature for almost every neighbourhood, year round. Now, no matter where you choose to live, a family has several opportunities for recreation. We have world-class facilities we should always be promoting the use of, such as the ELC, MCC and Art Gallery, as well as groups within the buildings we maintain like the Curling Club, Golden Age Centre, GPLT and the Centre for Creative Arts that provide quality of life opportunities and generate community through their own programs. I would like the new Council to consider the benevolent impacts of these and other community groups, such as the Friendship Centre, and look towards how we can maintain or increase our support as part of an overall community wellness strategy. I would also like to see an increase in the budget for large scale tourism events, as a means of raising the profile of our community and creating more opportunities to bring our people together in spirit and pride, through a variety of events. When people have more outlets to creativity or activity, pursuant to their passions in the community they live, their ability to establish connections and be happy grows exponentially. And people tend to stay where they’re happy.
Truth and Reconciliation
With a greater understanding of the cultural genocide Indigenous people have faced in Canada, what key principles, organizations or initiatives do you support in conserving Indigenous language, art, and tradition?
I have and will continue to support all of our local, regional, provincial, and national FNMI organizations, their events and initiatives, in the preservation and promotion of indigenous culture, history, art, and traditions. I recognize that I live within Region 6 of the Métis Nation of Alberta and reside upon Treaty 8 Lands, whose people’s ancestors have walked this land since time immemorial. I support the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), as well as the 94 Calls To Action as informed by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Specifically to this question on the Calls to Action, I fully endorse Actions 13-16 (Language and Culture), Actions 18, 21, and 22 (Health and Aboriginal Healing Practices), as well as all of the Actions 62-70 (Education in Reconciliation, Youth Programs, Museums and Archives), as a means to not only conserve and provide access to the art, language, and tradition of Indigenous peoples for Indigenous people, but to also actively promote and educate these to all people so it may grow and find reverence within our collective awareness.
How will you assure that Indigenous people are leading Indigenous initiatives in a way that is in alignment with our values and beliefs-what ACTIONS would you take?
I will listen, advocate and act as a guide towards ensuring Indigenous initiatives, especially those led by Indigenous people, have every opportunity to find success within the city.
Affordable Housing
Access to affordable housing is a major barrier to providing livable communities and attracting and retaining skills that can support business growth – what are your views on ensuring affordable housing is available in our community?
Ensuring people have housing makes wise business sense, as with every dollar spent on housing, it provides at least a 2-1 social return on investment. Housing stability creates economy. Access to affordable housing across the spectrum was my major platform goal 8 years ago, and upon being elected I became known as the “social housing guy” on Council. Relentless in my belief for housing as a human right, I was rewarded with a seat at the table with the Province on the Interagency Council for Housing and Homelessness, as the representative for AUMA from 2014-16. Our work helped create substantial investments in affordable housing with supports across the province, and successfully advocated for the government to take a cross-ministry approach in tackling the issues surrounding homelessness. Upon re-election in 2017, housing became Council’s top priority in our Strategic Plan. This prioritization has led to our Affordable Housing Master Plan, our Affordable Housing Action Plan, P3 partnerships, land transfers to social housing agencies, a stronger partnership with Grande Spirit Foundation, and significant investments in the creation of homes with supports for seniors, youth, persons with disabilities, and people suffering from poor mental health and addictions. There is still a great need for more family housing and a growing need of seniors who wish to have the ability to age at home. I will always be a strong voice creating solutions that address any housing barriers.
Indigenous Land Acknowledgement
Indigenous people need land (within city limits) in which to practice traditional/ceremonial rituals, how would you support giving LAND BACK and giving acknowledgement to the rightful caretakers, including all decision making and caretaking?
I believe firstly, we have to ask where and which ways it might be appropriate. Most recently, The City of Grande Prairie has done exceptionally well in providing these opportunities. From becoming the first municipality to allow smudging within our public facilities, to naming our most prominent gathering places with our Indigenous heritage in mind (Muskoseepi and Muskwoteh Parks, Mamawe Concourse), to supporting events and initiatives that promote First Nations tradition, culture and history (pow wows, Aboriginal Day, National Day of Truth and Reconcilliation), and assisting with land for housing. There are other ideas that we can still explore within partnership, such as Aboriginal Healing Centres, “open park use” policies for FNMI ceremonies and events, Indigenous housing, and even “Urban Reserves” to connect and integrate people traditionally living on reservation lands to homes within the city that are closer to services and opportunities.
Real Estate Development
How would you support the real estate community deal with a growing number of vacant buildings and lots partly due to fallout from the pandemic?
