Weekly update: CUPE blasts RMWB bonuses, Doug Faulkner remembered

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Happy Friday, Fort McMurray!

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• Fort McMurray Giants: Baseball action at Legacy Dodge Field. Next home games are against the Edmonton Prospects on July 23-24, and Sylvan Lake Gulls on July 26-28. Drum Brewery hosts watch parties of away games. Tickets and schedule.
• Fort McMurray Food Festival: A schedule of events for the annual food festival has been posted online. All proceeds from the festival will support of Waypoints, which runs a family violence home and a crisis line for sexual and family violence. Fundraising has been difficult as demand for services grows locally.
• Treaty Days: The Fort McMurray 468 First Nation is celebrating the 125th anniversary of the signing of Treaty 8 with its annual Treaty Days celebration. July 26-28. Information.
• Local HERO’s Wheels and Wings Car Show: The foundation that oversees Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo’s medevac service is hosting its fundraiser car show at the Fort McMurray Airport’s North (old) Terminal on Snow Eagle Drive on Saturday July 27th from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Information.
• Fam Expo: The Fam Expo is a mini comicon offering a Kidzone full of activities for the kids, vendor showcase, video game and board game stations, panelists, cosplay and food trucks. July 28 at Shell Place. Tickets.
• YMM Digital Art Exhibit featuring Amy Keller-Rempp: Local painter Amy Keller-Rempp’s SkyDance series will be featured at the Fort McMurray International Airport as part of the YMM Digital Art Exhibit. She is the third of four digital art exhibits featured this year. The airport is hosting an opening party with food, live music and the arts community. August 1 from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. Information.
• Summer Makers Market: Arts Council Wood Buffalo hosts a market featuring local artists, artisans and crafters selling their unique and handmade creations. The market takes place in the front and backyard of ACWB’s new office at 9908 Manning Avenue. Entry is free although donations are appreciated. August 3 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Information.
• 2024 Baseball Canada Cup: Fort McMuray hosts 10 provincial teams at Legacy Dodge Field and Ross Hennigar Ball Park. August 7-11. Tickets and information.
• Afro Canadian Festival of Arts and Culture: Celebrating the Afro-Canadian community of Fort McMurray with food, arts, crafts and live music. Performances by DJ Dynce, Oiltown Records and Sangea Academy’s Drumming Workshop. August 10 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at J. Howard Pew Park. Information.
• Acden Show & Shine: Acden’s fourth annual car show returns to support the Centre of Hope. Aug. 11 at Acden from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Information.
• Take the Pledge: Want a chance to win a helicopter ride AND reduce wildfire risk? Pledge to reduce wildfires in the Fort McMurray Forest Area by August 16 and you’ll be entered to win a helicopter tour of the region! Take the pledge today online.
• 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.
• 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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Highway 881 near Janvier closes, opens, closes, opens because of wildfires

Wildfires near the Janvier area forced Highway 881 to close for nearly 16 hours starting on Wednesday evening. After the highway reopened around 1:30 p.m., Alberta Transportation again closed the road shortly before 5 p.m. The road reopened at around 7:15 p.m.

The Wednesday evening closure cut off Janvier and the Chipewyan Prairie First Nation from Fort McMurray. The Thursday closure was between Janvier and Conklin, cutting off the hamlet from Lac La Biche.

As a precaution, the Chipewyan Prairie First Nation announced a voluntary evacuation on Wednesday evening for at-risk people. This includes seniors, small children and babies, people with breathing issues and other people considered vulnerable. The RMWB has not ordered an evacuation of Janvier.

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As of Thursday evening, the closest wildfire to Janvier has been designated LWF136, or the Kettle River Fire. This wildfire is roughly 2.14 square kilometres in size and 15 kilometres north of Janvier.

Heavy equipment and firefighters are building fireguards on the wildfire’s southern and eastern sides to slow its spread. Helicopters and airtankers have also attacked the wildfire from above.

Former RMWB mayor Doug Faulkner passes away

Doug Faulkner, who spent five years as a councillor and seven years as mayor of the RMWB, has died. He was 82.

Born in Scotland and raised in Newfoundland and Labrador, Faulkner was a Pentecostal preacher who trained as an auto mechanic at a family business. He moved to Fort McMurray in 1979.

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After five years on council, Faulkner became mayor in a 1997 byelection after former mayor Guy Boutilier left council to become a PC MLA. His term as mayor coincided with the start of another oilsands boom that saw the largest population and economic growth in Fort McMurray’s history.

“He was a typical Newfoundlander: friendly, outgoing, kindhearted. He was a man of faith, hard working and was loved by a lot of people,” said Vaughn Jessome, who worked for Boutilier and frequently met with Faulkner. “He was very down to Earth. He was good with kids. He was definitely someone people saw as approachable.”

Council pushed for more funding for improved recreational facilities and the twinning of Highway 63. The provincial and municipal road networks in the region needed upgrades and expansions, he argued. Affordable housing, better retail, improved health care and stronger policing were common causes he pushed for as the population exploded.

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Critics accused the council of the day of being slow to react to these needs. Faulkner countered the federal and provincial governments were slow to fund Alberta’s growing cities.

