Weekly update: School strike starts next week and Lavallee wins Ward 4

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Happy Friday, Fort McMurray!

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• Fort McMurray Oil Barons: Upcoming MOB home games at Centerfire Place are against Whitecourt Wolverines on Nov. 22 and 23, Drumheller Dragons on Dec. 12 and 13, Grande Prairie Storm on Jan. 4-5 and 22, Drayton Valley Thunder on Jan. 10, Bonnyville Pontiacs on Jan. 12, and Oldz Grizzlys on Jan. 25 and 26. Tickets and schedule.
• Keyano Huskies Volleyball: Upcoming home games at the Syncrude Sport and Wellness Centre are against Ambrose University Lions on Nov. 8, Briercrest College Clippers on Nov. 28 and Medicine Hat College Rattlers on Nov. 30. At all games, women’s team starts at 6 p.m. and men’s team starts at 8 p.m.
• Keyano Huskies Basketball: Upcoming home games at the Syncrude Sport and Wellness Centre are against Lethbridge Polytechnic Kodiaks on Nov. 22 and SAIT Trojans on Nov. 23. At all games, women’s team starts at 6 p.m. and men’s team starts at 8 p.m.
• Remembrance Day ceremonies: There will be a ceremony at MacDonald Island Park and another one at the Legion in Waterways. The ceremonies will be held at the same time. Legion event schedule and MacDonald Island Park event schedule.
• Brett Kissel live at Rivers Casino and Entertainment Centre: Alberta country music star Brett Kissel returns to Fort McMurray for two nights. Shows are Nov. 15 and 16. Tickets.
• Ugly Christmas Sweater Party: Dust off your most outrageous, tacky and festive sweaters for a night of laughter, cheer, and unforgettable fashion statements. Funds go towards the Northern Lights Health Foundation. Nov. 15 at MacDonald Island Park. Tickets and information.
• Festival of Trees: An evening gala with dining, entertainment and beautifully decorated Christmas trees up for auction. Funds go towards the Northern Lights Health Foundation. Nov. 16 at MacDonald Island Park. Tickets and information.
• K.D. Gala fundraiser: The Centre of Hope hosts their 18th annual K.D. Gala. Local chefs create delicious mac and cheese dishes for guests who vote for their meal. There will also be baked goods, a 50/50 draw and a silent auction. Children under 9 get in for free but still require a ticket. Nov. 17 from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Golden Years Society. Tickets.
• YMM Santa and Friends: A photo opportunity with Santa and friends, including Buddy the Elf, friends from the Pet and Wellness Society Wood Buffalo (PAWS), and piano performances from local students led by Fort McMurray music teacher Jessica McIntosh. Tim Hortons and a colouring and face painting station also available. Tickets for a 5×7 photo and digital file are $10 plus tax, or paid by a brand-new toy donation. All funds go towards Santas Anonymous. Sensory-friendly timeslots available from 2:45 to 3 p.m. Nov. 22 at the Fort McMurray International Airport from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Tickets.
• Santas Anonymous Christmas Market: More than 100 local vendors will support Santas Anonymous Fort McMurray with their annual Christmas market. Since 1984, students and staff at Father Mercredi High School have shared the Christmas spirit through the Santas Anonymous. The purpose is to provide children an opportunity to celebrate Christmas if their families cannot afford to do so. Market will be at Father Mercredi High School on Nov. 30 at 10 a.m. 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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Rolling strikes begin next week at Fort McMurray Catholic, public schools after talks fail

More than 1,000 educational assistants, librarians, administrative and maintenance staff, and custodians at Fort McMurray schools will start limiting their services after last minute talks to avoid a strike failed before they could start.

The rotational strikes will start with two full-day strikes on Nov. 13 and 14. Starting Nov. 18, rolling strikes will hit three to six different schools daily. School locations will be announced the prior evening on a Facebook page called CUPE Education Workers – Fort McMurray Strike Updates. FMPSD and FMCSD will also share updates with families and staff.

All members will be work-to-rule, meaning they will only perform the duties in their collective agreement. They will not work late or arrive early, volunteer, take on work above their pay or mentor education support students. They will take full lunches and breaks. Members will still be paid for the days they work.

CUPE believes this approach will be best for staff, its members, families and students. The union also believes this strategy is less likely to provoke intervention from the Alberta government.

FMPSD has issued a lockout vote notice. Trustees will decide whether or not to lockout members. No lockout vote notice has come from FMCSD as of Thursday evening.

Both school divisions have contingency plans to keep schools open during the strike. However, some programming and services will need to be modified or postponed. FMCSD has asked families of some special needs students have been asked to keep their children home.

FMPSD said in a statement CUPE’s demands would cost them $7.8 million retroactively and $3.4 million this year. The statement and a spokesperson did not address the lockout notice, but said the demands are “fiscally impossible,” and would require cutting supports and services.