The hopeful part of me says that this is an ebb in the market and the real estate community handling these properties should see a rebound as we start to move out of the current Covid reality. Of course, any future market demand could continue to wane and that would be problematic to both the real estate community and our tax base in the long run. The first part would be to continue to have open dialogue with our home builders, developers, and real estate agents through their various groups (CHBA, UDI), both informally and with Council. Having a full understanding of the market situation on a quarterly basis and engaging in regular discussions for solutions early, would be paramount to developing strategies that address this issue. Our Economic Development team is currently well resourced to be able to work with the real estate community and act as conduit to Council, to present the issues and any potential viable solutions.
How would you characterize the amount of green space in the city and its importance in any new development?
Green space is very important to the character, beauty, and sale-ability of all developments. Outside of aesthetics, green spaces provide numerous benefits to the community such as flood mitigation, water storage, carbon reduction, habitat creation, ecosystem health, pollinator promotion, and food production. People seek out neighbourhoods with old trees, nice parks and green spaces, or close access to our river valley. Having natural areas to walk, sit, or play in is vital to our physical and mental health. If you say ‘trees’, I say ‘yes please’.
Regional Project Planning
Regional planning brings together multiple communities and areas to find projects that improve our ability to move people and goods around the region and province. How would you propose to work with other municipalities to prioritize and pursue infrastructure projects that are focused on improving economic outcomes for our region?
We used to have a Regional Planning Commission back in the day, before it was dissolved in the 90’s, that by all accounts functioned fairly well. Since then, we have moved into more of a competitive relationship with our regional partners, which is why the province mandated the ICFs (Intermunicipal Collaboration Framework), so we could all address the inequities caused by an unlevel playing field between urbans and rurals. Currently, our ICF with the County is in the arbitration phase of its completion. Once done, we can get to work on updating our IDP (Intermunicipal Development Plan) and start to engage in the potential of bringing back a Regional Planning Commission. This would help us equally in planning, as we could actively work in tandem to draw investment into our Region, and start putting developments where they need to go, rather than competing for the tax base. This would also save money in our economic development and planning departments via staffing and travel, by working together for a common cause rather than our own self interests. Regardless of whether this becomes a thing, the City, County, and our Regional partners have a good history of advocating for the Region when it comes to Economic Development. Some recent advocacy projects that we have worked together successfully in seeing forward movement with the province on, is the 43X bypass, the twinning of Highway 40, the Nautical project, and housing creation through the Grande Spirit Foundation.
Public-Private Partnerships
Public-Private Partnerships provide an opportunity to build the infrastructure we need while allowing the private sector to help us get the best deal possible. If elected, how will you work with elected colleagues to engage the private sector to participate in building major infrastructure in our community and region?
Private-Public Partnerships are an intriguing solution, to a growing problem across Canada, in closing the gaps of our infrastructure and housing deficits. This past term, the city sought out P3’s, towards the building and creation of affordable housing in our community. Two of those projects fell through due to funding, while one is still working towards its completion in the renovation of the old Fletcher Building. With road construction projects, the only significant one that I could see the city benefitting through a P3 currently, is the old bypass that we inherited and requires significant upgrades. If we chose to go with a more permanent road structure (ie. concrete slabs vs asphalt), the cost would be higher, and it might be better to employ a private company to build and maintain it for the term of a contract. As councillors holding the public trust, we should always weigh the benefits and consequences of our actions today for tomorrow. I would encourage all solutions that positively impact the longevity of our assets, fill infrastructure or facility gaps, and minimize our costs though it all. The first step in this process would be to discuss further with administration where they see P3s providing the most benevolent outcomes in our infrastructure maintenance and creation. The new Council should also be receiving our first ever “State of Infrastructure” report upon election, that would help inform a strategy, as to where a P3 could provide the most benefit.
Infrastructure
The balance between the need for new infrastructure and the maintenance of current roads, sidewalks, curbs, and paths is an ongoing challenge for communities everywhere. What would your priorities be when it comes to infrastructure in the city?
If you ask a man to dream, he will reimagine the world!! My number one priority for infrastructure within the city, would be an overpass crossing the tracks to the east side of town. It is this or we build a new fire hall and police station across the tracks, as currently these services are at the mercy of the train schedule, when it comes to responding quickly to an emergency. To date, and lucky for us, this has yet to become an issue. As we grow out further to the east, the need for an either/or solution becomes more pressing. New stations and halls with accompanying staff, building, and associated costs or an expensive one-shot deal to ensure response times, with the services and staffing we already have? I advocate for the roadway as a solution today, even if it means negotiating deals and making concessions with CN to do so.
Other infrastructure priorities I have would be to close the connection gaps in our trails and pathways, as well as sidewalks to bus stops; Sloped curbing into crosswalks and roadways giving easy access and better mobility for people with disabilities who need to get around in wheelchairs; More electronic speed display signs in high ticket/collision areas to create safer streets and reduce the reliance on photo radar contracts; More affordable family housing, youth housing, and a continuing care centre in the city for seniors who can no longer age well at home; And finally… investing in renewable/clean energy projects.
