Category: Economic

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Economic Ft Mac

Fort McMurray United Way is Seeing Record Funding Requests Due to Poor Economy

United Way, funding requests

The United Way in Fort McMurray is seeing record funding requests because of the poor economy in the region. Last month the United Way in Wood Buffalo launched a fund raising campaign with the goal of raising $8 million, and so far the agency has received financial requests for 2016 that total around $7.5 million, an increase that the agency believes is tied to the poor economy in the area. Executive Director for the local United Way, Diane Shannon, explained . “This is excessive. It absolutely is a large leap. We’re hearing from the folks that are providing services about the need for family counselling and children’s counselling… as (families) are dealing with the stresses that the changes in job situations and our economy is (creating).”

In 2015 the United Way has helped fund 26 community groups, and 32 groups have asked for funding in 2016 so far. Shannon told the media that “There are important programs that we’re considering that are reaching out to us for the first time ever, or the first time in a number of years.” Shannon also said “We have such positive energy from the folks that are leading the campaigns in the various workplaces around the community. We are getting really great, positive engagement. The folks that are hearing the message understand the need, they see the value in the community, and we just need to keep working away.” Right now the unemployment rate for the Wood Buffalo region is around 6%, and that has led to many requests for help from various agencies.

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Alberta Economic

Takeover Bid by Suncor Rejected by Canadian Oil Sands

Suncor, Canadian Oil Sands

A recent takeover bid by Suncor for Canadian Oil Sands has been rejected, with Canadian arguing that more time is needed so the company can examine and evaluate all of their options. Suncor made an unsolicited takeover offer in the amount of $4.3 billion, but the attempt was one that was not welcome or wanted by Canadian. Last Wednesday Canadian Oil Sands made an announcement about a shareholder rights plan which would be designed so that board members and shareholders had sufficient time to go over all of the possible options. Other companies have also made offers, some of which propose mergers with Canadian Oil Sands instead of an outright takeover of the company. According to the plan the company shareholders will have a minimum of 120 days to review any offers. The plan will go into effect if 20% or more of the company shares are obtained or there are efforts to acquire at least 20% of the company stock.

Canadian Oil Sands released a statement arguing that a previous offer was higher than the current takeover bid amount. The board chairman for Canadian Oil Sands, Donald Lowry, said “The Board will consider Suncor’s unsolicited offer in both the current context and in light of the strong long-term potential of Canadian Oil Sands. Shareholders do not need to take any action or make any decision about the Suncor offer until the board has had an opportunity to fully review the offer and to provide a recommendation based on careful analysis.”

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Economic Ft Mac

School Snack Program Funded by Fort McMurray Airport Authority

Fort McMurray Airport Authority, school snack program

A school snack program will be funded for the next 3 years by the Fort McMurray Airport Authority. The snack program is operated by the Wood Buffalo Food Bank Association, and many children in the region come from homes where food security may be scarce in the current tough economic times. The airport authority has announced that they will be providing funding in the amount of $12,000 each year for the next 3 years. Wood Buffalo Food Bank Association executive director Arianna Johnson said “Multi-year agreements are a huge opportunity for us to spend more time focused on the actual work of our agency as opposed to constantly writing grant applications and seeking additional funding. It makes planning a lot easy, it makes maintaining programs a lot easier, it just overall makes life easier.”

The school snack program, called Snack Attack, is designed to provide much needed snacks to students in the public school district. The snacks that are provided by the program meet the approved snack standards set by the Alberta Health Services. Johnson explained the program. “So in the public schools, every school has a hamper of snacks. They’re for kids who come to school periodically hungry.” The Fort McMurray Airport Authority associate vice president commercial Jesse Meyers explained the Community Investment Program of the organization and talked about the school snack program funding. “Part of that program detail is to contribute towards youth initiatives in the city and within the region and we saw that Wood Buffalo Food Bank’s snack attack program fit that description and more. We’re quite honoured to be the primary sponsor for such an important program in the community.”

