Fort McMurray Minute: Byelection Results, Rolling Strikes, and Budget Deliberation Preparations

Fort McMurray Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of Fort McMurray politics

This Week In Fort McMurray:

• There will be a Council Meeting on Tuesday at 6:00 pm. The agenda includes the 2025 Public Art Work Plan, 2024 Capital Budget Amendments, and several Councillor’s Motions. Councillor Funky Banjoko will bring forward a motion that the Chief Administrative Officer be directed to inform Council prior to approval of any exempt staff bonuses. Councillor Keith McGrath will request that the Municipality forgive the Fort McMurray Heritage Society of the 2023 Audit being complete so that they can apply for 2025 funding and receive the remaining funding already granted to them. Councillor Shafiq Dogar will put forward two motions - one requesting that a bylaw or bylaw amendments be developed to regulate electric scooters and another requesting that future Capital Projects be reviewed by a Councillor to study in detail before the final presentation to Council by Administration.
  
  
• Meetings of the Wood Buffalo Pro-Business Advisory Committee and the Public Art Committee, originally scheduled for Wednesday, are cancelled. The Wood Buffalo Pro-Business Advisory Committee will meet on Thursday instead (see below), but the Public Art Committee meeting has not been rescheduled.
  
  
• The Advisory Committee on Aging will meet on Thursday at 1:00 pm to discuss Snow Angels Updates, among other items. At 2:00 pm on Thursday, the Wood Buffalo Pro-Business Advisory Committee will meet. The agenda includes a Business License Bylaw Update and a discussion about the 2025 Committee Focus Areas. Finally, also on Thursday, the Wood Buffalo Waterfront Advisory Committee will meet at 5:30 pm. The Committee will hear a Flood Mitigation Program Update, a Snye Point Park Project Status Update, and a Land Use Bylaw Update.

Last Week In Fort McMurray:

• Stella Lavallee has been elected as the new Councillor for Ward 4 after winning the byelection with 42% of the vote. Lavallee, who is also the president of the Willow Lake Métis Nation, will serve in the seat until the next municipal election in October 2025.
  
  
• Municipal staff have proposed a $645.6-million budget for 2025. It would allocate approximately 73% of funds, or $476.2 million, to operations, while 26%, or $166.3 million, would be reserved for capital projects. The Chief Financial Officer emphasized the importance of balancing core service needs with rising costs due to inflation and economic changes. Council will discuss the proposal during their budget deliberations, which will take place on December 3rd and 4th, with a shift in presentation style. This year, divisional directors will present their respective capital budgets. Stay tuned for Common Sense Fort McMurray’s budget coverage!
  
  
• Talks between the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and the Fort McMurray school divisions failed, leading to planned rolling strikes by over 1,000 staff members. The Fort McMurray Public School Division (FMPSD) has issued a lockout vote notice, while the Fort McMurray Catholic School Division (FMCSD) has not yet done so. CUPE members will begin a two-day strike on November 13th and 14th, followed by rolling strikes affecting different schools daily. The union is pushing for wage increases and other improvements, while FMPSD calls the demands fiscally impossible.