Smith favours incentives for oilsands commuters to settle in Fort McMurray

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Premier Danielle Smith says there are “active discussions” on encouraging transient workers to live in communities like Fort McMurray instead of commuting from elsewhere.

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Smith told media at the Oil Sands Trade Show at MacDonald Island Park she is leaning towards developing incentives rather than forceful measures, such as work camp restrictions. Her Sept. 12 comments come after Brian Jean, Alberta’s energy minister and the MLA for Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche, called oilsands commuter camps harmful to Fort McMurray.

“There’s two ways to approach it, give incentives or give penalties, and I like to be on the incentive side,” she said.

“That’s why, as we’re brainstorming, is there something the company can do to make that work-life balance a little bit more of a value proposition for families to be able to locate here and work?”

Nothing has been decided and Smith stressed talks are in their early stages. But Smith said some ideas she has heard include a northern living allowance for people moving north, short-haul flights between remote sites and Fort McMurray, and rebates for companies hiring locally.

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When asked if she would go after a 2016 provincial directive to lower municipal property taxes that the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo (RMWB) charges oilsands operations, Smith said she was unsure and that levers the province usually pulls involve personal income tax.

“We’re still in our early stages of figuring out what kind of proposal that would be,” said Smith.

“I think it could potentially save the companies money, but also it builds community and that’s really important for us to be able to do.”

Jean has vowed to find ways to make energy companies replace the commuter workforce model with a priority on hiring people living in Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo.

In an August interview, Jean said talks with major energy companies on the issue have been “very productive” on encouraging incentives. He also argued commuters stop Fort McMurray from benefiting from record-high population and economic growth reported elsewhere in Alberta.

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“Fort McMurray is totally missing out and having one of the hardest times it’s had in my years of living there. It reminds me a lot of the ’80s but I think we had better services in place then,” said Jean.

“The amount of profits versus the amount left behind for local families, local workers and people is unconscionable. It’s not right they laid off people and they continue to fly people in and out. It’s not right. I’m disgusted by it.”

The most recent municipal census found that in 2021, there were 30,504 commuters in the region. Only 2,358 of those transient workers lived in Fort McMurray. The rest were spread across 68 work camps.

Relying on commuter workers and work camps in the oilsands has been debated in Fort McMurray’s local politics for decades. Past mayors and councils, labour and business leaders, and some residents argue commuters profit from the oilsands and rely on local services without paying municipal taxes or contributing to the local economy.

Don Scott, a former PC MLA who was mayor from 2017 to 2021, unsuccessfully tried rallying council to limit work camps in 2019. That move was opposed by industry groups and the government of then-premier Jason Kenney.

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vmcdermott@postmedia.com

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