Taxation
What possible ideas would you suggest to balance spending on necessary services for residents while keeping taxes from increasing exponentially?
Council and administration did a glorious job this past 4 years, doing exactly just that. We employed Priority Based Budgeting (PBB) to ensure we were making investments and resourcing services that were in alignment with our highest priorities of our Strategic Plan. This put a focus on our budgetary process and helped to eliminate a lot of extra spending. City administration also employed LEAN processes across our departments to improve corporate efficiencies and maximize our returns on staff workloads. Collectively between council and administration, we able to chart a direction through PBB and LEAN that saw minimal negative impacts to our service provisions (and in some cases even created higher levels of service), while keeping our tax rate flat over the terms duration (0% total tax increase over 4 years). Currently, administration is finishing up a robust analysis of all city departments and developing a new Corporate Efficiencies Strategy for the new Council to digest and reap the benefits from. The big question remains, through these processes and strategies, will a new council be able to come in and maintain our service levels while keeping the impact to our taxes low amidst a rising tide of inflation? Only time with the proper direction, our will to find solutions and make tough decisions, and how we better enable administration to execute their processes, will tell the tale fully this next term.
Crime, Enforcement and Emergency Services
What are your priorities when it comes to crime and law enforcement in the city?
My priorities for crime and law enforcement in the city are that our RCMP is properly resourced to be able to respond quickly to domestic emergency situations, be a deterring and visible presence in our core, and mitigate the negative impacts of property crime, theft, and vandalism.
What suggestions do you have to help deal with issues such as drug and alcohol dependency and homelessness in our community?
With Grande Prairie recently receiving a contract to establish a Drug Treatment Court to deal with crimes caused by addictions, this will go a long way towards giving addicts the opportunity to get the help they need through treatment and reparations rather than incarcerations, which usually places them back in the same circles of people at risk to reoffend. It will also greatly improve our court times, leave more room for our Crown Prosecutors to prosecute major offences, decrease our prison population, and hopefully reform the offenders. The Community Care Campus will also be beneficial to providing people dealing with trauma influenced mental health and addictions issues, the type of housing and wrap-around supports that will help give them stable ground to recovery, healing, and hopefully keep them off the streets. I would also like to continue with our highly successful Mobile Outreach Program (MOP) and look to resource them further, to better respond as an immediate intermediary to our businesses and vulnerable populations.
What changes if any would you like to see as far as emergency services are concerned?
There is not much currently I would change about our emergency services. Our GPFD is a world class group of incredible people with big hearts, who also happen to save lives and property in emergencies. Their work is invaluable to our community. If there is an area I think we could resource better for our firefighters and first responders though, it would be to provide more access to counselling and trauma services. Being on the front lines of emergencies (especially during Covid), can weigh heavily on the mental health of our emergency services people, seeing things sometimes we all would never even wish to imagine. Trauma counselling, therapy, peer support, and mental health supports are all ways we can support our front-line heroes in maintaining their well being and should be strongly encouraged from governance through management.
Grande Prairie Friendship Centre
What do you feel you know about the Grande Prairie Friendship Centre and would you be willing to provide more funding for Indigenous programming?
I feel I know quite a bit about the GPFC. I know that it is held in high praise with the National Association of Friendship Centres for all the cultural programs, events, and services for the FNMI and greater community that it provides between their 3 local sites. They are a community hub and a place to go to find connection, a warm meal, or clothing when in need. They help create supports for parents and children to early learning, as well as youth and young adults to higher education. They are an advocate for truth, reconciliation, understanding, healing, and the Rights of Indigenous People. And I know that I do not know what we would do without the Friendship Centre in our community. So… yes. I would 100% be willing to provide more funding to Indigenous programming.
Grande Prairie Regional College
How would you characterize the importance of Grande Prairie Regional College programs and how do you think they could best be supported?
The programs offered at the GPRC are crucial to us sustaining our growth towards becoming a major city centre. By educating and training nurses, teachers, technologists, builders, entrepreneurs, and so much more, GPRC acts as a hub in Grande Prairie to degree granting status - developing a homegrown workforce of essential services that improves the well-being of our entire community. This keeps our kids here and draws other people from the north to choose post-secondary options closer to home. As a newly designated polytechnic institution, GPRC will be able to provide more program choice and will support Northern Alberta’s growth, economic diversification, and competitiveness. Council can best support GPRC by continuing to be engaged in the conversation with GPRC, to ensure that we are lockstep in advocating for the things that will not only improve student life, education quality, the college’s own reach and growth, but the quality of life created that having a high-calibre post-secondary institution in the city provides.