“We’ve been struggling and struggling, lobbying and lobbying on Parliament Hill to get money for infrastructure, water and sewer … and they just look at you, these bureaucrats,” Faulkner said in a 2003 interview with Fort McMurray Today.

Faulkner was defeated by former mayor Melissa Blake in 2012. He ran as a federal PC in 2000, a federal Liberal in 2004 and a Wildrose candidate in 2012.

Outside of politics, was active in the community as a minor hockey coach, and served on the Court of Revision, the landlord and tenant advisory board, and the Fort McMurray Housing Authority.

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CUPE accuses RMWB of breaking labour code over bonus scandal

CUPE Local 1505, which represents RMWB staff, is accusing the municipality of violating the Alberta Labour Code during bargaining talks.

The accusation comes after the RMWB acknowledged in June that senior directors were given more than $1-million in “illegitimate” bonuses in 2021 and 2022.

CUPE’s leadership says they heard rumours of these bonuses, but learned their extent when they were released by the RMWB in June. A list of the bonus recipients was later leaked to Fort McMurray Today.

Craig Milley, president of CUPE 1505, said the union was “were misled during collective bargaining at the financial status of the RMWB.”

“We enquired a number of times regarding bonuses being paid to exempt employees, which their bargaining committee denied,” said Milley. “The amount of money in excess of $1 million that was inappropriately paid to senior leadership would have impacted the union’s decisions on monetary matters.”

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Milley says union staff at the RMWB have been angry since the extent of the bonuses became public. Some non-union staff have also told CUPE leaders they were frustrated with how the RMWB has handled the situation, he said.

A statement from the RMWB said the municipality would not be commenting on the complaint as it is considered a legal matter.

“The municipality values our relationship with CUPE 1505 and is committed to working together to resolve this matter,” the statement said.

Union leaders raise labour concerns with senators at Fort McMurray meeting

All is not well for workers in Fort McMurray or the oilsands, argued a group of labour and union leaders in a meeting with visiting senators.

Many of the labour representatives said they fear current economic trends will leave their workplaces understaffed and filled with transient workers, while families will move on from Fort McMurray.

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Fears towards automation, problems hiring and keeping staff, the high cost of living and low property values were the main complaints raised at an hour-long meeting at the Gregoire office of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 955.

“This is a place that is just booming with people looking for opportunity and it seems like that opportunity is slipping away,” said Ty Brandt of IUOE Local 955 at the meeting. “It’s not even slow anymore, it’s eroding. The opportunities just aren’t there like they were.”

Alberta Sen. Scott Tannas said in a Wednesday interview he was struck by “the gap between management and particularly leadership and labour” after his tour of Suncor’s Base Plant facility and the meeting with labour groups. Tannas is the CEO of a non-unionized company and found the dynamic strange.

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Tannas shared concerns about young tradespeople struggling to find work experience. He also said a national energy policy with a shared vision of Canada’s energy future would address many of the concerns he heard during the meeting. He plans to discuss the concerns mentioned during meetings with oilsands CEOs and leaders.

Council approves investigating selling, demolishing unused assets

Council has asked administration to investigate selling or destroying municipal assets that are not being used or have “low repurpose potential.”

The motion was presented by Councillor Lance Bussieres after noticing the empty fire hall in Gregoire during a drive, as well as vacant lots on MacIver and MacLeod streets expropriated by the municipality in 2013.

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“I’m sure there’s other assets and maybe we could have someone look into it, whether we sell them or donate them or turn park space,” said Bussieres. “Maybe there’s no interest in the Gregoire fire hall or the vacant lots, but they’re not doing us any good by just sitting there.”

Mayor Sandy Bowman called the idea “a great initiative” and added he had noticed the vacant fire hall. CAO Henry Hunter says identifying assets is part of an upcoming asset management plan, which he said will be an ongoing policy.

A June 25 presentation to council said the municipality has at least $6.45 billion in assets. This does not include $211.3 million in assets owned by Wood Buffalo Housing. Without changing how the RMWB spends and generates revenue, Chief Financial Officer Laurie Farquharson says the municipality faces a deficit of $732 million during a ten-year period.

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Meanwhile, the municipality is $60 million behind on maintenance. A permanent asset management team is still being established for the RMWB’s corporate services division. The next steps for asset management, said Farquharson, includes finding assets for “divesting” or “retirement,” and developing lifecycle plans for critical infrastructure.

“This is still early days of of what it’s going to cost us and obviously it is going to cost us more,” said Farquharson.

TC Energy’s US$15B Keystone XL claim thrown out by trade tribunal

TC Energy Corp., the Canadian company behind the ill-fated Keystone XL pipeline, has suffered a major blow after a trade tribunal tossed out its claim to US$15 billion in damages.

The Calgary-based company launched the claim in 2021 to seek compensation after its proposed Keystone XL pipeline project was scuttled by U.S. President Joe Biden.

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Keystone XL was a proposed crude oil transportation pipeline, roughly 1,900-kilometres long, which would have carried oil from the oilsands of northern Alberta to the major U.S. crude storage hub at Cushing, Okla. and then on to Gulf Coast refineries.