FMPSD said in a statement CUPE’s demands are “fiscally impossible,” costing  $7.8 million retroactively and $3.4 million this year. FMPSD superintendent Annalee Nutter said in September their financial reserves are dwindling.

The financial reserves for FMCSD ran out at the end of the last academic year. CUPE and both school divisions have said in multiple interviews in recent years the Alberta government underfunds their schools, causing crowded classrooms and poor staffing.

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Stella Lavallee elected to RMWB council in Ward 4 byelection

Stella Lavallee is Ward 4 councillor-elect for the RMWB with a 42 per cent victory, or 93 out of 221 ballots. She is expected to be sworn in next week.

Lavallee has also been president of the Willow Lake Métis Nation since 2019 and was recently reelected to her second term.

She is the third Métis leader to join the current RMWB council. Ward 2 councillors Kendrick Cardinal and Loretta Waquan are the respective presidents of Fort Chipewyan Métis Nation and Fort McKay Métis Nation.

“I am very excited and pleased and humbled,” said Lavallee in an interview shortly after her victory was announced around 9 p.m. Monday. “A lot of my priorities right away will be learning the processes, and delivering on my campaign messaging and my campaign priorities.”

In an October interview, Lavallee said her priorities include improving municipal services in the RMWB’s southern communities. This was a common concern also mentioned by her opponents.

“I’m excited to work with the current council we have right now. Being able to have an opportunity for this next year to be vocal is something we need in the rural communities,” Lavallee said at the time. “There’s a lot of issues we need to bring to council and a lot of what has been identified to me from other people in the community is an improvement of municipal services.”

Ward 4 includes Anzac, Conklin, Gregoire Lake Estates and Janvier. The seat was previously held by Councillor Jane Stroud, who represented the ward during four terms since 2010. Stroud passed away suddenly in August, one month shy of her 77th birthday.

“I know following in Jane’s footsteps is going to be big shoes to fill, but I am willing to do so for the challenge and willing to do it for our communities,” Lavallee said in an October interview.

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Fort McMurray man charged with second-degree murder in Thickwood stabbing

A man has been charged with second-degree murder after a 21-year-old woman was stabbed at a home in Thickwood. This is 2024’s first reported homicide in the Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo region.

Wood Buffalo RCMP says a stabbing was reported to them at 12:53 p.m. on Nov. 5. Officers arrived at the home where the victim was located and was pronounced dead. The suspect ran away before police arrived, but was found downtown. He was arrested without incident.

Police have identified the victim as Tia Bella Blacklock, 21, of Fort McMurray. Kayde Marshall Lefebvre, 22, of Fort McMurray has been charged with second-degree murder. Lefebvre remains in police custody.

Fort McMurray woman charged with defrauding employer of more than $20,000:

A Fort McMurray woman has been charged with dozens of instances of fraud after police say she allegedly stole more than $20,000 from her workplace.

Wood Buffalo RCMP began their investigation in May 2023 after a local business owner told police they believed they had been a victim of fraud. Police say an employee at the time charged clients an additional fee sent through e-transfer, which would be deposited in her personal account.

Investigators believe more than 100 people were defrauded this way between March 2021 and June 2023. Police also believe the suspect committed forgery by cashing several cheques payable to their employer.

The name of the business was not released. Staff Sergeant Sabrina Clayton, an Alberta RCMP spokesperson, confirmed in an interview the business was “a health professionals business.”

Allie Ferris, 31, was charged Oct. 31. She faces 88 counts of fraud under $5,000, possessing proceeds of crime over $5,000, forgery and contravention of the Health Information Act. She is scheduled to appear in the Alberta Court of Justice in Fort McMurray on Dec. 18.

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UCP ‘fully united’ after annual general meeting: Yao

The UCP is more united than ever, says Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo MLA Tany Yao, after 91 per cent of voting party members approved Premier Danielle Smith’s leadership at the party’s annual general convention in Red Deer.

Yao argued the results show elements of the party opposed to Smith’s leadership are small and failed to make an impact.

“There certainly were a few voices that were very vocal against the premier, and they were very active in trying to sow the seeds of doubt in her leadership. But I think all those people did was push more people to go to the AGM and support the premier,” said Yao in an interview.

“We’re fully united and it’s absolutely fantastic. Now we can really focus on what matters to most Albertans, which is jobs and the economy and ensuring Alberta can prosper and lead the way in Canada.”

Energy Minister Brian Jean, who also represents Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche, called Smith “the best leader we’ve ever had” in a video on his Facebook page from the convention.

Yao said he was happy with most policies that were approved, but felt some policies were redundant or badly worded.

Yao felt a policy on updating the Alberta Bill of Rights bypassed input from constituencies and ignored preexisting work on the file. He supported eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training from within the Alberta public service, and resolutions around transgender policies.