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Alberta Economic Politics

Debate in La Biche is Dominated by Economic Concerns

economic concerns, Lac La Biche

The recent Lac La Biche all candidates debate was dominated by economic concerns, current taxes, and the oil industry. Only 4 of the 6 candidates for the riding attended the debate. Scott Berry, the Libertarian candidate, and David Yurdiga, the Conservative incumbent, were not able to attend the debate. Liberal candidate Kyle Harrietha, NDP candidate Melody Lepine, Christian Heritage Party candidate Roelof Janssen, and Green candidate Brian Deheer all showed up for the debate ready and eager to let their voices be heard. A lot of the debate questions centered on the economy, the oil industry, and the tax situation. Most of the candidates repeated their party lines, and the debate did get quite serious at times. There was discussion about rail transport for bitumen and other oil industry products versus pipeline transport, and talk about how the taxes are affecting communities and people in the area.

After the Lac La Biche debate and the economic concerns that many of the candidates heard from people who attended Harrietha discussed the plan that the Liberal party has with local media. “I think we communicated clearly the Liberal Party’s platform to invest in infrastructure in order to jump start the economy. We believe that it will create jobs and help grow the economy and prepare our communities for the next time when the economy booms and oil goes up. The Liberal party believes that the time to invest is now.” The stance that the Liberal party has taken on corporate taxes was not very popular with the crowd though.

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Alberta Economic Ft Mac Health

Nutrition North Receives Additional Funding, Many Push to Add Fort Chipewyan to the Program

Fort Chipewyan, Nutrition North

The Nutrition North will receive a $32 million investment, and this is intended to help improve the access to food for northern communities. With the announcement of the additional funding many are pushing once more to add Fort Chipewyan to the program. According to a statement by Thomas Mulcair, the NDP Leader, when he stopped in Iqaluit on Tuesday “Stephen Harper has used northern communities as convenient photo-ops for years while failing to address the most basic concerns of families – access to affordable food.” Attempts to include Fort Chipewyan in the Nutrition North program have been made in the past but these attempts were not successful. According to estimates frm the NDP the cost of this move would be around $211,000.

Being part of the Nutrition Noth program would offer some relief to many in the Fort Chipewyan community, a community where food can be very costly. The program allows retailers to receive public funds intended to offset higher transportation and food costs for remote communities, and the subsidy is passed along to the community in the form of lower and more affordable food prices. Fort McMurray-Cold Lake’s NDP candidate Melody Lepine has stated her intention to keep fighting to include Fort Chipewyan in the Nutrition North program. Many point out that the cost of food in Fort Chipewyan can rival what is found in the most remote northern communities. A 4 litre bottle of milk can be as high as $18. Lepine also supports adjusting the Zone status of the entire Fort McMurray region, saying “Moving into a Zone A region with high pay would be an incentive for people moving here. The cost of living is a concern I keep hearing from constituents. This would help during tax time and put a little more money in their pockets.”

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Alberta Economic Ft Mac Health

Carbon Emissions the Target of $20 Million XPrize Competition

XPrize competition, carbon emissions

A new $20 million XPrize competition has been started by a group representing oilsands companies, and the competition is asking people to re-imagine carbon and find new and innovative ways to address this environmental issue. According to Canada’s Oil Sands Innovation Alliance chief executive Dan Wicklum the goal of the competition is to identify practical uses for carbon emissions which have been converted. Wicklum explained “The competition will promote and advance the discovery and development of new technologies to take carbon emissions, which are now seen as a liability, and change them into a resource, a valuable, usable product.” Wicklum also went on to say that climate change is now “one of the biggest challenges facing the planet,” and the executive explained that carbon emissions are a contributing factor to climate chain.

During the launch of the XPrize competition for carbon emissions Wicklum told an excited group of people “We’re part of the global problem, but today is about taking a leadership role in becoming part of the global solution. Today we’re throwing down the gauntlet, we are lighting a fire under the brightest minds in the world. Under any scenario, petroleum will be a part of our energy mix in the foreseeable future, so it just makes sense to work on reducing emissions, but also on the game changing technologies too. So it’s a balanced approach.” The XPrize competition will be open for 4 and a half years, and to win a team must be the team which converts the highest amount of carbon emissions into products that have the highest net value and the lowest impact on the environment.