Weekly update: Brian Jean attacks work camps, school support workers could strike

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Happy Labour Day long weekend, Fort McMurray!

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• Empty Bowls and Blueberry Festival: The annual Empty Bowls fundraiser for the Wood Buffalo Food Bank returns with the Blueberry Festival, which was held for decades every Labour Day weekend until 2008. August 30-September 2 at Snye Point Park. Information.
• Fort McMurray Fringe Festival: Local theatre company Theatre, Just Because is launching the first Fort McMurray Fringe Festival at Heritage Village on Aug. 31. Information.
• Charity Soccer Match: The Keyano Huskies and RMWB’s Regional Emergency Services will support KidSport Wood Buffalo by battling in a Charity Soccer Game. Emergency vehicles will also be available at this event for fans to get a close look. Aug. 31 at Shell Place at 12 p.m. Game starts at 1 p.m. Admission by donation.
• The Irish Descendants: The four-piece Newfoundland musical act returns to Keyano Theatre. Aug. 31 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets.
• Theatre Club: Local theatre company Swamp Rat Experience is hosting a 12-week learning and creative performance program for youth ages 7-11. Students learn performing and disciplines such as acting, singing, improv and theatre etiquette. Classes, rehearsals and performances at Composite High School’s King Street Theatre. Registration is open.
• Staged reading of “A Work in Progress”: Local theatre artist Brodie Dransutavicius invites you on a harrowing and comedic journey about the process of writing a new play. A Work in Progress is a one-man show (…or is it?) about the ups and downs of creating art–the writer’s block, trusting the process, the exhilaration of finding the words that capture what you’re trying to say and the despair when you don’t. Sept. 7 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at King Street Theatre. Free tickets.
• Fallen Firefighter Memorial Service: Please join the Fort McMurray Honour Guard and members of the Fort McMurray Fire Department as they pay tribute to firefighters who made the ultimate sacrifice. Their courage, dedication, and selflessness will never be forgotten. Light refreshments will be available after the Service. Sept. 11 from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at Fire Hall 5 (200 Saprae Creek Trail). Information.
• ATC Cultural Festival: Celebrate the Indigenous cultures of the Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo region at Snye Point Park between Sept. 12 and 15. Information.
• Play in a Day: For Alberta Culture Days 2024, get a group together and write, direct and act in a play created in 24 hours. Participants are given a theme, prop, and costume piece to be included. They will have access to rehearsal space at King Street Theatre, where they give a free performance for judges. Theme reveal at 7 p.m. on Sept. 13, performances the next day at 6 p.m. Information and free tickets.
• RES Community Pancake Breakfast: The Fort McMurray Fire Department celebrates its 50th anniversary with a morning of rescue demonstrations, tours of emergency services equipment, fire trucks, an interactive fire safety trailer and lots of pancakes. Children can meet Sparky and other local mascots, try a full-size fire hose and even take part in a fire rescue obstacle course. Sept. 14 from 9 a.m. until noon at Fire Hall 1 (2 Tolen Drive). Information.
• Hospital Bed Races: Teams of four people in costumes or corporate gear and one 150-pound sandbag will race each other in 50-metre sprints as they raise money for the Northern Lights Health Foundation. All teams are guaranteed two races with the fastest teams advancing. Prior to race day, teams must fundraise a minimum of $2,000. Sept. 21. Information.
• Fort McMurray Marathon: Compete in a kid fun run, 3K, 5K, 10K, 21.1K and 42.2K. Runners can also fundraise or donate to any of the 20 local charitable organizations and non-profits participating in the Run for a Reason program. General registration is open until Aug. 21, late registration until Sept. 6, race day is Sept. 22. Information.
• Council’s Excellence Awards: Nominations for outstanding people, community champions, young achievers and real-life heroes are open until Oct. 14.
• Kenny vs. Spenny Live: In a rare instance of Fort McMurray importing a crude product, the “best friends” who became famous for torturing each other on national television bring their 20th anniversary tour to Fort McMurray. Oct. 19 at Quality Hotel Ballroom from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. Tickets.
• Wood Buffalo Regional Library hosts all-ages weekly events.
• MacDonald Island Park updates its website with upcoming events and programs.
• Wood Buffalo Volunteers has volunteer opportunities for different causes and non-profits across Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo.
• Obituaries: Obituaries, memorial notices and sympathy announcements can be uploaded and read online.

