Fort MacMurray Mayor Melissa Blake discussed the economy last week with a Parliamentary committee, and she told the committee that the Wood Buffalo area has been through oil price drops before and that one of the important lessons learned in the past was how to get ready for a rebound. Blake spoke to Parliament’s Standing Committee on Finance which is investigating the economic impact that dropping oil prices has. Mayor Melissa Blake stated “In mid-2008, we had our first breather since the rush to oilsands development took hold a decade before. We had a chance to catch up, a chance to plan, a chance to get ready for what was coming next. And what came next was a very busy rebound. Our community is still catching up since the more than doubling of our population since 2000. Experience tells me that it is really hard predicting the price of oil in either direction. From a community perspective, the rapid upswings can be even more difficult than what we’re currently experiencing.”

Mayor Melissa Blake had the opportunity to speak about the Wood Buffalo economy during the last day of the 3 day committee hearing, providing the group with some insight into the special situation and circumstances that Wood Buffalo faces. Blake said “Today we have $21 billion in oilsands projects already approved, $4 billion in various forms of construction and another $26.5 billion in applications,. Yet capital spending pales in comparison to what these companies will spend over the life of those projects. We’ve come through even darker days of our past even stronger than before and I believe we will do that again this time.”