Yao pointed towards the new medical school at Toronto Metropolitan University, which announced it will reserve three-quarters of its 94 spots will for students who are Black, Indigenous or from “equity-deserving” groups.

Yao also defended the UCP’s proposed legislation on transgender youth care. This includes banning gender-affirming surgery for anyone under 17, as well as hormone therapy for minors under 15 and requiring parental consent to change names or pronouns in schools.

Pride YMM, a local advocacy group for the 2SLGBTQI+ community, has condemned the policies as “harmful and transphobic.”

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Pathways seeking bids for part of its proposed carbon capture network: Imperial

The Pathways Alliance group of oilsands companies has issued a request for proposals to pipe manufacturers for the massive carbon capture and storage network it wants to build in northern Alberta.

The CEO of Imperial Oil Ltd., one of the six oilsands majors behind the proposed $16.5-billion project, provided the update on his company’s third-quarter earnings call Friday. He said the RFP was issued in the third quarter.

The news is the first significant public update the Pathways Alliance has provided in months. The group previously spent millions of dollars on a countrywide public relations blitz aimed at demonstrating that the oilsands industry is committed to helping fight climate change through the use of carbon capture and storage.

The Pathways Alliance proposed project would aim to capture carbon dioxide emissions from more than 20 oilsands facilities and transport them 400 kilometres away by pipeline to a terminal in the Cold Lake area, where they would be stored in an underground storage hub.

The aim is to help the oilsands industry, the largest source of emissions in the country, achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions from oilsands production by 2050.

If the Pathways Alliance project is constructed as proposed, it would be one of the largest carbon capture and storage projects in the world.

But while the companies first proposed the joint project in 2022, they have not yet made the final investment decision required to proceed. Pathways has spent much of the time since then lobbying for federal and provincial support.

And while the federal government has created an investment tax credit for carbon capture and storage projects, as well as promised a mechanism to backstop the price of carbon in order to give certainty to companies considering investing in emissions reducing technology, details of a project-specific agreement have yet to be hammered out.

In the meantime, Corson said Pathways continues to advance early-stage engineering and design work for the project, and is also consulting with communities and First Nations along the proposed pipeline’s route. It also began filing earlier this year for regulatory approval for its project.

Pathways president Kendall Dilling has previously said the group cannot make a final investment decision until that regulatory approval is granted.

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‘Deranged vendetta against Alberta’: Premier Danielle Smith slams Ottawa’s oil and gas emissions cap regulations

Premier Danielle Smith clapped back Monday at the federal government’s new draft regulations that would force oil and gas producers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about one-third over the next eight years.

At a press conference on Monday, Smith said Alberta’s government plans to “actively explore the use of every legal action,” including a constitutional challenge.

Smith said she would get her justice minister to begin drafting a motion under the Alberta Sovereignty within a United Canada Act — which allows the province to push back against federal laws or policies that negatively impact the province.

“I’m pissed. I’m absolutely angry because we’ve been working with these guys for two years because we have a plan that would reduce emissions responsibly by 2050,” Smith said.

“This is not a responsible policy. (Federal Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault) has a deranged vendetta against Alberta. It’s very obvious.”

The new regulations, which are still only in draft form, were unveiled on Monday by Guilbeault.

“These are not just draft regulations,” Guilbeault said. “We’re the only oil and gas producer in the world to do this.”

“I think everyone should do their fair share,” Guilbeault said in an interview with The Canadian Press.

“I think most Canadians — even those that aren’t my biggest fans — would agree that it’s not OK for a sector to not be doing its share, and that’s mostly what this regulation is about.”

The regulations look to force emissions from upstream oil and gas operations to fall to 35 per cent less than they were in 2019, sometime between 2030 and 2032.

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• With Donald Trump set to become the next U.S. president, will Keystone XL will be back on the table? It will take some time to get the final answer, but the province and industry leaders are preparing for what the future might hold after Trump’s victory this week. Calgary Herald columnist Chris Varcoe looks at the implications on nearly $160 billion of goods heading south annually from Alberta.
• Alberta’s police watchdog’s probe into the Edmonton Police Service’s dismantling of a pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of Alberta found no evidence police caused “serious” injuries when protesters were cleared. The early morning eviction on May 11 saw police use batons and chemical irritants to clear the encampment.
• Edmonton-based video game company BioWare hopes to boost its reputation with its latest release, Dragon Age: The Veilguard. A string of massive hits earned what critics and developers called “BioWare magic.” But recent critical and commercial flops a few derailed that.
• Alberta’s growing population means the province gets two new MLAs, bringing the total number of seats in the legislature to 89. A commission will determine where the new seats will be located and how else existing boundaries will change, although Fort McMurray is not expected to get a third riding.
• 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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