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Brian Jean promises ending incentives for oilsands work camps, commuters

Alberta Energy Minister Brian Jean says the provincial government will find ways to make energy companies replace their commuter workforce model with a priority on hiring people living in Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo.

Jean said talks with major energy companies on the issue have been “very productive.” But if there’s no action on hiring locally soon, Jean warned the Alberta government will make those companies change their minds.

“Our government’s going to remove any actions that we have that currently incentivize camps. We want more people working close to their home. We just think that is the right answer for quality of life,” said Jean. “The camps do not help people or families or communities. They help oilsands shareholders in different countries that don’t give a shit about us.”

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Jean hinted he could go after a 2016 provincial directive to lower municipal property taxes that the RMWB charges oilsands operations.

“I am not going to stop at any lever,” he said when asked about changing the tax rate as an incentive away from work camps. “They rent the land from us, they get permission to put up a fence pole or a toilet, and they get the ability to renew it, and we get to decide what price they pay. I think there’s a lot of incentive in there.”

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. Critics argue commuters profit from the oilsands and rely on local services without paying any taxes locally or contributing to the local economy.

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

Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour, challenged Jean to name the specific policy levers he is willing to pull or follow through with his threats.

“If Brian Jean can convince them to do the things necessary to keep the work in Fort McMurray, fine. But I don’t see that happening anytime soon. To me, it sounds like empty political rhetoric,” he said.

Jean promised throughout the interview he was not bluffing, and vowed the Alberta government will act if his warnings are not taken seriously.

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“Every day they don’t do something to move towards building communities and hiring locally is the day that I move to incentivize them to do so,” said Jean.

Suncor on track to expand autonomous vehicle fleet by year’s end

Suncor’s fleet of automated heavy hauler trucks is meeting the company’s performance and safety expectations. The fleet, which is already Canada’s largest fleet of autonomous vehicles, is on schedule for an expansion.

As of May, Suncor’s base plant north of Fort McMurray has 45 haul trucks driven by a network of sensors, lasers and GPS. The company is on track to have 91 of these vehicles by the end of the year.

The technology–which Suncor calls Autonomous Haulage Systems (AHS)– is a natural evolution for the oilsands, said Suncor vice president Greg Fuhr. The slow rollout helped Suncor to avoid massive layoffs and sudden changes to clear way for them. As technology in the oilsands changes, new jobs will be made and existing jobs will adapt.

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“Every truck does exactly the same thing all the time. It goes exactly where it’s told. It doesn’t need a break except for refueling,” said Fuhr in an interview. “What you get is the consistency, the reproducibility and the ability to see and adjust, in real time, an entire system in a very predictable fashion.”

A July statement from Suncor says the technology is meeting company expectations. Potential injuries, incident rates and equipment stoppages have dropped at sites with the automated haulers. The vehicles are doing well in unpredictable weather. Their artificial intelligence has reduced wear and tear on components.

“We’ve managed this. We’ve been very open with the workforce for years on this and managed our hiring practices,” said Fuhr. “As we roll through these stages of autonomous implementation, we are not going to be laying off or having any impact on our permanent workforce here in Fort McMurray.”

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Other companies are also investing in the technology. Imperial Oil’s heavy hauler fleet at its Kearl operation became fully automated last October. However, Suncor is the largest company in the oilsands and Fort McMurray’s biggest employer.

Labour and union leaders in Fort McMurray and across Alberta know automation in most fields is inevitable. But how it is being introduced makes them worry for the flesh and blood workers and the places they call home.

“This is going to have a long-lasting impact on taxation, on the municipality and on the region in general. That’s something that’s not talked about enough, but this is going to mean a significant shift in the way this town operates,” said Omer Hussein, president of the Wood Buffalo and District Labour Council.

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Strike vote possible for Fort McMurray education support staff

Fort McMurray’s education support workers could vote to strike “as early as Sept. 7” after talks with the Catholic and public school divisions came to a standstill last week. This includes secretaries, maintenance workers, custodians and other support workers in schools.

The workers are represented by CUPE Locals 2545 and 2559, and say salaries have failed to keep up with rising living costs and increasingly large classroom sizes.

Both Locals say staff are burning out and working working multiple jobs to make ends meet. Local 2559, which represents education support workers in the Catholic system, want wage parity with their better-paid counterparts in the public board.

