Category: Ft Mac

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Ft Mac

United Way of Fort MacMurray Invites Local Songwriters for Theme Song Competition

United Way, Fort MacMurray
United Way, Fort MacMurray

The United Way of Fort MacMurray is inviting local songwriters for the theme song competition that the organization is holding. The theme for the song competition is Change Starts Here, and the United Way is looking for a unique and catchy theme song that people will remember and that will catch on quickly. According to Communications and Community Impact.Director Russel Thomas “We’ve launched this idea of getting local songwriters to play around with that phrase, (Change Starts Here), and turning it into a song in hopes we can use it as the theme song for our 2015 Community Campaign. We found this year, that using video to tell the story of a couple of our agencies — we have three different Seeing Is Believing videos and an overall campaign video — the investment of time and effort into making those videos has been unbelievably successful. It cuts through in a way that is really, really powerful, and we’re hoping the music component does that as well.”

Fort MacMurray residents and local songwriters have until November 7 to submit their creations, and 3 finalists will be chosen by the United Way of Fort MacMurray to perform. Guests at the event will decide which of the 3 finalists win the top spot. Thomas went on to say that “These (VIPs) are the folks that are so passionate about the United Way. So getting them involved in the selection process just makes a whole lot of sense because they’re the most invested in what this is all about. And that includes the (member) agencies as well, because they’ll be at that event. It’s an opportunity for local songwriters and musicians to find a way of tapping into what the United Way campaign is all about and using their talents to do that. I suspect we’ll have a variety of different genres at the end of the day. I’m sure we’ll have a few rap selections, certainly some more folksy-type performers, and possibly some country as well.”

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Ft Mac

Highway 63 Traffic May Back Up Due to Wide Load Convoy

highway 63, Fort MacMurray
highway 63, Fort MacMurray

Fort MacMurray residents may want to prepare for possible traffic delays and back ups on highway 63 in the coming days, but this will only be a problem for a few days. There will be a convoy with two wide loads that are headed for a site owned by CNRL which is north of Fort MacMurray. The convoy will have to travel at night and move in stages to minimize disruption to local residents and traffic on highway 63, so the entire process will take a few days. The convoy will take up both lanes of the highway, making it impossible for other traffic to share the road at the same time. In addition the entire convoy must pull over on a periodic basis to ensure that any traffic delays or stops are not excessively long.

Although the latest traffic snarl on highway 63 will inconvenience residents the people in the Fort MacMurray area can take a look on the bright side. The convoy will only affect traffic on highway 63 for a total of 3 days, and it will only be using the road at night. This is intended to minimize any inconvenience to travelers, and protect those in the convoy from having to block both lanes during the times when traffic on highway 63 is the heaviest. Fort MacMurray is the last staging area for the convoy before the two wide loads reach their final destination at the site. Most residents will not even realize that traffic on highway 63 is affected.

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Ft Mac

Wood Buffalo RCMP Traffic Stop Leads to Numerous Charges Against Local Individuals

Wood Buffalo RCMP, traffic stop
Wood Buffalo RCMP, traffic stop

A late night traffic stop by Wood Buffalo RCMP on October 6 resulted in numerous charges against local Fort MacMurray residents. A 21 year old local female, Ashley Louise Waldriff, and a 22 year old local male, Jamie Lee Ridderikhoff, were charged with multiple offenses once the traffic stop was conducted by Wood Buffalo law enforcement. Jamie Lee Ridderikhoff was charged with stolen property charges, prostitution charges, and drug trafficking offenses. Waldriff was charged with drug trafficking and with offenses for stolen property. Law enforcement reported that a patrol officer was on duty right after midnight, and the officer observed both individuals who were engaged in suspicious activity in a parked vehicle. This led the Wood Buffalo RCMP to approach the vehicle where it became apparent that the two people inside were engaging in sexual activity in the vehicle.

According to Wood Buffalo RCMP officer Cst. Kandice Perry said that the initial investigation led to the arrests of the individuals in the vehicle. Perry went on to say that “The investigation revealed that they were engaging in sexual activity in the vehicle. During their investigation, arrests were made. Once the search was made on the vehicle they located the cocaine in addition to a large sum of money within the vehicle.” The actual charges against Ridderikhoff included a single count of living off the avails of prostitution, a single count of possession of stolen property, and two charges for trafficking a controlled substance. Waldriff faces one count for each of the following offenses: possession of stolen property, trafficking a controlled substance, and possession for the purposes of trafficking.

