Weekly update: Trans Mountain is open, local and provincial leaders reflect on wildfire anniversary

Article content

Happy Friday, Fort McMurray!

Article content

• Les Liaisons Dangereuses: Keyano Theatre Company invites you to step into the lavish and decadent world of the 18th-century French aristocracy, where desire and treachery reign supreme. Ongoing at Keyano Theatre until May 4. Tickets.
• Local HERO Mash Bash: The Local HERO foundation annual fundraising gala returns with a MASH-themed event. Local HERO is Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo’s only helicopter medevac service. May 4 at MacDonald Island Park. Gala tickets and 50/50 raffle tickets.
• Drama Force: The Keyano Theatre Company’s young actors’ summer intensive program opens for registration soon. The program runs from July 29-August 17. Registration will be [tickets.keyano.ca]here on April 30 at 12:30 p.m.
• Northern Bout: Western Canada’s highest stakes drift competition matched with freestyle motocross, monster trucks and stunt bikes. May 3 and 4 at MacDonald Island Park. Tickets.
• Street Banner Program: Residents of all ages are invited to showcase their talents through the Street Banner Program. Selected designs will receive a $600 design fee. This year’s theme is Spirit of Water. Submissions will be shown across the region and at the Kirschner Family Community Art Gallery. Deadline is May 3 at 4 p.m. Information.
• Red Dress Solidarity Walk and Memorial Round Dance: An event honouring the thousands of Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people who have gone missing or been murdered. May 5 at Kiyam Community Park from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Information.
• Art for Social Change: Artists from Western Canada can submit proposals for site-specific public art installations creatively exploring the theme of accessibility. The call is open to any discipline. Up to six projects will be selected, each with a budget of up to $10,000. Deadline is May 6. Information.
• Fort McMurray Wildlife Festival: The Wildlife Festival returns to Fort McMurray with new animals and some old favourites. Macdonald Island Park from May 10-12. Tickets and information.
• Monster Pro Wrestling: Dirty Deeds: Monster Pro Wrestling returns to Fort McMurray on May 11 at the Syncrude Sport and Wellness Centre. Doors open at 6 p.m. Information and tickets.
• Robbie Burns, A Night to Remember: A traditional evening celebrating the life of Scotland’s bard. Featuring the talents of Highland Dancing and music by the Legion’s Pipes and Drums Band. May 18 at 6 p.m.-10 p.m. Tickets available at The Armoury Grill at the Royal Canadian Legion in Waterways. Information.
• Fort McMurray Oil Giants: Tickets and schedule for the upcoming baseball season are online. Opening day is May 24 against the Edmonton Prospects.
• Rock the Rails: Rock The Rails is BACK! Featuring legendary punk band Authority Zero and more than a dozen other acts from across Canada and the United States! Friday June 7 and Saturday June 8 at Syncrude Athletic Park. 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 ride! Take the pledge today online.
• 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.

Article content

Article content

Get the news and events of Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo in your inbox every Friday morning by signing up for our newsletter.

Municipal, provincial leaders look back at 2016 Fort McMurray Wildfire

As forest fires become common across the prairies, Mayor Sandy Bowman and Regional Fire Chief Jody Butz both say other communities have reached out to Fort McMurray for advice on planning and recovery. Butz is happy to help, but he says he’s bothered that some people still associate Fort McMurray with a wildfire.

“If they do, I would like them to understand the work that we’ve done and we are a safe community. We have reduced our risk to wildfire on our communities,” said Butz.

The wildfire remains Canada’s largest and costliest disaster. About 2,579 homes were destroyed, or 10 per cent of dwellings in Fort McMurray at the time. The municipality’s most recent data from March 2021 found about 86 per cent of homes have been rebuilt and occupied. As of 2022, 371 homes buildings were still being rebuilt.

Article content

Butz, Bowman and Alberta Forestry Minister Todd Loewen say 2016 and last year’s wildfire season have shown where Alberta needs to improve on fighting wildfires. There are more wildland firefighters and new equipment. Wildfire season is marked with fire prevention campaigns. This year’s provincial wildfire budget is bigger than previous years.

“The best teacher is experience,” said Bowman.

Trans Mountain pipeline project ushers in new era for Fort McMurray

With the official opening of the long-awaited Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, those who live and work in Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo hope their fortunes are once again headed for an upswing.

The Trans Mountain pipeline was bought six years ago by the federal government and is Canada’s only oil pipeline to the West Coast. The expansion increases capacity from approximately 300,000 barrels per day to 890,000 barrels per day.

Article content

The path to get here was interrupted by environmental protests, delays and budget overruns. The pipeline project took more than four years and at least $34 billion to build after Ottawa bought the project for $4.5 billion. Still, oilsands producers have been waiting for this pipeline for a long time.

Some Indigenous communities in northern Alberta hope the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion will mark the start of a new chapter in their relationship with the oilsands industry.

Not all First Nations see their industrial neighbours this way. Eriel Deranger, an ACFN member and executive director of Indigenous Climate Action, describes the relationship between Indigenous communities and the oilsands industry as an “economic hostage situation.”

Article content

Others like Justin Bourque, the former CEO of the Willow Lake Metis Nation and president of Fort McMurray-based Asokan Generational Developments, see growing opportunities for First Nations in the oil and gas sector.

Meanwhile, the Trans Mountain expansion reached the stage of full commercial operations on Wednesday. Oil has been filling up the system for weeks.

