Fort McMurray Minute: Promotion Rescinded, Medical Travel, and a Fire Department Milestone

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 Mayor’s Advisory Council on Youth will make their year-end presentation before Council moves on to discussing flood mitigation and the 2023 Annual Update on the Municipality’s response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action. Councillor McGrath will bring forward a Notice of Motion to terminate the contract of the current Integrity Commissioner and open a public request for proposals for a replacement. Council will also discuss 2024 Capital Budget amendments. One amendment includes the cancellation of the Albion Drive Full Rehabilitation project due to the bid price exceeding the approved $1 million budget.
  
  
• Efforts are underway to contain an out-of-control wildfire sparked by lightning, located 70 kilometres northeast of Fort McMurray. Despite its significant size, the fire poses no immediate threat to infrastructure or nearby communities, including oilsands sites. Suncor Energy has taken precautionary measures by evacuating non-essential personnel from its nearby Firebag site. Currently, 142 personnel and 14 helicopters are actively engaged in firefighting efforts, supported by airtankers. Night operations involving two helicopters equipped with night vision are focused on maintaining containment lines along the fire’s western edge.
  
  
• The Fort McMurray Fire Department is celebrating its 50-year milestone. Evolving from a volunteer-based foundation, the FMFD now operates as a modern service, providing firefighting, rescue operations, and emergency medical services to the community. Various specialty technical teams are able to do high angle, confined space and collapsed structure work, as well as water rescue, fire prevention, and dangerous goods response. In the five decades since the first paid firefighter was hired, the FMFD team has grown to more than 130 professionals.

Last Week In Fort McMurray:

• After facing public backlash and second thoughts by elected officials, Council has reversed their decision to bypass public consultation and promote themselves to full-time roles. The contentious motion, initially proposed by Councillor Cardinal, faced criticism from residents and fellow Councillors alike, leading to a 9-2 vote to rescind it. Councillors McGrath and Cardinal were the two opposed. The original motion then had to be debated again, with members of the public getting to have their voices heard. Many of the speakers did not oppose a full-time Council, but said that the decision had been handled poorly. After the public spoke, another vote was taken, but only Councillors Cardinal, McGrath, and Dogar voted in favour of the promotion this time.
  
  
• Hope Air, an organization facilitating medical travel for rural Canadians, has noted increased demand in the Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo region. In 2023, they arranged 50 trips for people to access medical appointments. The organization, supported by volunteer pilots, aims to address the challenges rural and northern Canadians face in accessing medical care.
  
  
• Fort McMurray Public School Division (FMPSD) announced that Matthew Shewchuk has accepted the Vice-Principal position at Walter and Gladys Hill Public School for the 2024/2025 school year. Shewchuk, a Fort McMurray native and educator within FMPSD for the past decade, holds a bachelor's degree in social studies and special education, along with a graduate certificate in school leadership from the University of Alberta and a master of education from Memorial University of Newfoundland. Currently pursuing a doctorate in education at Western University, Shewchuk has taught across grades 2 to 12, specializing in special education and physical education.