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Ft Mac

Fort MacMurray Man to Appear in Court for Pedestrian Collision

Fort MacMurray, pedestrian collision
Fort MacMurray, pedestrian collision

A 32 year old Fort MacMurray man is being summoned to court over a pedestrian collision that occurred in August. Thew court appearance is so that the ticket received by the driver can go to trial. On August 11, 2014, at the crosswalk of Rainbow Creek Drive and Paquette Drive, two women were pushing a stroller that contained a child through the crosswalk. A Ford F150 pickup truck plowed into the intersection and struck the women and child who were in the crosswalk. The driver of the vehicle was charged for Failing to Yield to a Pedestrian in a Crosswalk on 2 different counts, and this is usually just a ticket. The RCMP decided to issue the ticket through an appearance notice, which means that a court date is needed before the ticket can be resolved.

The August 11, 2014 pedestrian collision in Fort MacMurray sent one of the adults and the infant in the stroller to the local Emergency Room, and both were hospitalized until the last part of August. The police have not named the driver of the truck because he has not made a court appearance yet, but the man is due to be in court on November 13, 2014. Failing to Yield to a Pedestrian in a Crosswalk can mean a $575 fine and also a total of four demerit points against the license of the driver. According to RCMP Cpl. George Cameron an appearance ticket was issued because “The members thought that through the investigation, maybe the court should hear what happened, what took place. We need to get this information out there about how dangerous it can be.”

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Economic Ft Mac

Temporary Foreign Workers Earn Less in Wood Buffalo, Leading to Complaints

Wood Buffalo, temporary foreign workers
Wood Buffalo, temporary foreign workers

In Wood Buffalo temporary foreign workers are being paid less than Canadian workers by construction companies, and some of the TFWs are working in the Athabasca oilsands. The Alberta Federation of Labour has received documentation that hundreds of companies in Wood Buffalo and Alberta are being allowed to pay TFWs far below what Canadian workers would receive for the same positions, titles, and work duties. AFL president Gil McGowan released a statement explaining “In June, the federal government introduced changes that will make it harder for low-wage employers to get access to TFWs. What these documents show is that the problem is not solved; it’s just moving up the wage ladder.” Many Canadian workers believe that companies are hiring temporary foreign workers in order to cut costs when there are Canadian workers who are just as qualified but who would require a higher wage.

The temporary foreign workers in Wood Buffalo are often paid quite a bit less than Canadian workers with the same skill sand qualifications. The construction industry is not the only industry with high numbers of temporary foreign workers in Wood Buffalo, fast food businesses and other industries also tend to have larger numbers of TFWs. Some Canadian workers feel that these numbers are unfair, and that companies prefer TFWs over citizens because they can pay lower wages and fewer benefits. The Canadian government is monitoring the situation and changes may be made to current laws and legislation in order to provide a level playing field for Canadian workers.

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Ft Mac

Fatal Crash on Highway 63 Claims Life of 52 Year Old Man

highway 63, fatal crash
highway 63, fatal crash

A fatal crash on highway 63 has claimed the life of a 52 year old man Monday morning. The crash happened north of Fort MacMurray and only involved a single vehicle. Local police were alerted at 4:29 am that a single vehicle crash occurred close to the Borealis Camp. The vehicle was in a ditch and it had rolled over at least once. So far no witnesses have come forward and police believe that no one saw the fatal crash occur. Right now drugs or alcohol are not suspected to be involved, but it is possible that distracted driving caused the vehicle to leave the roadway and enter the ditch. The 52 year old driver was not wearing a seat belt, and he was still in the vehicle when local police arrived on the scene.

RCMP Cst. George Cameron discussed the fatal crash on highway 63 with journalists. According to Cameron “In something like this, it’s hard to determine the exact cause, especially if there is no witnesses. I’m not saying it’s the case in this specific crash, but could have some sort of distracted driving been involved? It’s possible. We talk all the time about, don’t talk on your cellphone, don’t look down and turn your radio on (and) fatigue certainly is something that’s just as dangerous. The other rollover crashes similar to this that I’ve investigated myself in the past appear to have been something along the lines of, if someone was asleep and they’re distracted and they start to leave the roadway… and they overcorrect, they turn back, a lot of the time that seems to be the cause of that.”