A soft market for oil and low oil prices have sparked a debate about fly in fly out workers in the oilsands area. Some candidates in the Ward 1 byelection are supporting the argument that the current market is the right time to think about lowering the number of fly in fly out workers that are used in the Wood Buffalo area. Colleen Tatum, one of the election candidates, issued a press release which stated “With the economy in a downturn, we can address it once and for all. (Companies) are laying off and they’re readjusting their costs of doing business. The RMWB and the community could come together and say, we need space to accommodate this many employees for the long term … and how can construction, how can industry, how can the community work together to meet those needs?”

When asked about fly in fly out workers and the soft market for oil candidate Verna Murphy said “I definitely think they should be looking at other solutions for some of the camps that are closer to town.” Candidate Mike Durocher believes that industry should find a solution, saying “Dictating to any business at all is not right. I agree that we need to engage them to come up with a solution together, but they’ve got to initiate it. If they had to start phasing that back where they had to start paying it out of their pocket … they might rethink their position.” Fly in fly out workers have been the topic of debate before, but the soft market for oil right now makes this debate even more relevant today.