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The CUPE Locals are now in a mandatory cooling-off period after leaving formal mediation without new collective agreements on Aug. 24.

“We are told we are appreciated and valued, but after going almost a decade without a wage increase, that sends a totally different message,” said Danielle Danis, president of CUPE Local 2559.

Danis says Local 2559 members have not seen a wage increase since 2015. They are demanding a $2 hourly increase for each of the next four years. Their employer has countered with a 2.75 per cent increase, which the union says would amount to a $0.46 hourly raise for the lowest-paid workers.

Local 2545, which represents educational support workers in the public system, say their last wage increase was a 1.25 per cent boost in 2020. They are proposing a $2 hourly raise for each year of a three-year agreement.

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The union says the employer, guided by the Alberta Government’s Provincial Coordinated Bargaining Office, has countered with “a two-tier wage proposal” including hourly wage cuts ranging from $1.10 to $4.07 for newly-hired employees and no increases for existing staff.

The leadership of Fort McMurray’s Catholic and public school systems say they plan to keep schools open even if CUPE members vote to strike.

Mixed responses to TFW changes from Fort McMurray labour, business groups

Recent changes to the temporary foreign worker (TFW) program has left polarized reactions among Fort McMurray’s business and labour leaders.

The federal government announced Monday that permit lengths for low-wage TFWs will shrink to one year from two years, and they cannot form more than 10 per cent of a workplace.

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Employers will be cut off from hiring low-wage TFWs if local unemployment is at least six per cent. The most recent data from Statistics Canada shows unemployment in July was 6.1 per cent in the Wood Buffalo-Cold Lake census region, up from 5.5 per cent in June.

Dianna De Sousa, president of the Fort McMurray Chamber of Commerce, said the changes “can potentially” hurt local businesses that turned to the program because they struggled to hire workers in Fort McMurray.

“If you have situations where certain industries are not attracting a workforce, then you’re penalizing them,” De Sousa said in an interview. “There are lots of industries and communities like ours where it’s a challenge to attract someone to move all this way north for what’s a little bit over minimum wage.”

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The program is meant for businesses that have proven they have unsuccessfully tried hiring workers already in Canada to fill jobs. Ottawa expanded the program’s scope in 2022 as businesses struggled to find workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

De Sousa says problems within the TFW program require improved enforcement of Canada’s labour and human rights laws.

“There are systems that can be used to address this, but we need to be careful of penalizing all for potentially what may or may not be happening in certain places,” she said.

Omer Hussein, president of the Wood Buffalo and District Labour Council, called the program “an abomination” and the program should be scaled down, modified or scrapped to protect wages and workers’ rights.

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Hussein and the organization have heard of young people struggling to find entry-level work, as well as immigrants who came to Fort McMurray outside the TFW program. Both groups are likely to leave and find work elsewhere, he argued.

“You can’t tell me it’s not being abused here. You have a lot of new Canadians coming to this community and a lot of teenagers trying to find work,” he said. “You’re telling me it’s impossible to fill these entry-level jobs when everyone is looking for work?”

No injuries after eight-hour standoff in Fort McKay ends with arrests

Three people from Fort McKay were arrested Tuesday after a firearms complaint caused police to surround a home for nearly eight hours.

Wood Buffalo RCMP say the incident began on Aug. 27 around 5:45 p.m. when a Fort McKay Peace Officer reported a man driving a side-by-side around the community while carrying a firearm. Police located the side-by-side parked outside a home in the community. Before they approached the home, police were told by a man he had been shot at by the suspect, but was not physically hurt.

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Officers surrounded the home and attempted to have the two people inside leave. The male suspect in the shooting refused to leave but a woman left and was arrested without incident. Officers used a drone to monitor the home and area.

At around 11 p.m., police arrested another woman who tried entering the home. She was also arrested without incident.

Meanwhile, an Emergency Response Team, canine unit and crisis negotiator arrived to help with the situation. The man still refused to surrender to police.

At 1:40 a.m., the man left after “police techniques were used,” according to a statement from Wood Buffalo RCMP. Staff Sgt. Sabrina Clayton, a spokesperson for Alberta RCMP, said she was not able to say what those techniques were, but the Emergency Response Team was involved.

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The man remains in police custody and is facing criminal charges. His name cannot be published until charges are sworn in court.

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