Fort McMurray Minute: Issue 86

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

📅 This Week In Fort McMurray: 📅

• On Tuesday, at 4:00 pm, there will be a meeting of City Council. This will be a closed meeting, with no indication as to the topics up for discussion.
  
  
• On Wednesday, at 2:00 pm, there will be a meeting of the Homelessness Initiatives Strategic Committee. The Committee will discuss Fort McMurray’s homelessness update, which shows a gradual decrease in active individuals on the by-name-list (BNL), dropping from 138 in August to 99 in October 2025. Engagement with housing programs remained steady, with 209 individuals working with supports in October, and the number of people housed through these programs increased from 139 in August to 153 in October. Newly housed individuals each month ranged from 9 to 12, while transfers from the BNL into housing programs decreased from 10 in July to 2 in October. Each month, 14-18 people were newly added to the BNL, reflecting ongoing identification of individuals experiencing homelessness. The municipality continues to address encampments collaboratively with local service providers and the RCMP.
  
  
• Speaking of the RCMP, the Wood Buffalo RCMP have added new drones, and they recently used one to assist in a downtown arrest. The new drones, referred to as Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS), have improved flight time, cold-weather capability, and camera resolution. Officers trained to operate the drones use them strictly for investigations and emergencies, requiring judicial authorization when privacy is expected. In a recent incident, a drone’s infrared camera located a man wanted on a Canada-wide warrant, leading to his arrest without incident. RCMP have used drones for over a decade, deploying them from patrol cars for incidents such as missing persons, natural disasters, and criminal investigations. The expansion of drone use follows testing across Alberta since June 2024, with plans to deploy them more broadly across Canada. 
  
  
• In the Fort McMurray-Cold Lake area, unemployment fell to 6.8% in October 2025, down from 7.2% in September, despite a slight drop in overall employment and labour force participation. The oil, gas, mining, and forestry sector led job growth, adding about 1,000 positions, while wholesale and retail trade, health care, and public administration saw the largest losses. Full-time employment declined to 69,900, offset by a rise in part-time positions to 9,900, and self-employment grew by 400, suggesting a shift toward contract or freelance work. Other sectors with gains included education (500 jobs), transportation and warehousing (400), and construction (200), while several sectors saw modest declines or no change. Overall, the region’s population aged 15 and older increased slightly to 115,300. Alberta’s overall unemployment remained at 7.8%.
  
  
• Fort McMurray is experiencing a significant increase in feral pigeons, a problem believed to have started during the 2016 wildfire evacuation when pet pigeons were reportedly released. Pigeons thrive in urban environments, reproducing multiple times a year and using buildings for shelter, which allows their populations to remain high even through harsh winters. While they pose limited competition to native species, dense flocks create sanitation issues and can spread diseases as well as damage infrastructure with their droppings. Some Alberta cities have seen urban hawks and falcons help control pigeon numbers, but Fort McMurray has not experienced this natural predation trend yet. Management strategies include deterrents, falconry programs, and fertility control, though each has limitations and potential environmental concerns. Experts emphasize that public education - securing garbage, cleaning up spilled grain, and avoiding feeding pigeons - is the simplest way to reduce their numbers. Overall, the pigeon population is expected to persist, and the focus will be on managing their numbers rather than attempting eradication.

🚨 This Week’s Action Item: 🚨

🪙 This Week’s Sponsor: 🪙

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