Councillor Shafiq Dogar suing Mayor Sandy Bowman, RMWB for $1.1 million

Councillor Shafiq Dogar is suing Mayor Sandy Bowman and the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo (RMWB) for $1.1 million. Dogar alleges Bowman and the RMWB falsely accused him of holding racist attitudes towards Indigenous people following comments he made at a February 2022 meeting.

Article content

Dogar was accused of saying Indigenous people come to Fort McMurray to drink and fight, and minimizing the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and two-spirited people (MMIWG2S).

Dogar claims he has suffered reputational harm and no longer feels safe visiting Indigenous communities.

Bowman and the municipality deny all allegations, which have not been proven in court. They also argue Dogar never challenged the integrity commissioner’s report, which concluded Dogar’s comments were “objectively racist” and “only served to reinforce a hurtful and ignorant stereotype.”

Alberta hopes to see passenger rail connecting Fort McMurray and Edmonton

An ambitious plan to build passenger rail networks crisscrossing Alberta includes a proposed line connecting Fort McMurray and Edmonton. If it ever happens, this would be the return of passenger rail to Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo since 1989.

Article content

The passenger route is part of Alberta’s Passenger Rail Master Plan, which was announced Monday by Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen. The province pictures passenger rail networks linking Edmonton and Calgary to each other, to airports, to Jasper and Banff, and mid-sized cities including Red Deer, Grande Prairie and Fort McMurray.

Mayor Sandy Bowman said he welcomes any project that improves connections to Fort McMurray, and is looking forward to meeting with Dreeshen about the rail plan. But he also said he hopes the province continues to focus on plans to upgrade Highway 881, twin Highway 63 north of Fort McMurray and complete Highway 686.

The last passenger train for the region left Fort McMurray on October 27, 1989. Passenger numbers shrank as roads improved and daily flights from Fort McMurray became common.

Article content

But passenger rail has again become a priority for the province as Alberta’s population is expected to hit roughly seven million people by 2050.

Life of Métis entrepreneur Lisa Marie Bourque honoured

Seeing Indigenous people succeed as entrepreneurs and artists was always a joy for Lisa Marie Bourque. Her business, the Fort McMurray Métis Trading Post, worked with local artists to sell locally harvested and crafted teas, plant medicines, artwork and clothing.

Relaunching the Fort McMurray Urban Market last year continued her family’s traditions of bartering and trading. She was always proud to talk about her ancestors, who ran a trading post in Beaver Lake, Alta.

On April 27, Bourque’s life tragically ended after she died in a collision. Wood Buffalo RCMP say that at 11:39 a.m., officers were told of a collision on Highway 69 near Saline Creek Parkway.

Article content

Investigators say Bourque’s sedan collided with the rear of a stationary water truck. She was brought to the Northern Lights Regional Health Centre and died of her injuries. She was 47.

Bourque’s life and her love of her Indigenous heritage is being honoured by people across Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo and Alberta.

Fourth suspect arrested in child abuse investigation: Seven more people have accused a Sandy Beach, Alta. woman of child abuse. She faced similar charges last month after she was charged along with a Fort McMurray couple after an investigation involving reports of children being harmed.

The exact charges cannot be written in this newsletter because email filters might mark it as spam. But the full list of charges is in the article.

Article content

Fort Chipewyan man accused of destroying church acquitted: August Tanner Marcel was charged with arson after a fire destroyed a Catholic church in Fort Chipewyan in 2022. But a lack of evidence meant the Crown was unable to prosecute him.

As the judge said he was free to go, Marcel shook the hands of his lawyer and the prosecutor, then excitedly ran out of the court room.

More incidents with counterfeit currency reported: Police in Fort McMurray say they have received multiple reports of people using, or attempting to use, fake money at local businesses. Since April 12, Wood Buffalo RCMP says these reports have mostly included counterfeit $50 and $100 Canadian bills.

No injuries, damage reported after gunshots fired near Fort Chipewyan Airport: Police in Fort Chipewyan are investigating gunshots that were fired near the Fort Chipewyan Airport on Wednesday afternoon. No one reported any injuries. Police did not find any evidence of damage to property.

Article content

• Greatest Generation: Documentarian Rishi Sharma is in Edmonton interviewing combat veterans of the Second World War. Sharma crisscrosses the globe interviewing veterans of allied militaries for his YouTube channel, “Remember WWII with Rishi Sharma.” Sharma’s subject last Thursday was centenarian Lloyd Brown of Sherwood Park, who went to war at 19 with the Loyal Edmonton Rifles. Sharma is still looking for other veterans and can be reached at (202) 315-8743.
• Back to the drawing board: The Alberta government is amending a controversial bill that gives the province greater authority to intervene in municipal matters. However, mayors and councils across Alberta criticized the bill as a power grab.
• Nuclear deal: The governments of Saskatchewan and Alberta have agreed to keep each other informed about nuclear reactor technologies. This includes supply chains, workforce development, fuel supply and regulations. Alberta has invested $600,000 in studying repurposing a fossil fuel electricity generation site for a nuclear reaction. Premier Danielle Smith hopes Alberta will have a small-nuclear reactor by 2035, a technology that has excited Energy Minister Brian Jean.
• Clever girl: Two U of A neurobiologists have joined an international team of scientists arguing Tyrannosaurus rexwas probably only about as smart as a crocodile, and not a baboon as claimed in a 2023 study. This is because a dinosaur brain does not fill skulls like a mammal brain, and have fewer neurons than mammals and birds. The reptilian brain structure also limits the complexity of their social behaviour.
• 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.

Article content