A policy proposal that was recently asked for by Wood Buffalo council members involved fly in fly out arrangements, and the council meeting went fairly quickly even though this proposal was just one of many items on the agenda. The audit committee proposal was given to the council requesting that a policy be implemented that prohibits fly in fly out accommodations for people who are municipal employees. This policy was one of the recommendations made as a result of the 2014 KPMG audit. A motion on December 1, 2015 to implement a fly in fly out policy was defeated, and the new policy would prohibit this type of activity. Chief Legislative Officer David LeFlar did caution that the council did not have the authority to legally prohibit commuting by employees but passing the policy motion would ensure that the municipality would not be required to cover the expense of these trips.

The no fly in fly out policy proposal in front of the Wood Buffalo council does have a provision to cover extenuating circumstances according to Councilor Tyran Ault. If an out of town expert is needed by the municipality and a commute was necessary to hire the expert then the council could bring up the specific issue for a vote. Councilor Allan Vinni discussed th new policy and said stated “I think that that inconvenience is more than outweighed by the message that we need to send to the citizens of this region that we’re about employing and working with people who live here.” The motion passed unanimously.