The project was rejected by President Barack Obama on environmental grounds, approved by President Donald Trump than killed by President Joe Biden on his first day as president.

In its claim, TC Energy said it was due more than US$15 billion in damages as a result of the years it spent navigating legal and regulatory challenges. Construction had already begun.

The claim was made under the legacy rules tied to NAFTA because of what TC Energy said was the U.S. government’s breach of its free trade obligations.

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The tribunal ruled NAFTA’s legacy provisions only allow claims based on breaches that allegedly occurred while NAFTA was in force. Biden revoked Keystone XL’s permit a year after NAFTA was terminated and the new US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) took its place.

The Alberta government also has a complaint pending before the ICSID panel. In 2020, the province agreed to invest about $1.5 billion in equity into the project. A spokesman for Alberta Energy Minister Brian Jean said Alberta expects the tribunal to make a decision in its matter by fall of this year.

Canadian Natural fined for not stopping birds from nesting on tailings pond island

A major oilsands producer has been fined $278,000 by the Alberta Energy Regulator after hundreds of birds, wolves and coyotes were exposed to toxins at one of its tailings ponds.

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The report says that in the spring of 2022, workers discovered an island had emerged in one of its tailings ponds. The company normally levels such islands to keep animals away, but did not do so in this case.

By May 21, 2022, workers discovered birds on the island. They counted 271 California gull nests and one Canada goose nest. The company told the regulator on June 7 after installing bird deterrents.

These measures did not work and by mid-July, workers were finding gull chicks fouled with oil. Coyotes and wolves also found their way to the island. The company counted 411 dead birds at or near the tailings facility during the incident.

The regulator reduced the possible fine because the company eventually installed fencing to keep predators off the island and chicks out of the water. A company spokesperson did not say if the island is still there.

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No injuries after driver crashes into liquor store:

At roughly 5:50 p.m. Sunday, police and firefighters responded to the collision at the Ace Liquor on Real Martin Drive. The driver of a Toyota Rav4 had driven the vehicle fully into the store, smashing the windows and displays. No staff members or customers were hit by the vehicle.

Police are treating the incident as a non-injury traffic collision. The driver is not being criminally charged, although police cannot comment on how the driver’s insurance will react to the collision.

Police believe weekend downtown shootings connected:

The first incident was reported to police on July 13 around 5:26 p.m. Officers say gunshots were fired near the downtown A&W on Franklin Avenue near Father Mercredi Street. A 43-year-old man was brought to the Northern Lights Regional Health Centre and released.

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Police seized a 2023 black Dodge Ram that had been abandoned in an alley near Hardin Street. The truck matched a description of a vehicle that witnesses say was involved in the shooting.

Police were told of another downtown shooting on July 14 at 3:45 p.m. Police found a 31-year-old man shot inside a home on Father Mercredi Street. The man was brought to hospital.

Police searched the home after obtaining a search warrant. Police are not yet releasing what was found in the home because of their investigation.

Man accused of hitting truck after witnesses report ‘indecent act’:

Police in Fort McMurray say a man performing an “indecent act” in a car last week hit another vehicle when he was confronted by witnesses. Wood Buffalo RCMP say the man was charged with similar acts in June.

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The first incident was reported to police around 7:45 p.m. on July 11. Witnesses reported a man committing the act inside of a grey vehicle parked on Millennium Drive. The man drove away before police arrived. Police say the man was parked at a plaza and not at a nearby school or park.

An hour later, police received more reports of a man in a grey Volkswagen on Plamondon Drive. The man drove away when he was spotted and collided with a parked pickup truck. Police identified the man and arrested him on July 15.

• Lethbridge police Chief Shahin Mehdizadeh says Hells Angels members will be monitored closely after the creation of a new chapter in the city. Mehdizadeh said the outlaw group was already “influencing criminal activities” in Lethbridge.
• Premier Danielle Smith says she’s content to let premiers work on a new equalization system, but Alberta won’t be joining a legal challenge of the formula brought forth by Newfoundland and Labrador. In 2024-25, equalization payments are forecast to be around $25.3 billion to all but the three most westerly provinces — B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan. “We take a bit of a different approach. I don’t know necessarily that I want the Supreme Court deciding this solution, the answer to this,” she said.
• Some wildlife biologists fear Alberta’s end of an 18-year ban on hunting grizzly bears will hurt progress in protecting the animals. It comes as the bears’ threatened species status is under review by the province. The grizzly population jumped from 700 to 800 in 2010 to 900 and 1,150 today.
• The Law Society of Alberta has cleared former Alberta cabinet minister Tyler Shandro of three allegations of professional misconduct. The citations included a heated 202 confrontation in a Calgary doctor’s driveway, allegations of using his position as health minister to get personal cell numbers of two doctors, and an allegation he used his government email to respond to accusations of an alleged conflict of interest involving his wife. The committee agreed Shandro’s conduct “was at times inappropriate,” but no rules were broken. One committee member dissented.
• Read up on the politics and culture of Alberta  with Postmedia’s subscriber-exclusive newsletter, What’s up with Alberta? Curated by the National Post’s Tyler Dawson every Tuesday and Thursday.

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