Councillors with the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo (RMWB) took steps to address the growing frustration expressed by rural and indigenous groups around Fort McMurray Tuesday night following an impassioned address at the council meeting by a spokesperson for the Rural Stakeholders Group.
Speaking for a number of rural and indigenous groups, Ron Quintal addressed councillors and called for them to take immediate steps to get the deferred Conklin Multiplex project back on track after the capital project had been deferred once again after the flood.
“We have been brought together by the fact that Conklin is a community in crisis and their needs are being ignored,” Quintal said. “The problems they face have been amplified by the fire and the deferment of the multiplex has damaged the relationship that our communities have with the regional municipality.”
“It is absolutely frustrating that I have to sit here again and try to rally the troops to get everybody to vote in favour of this facility. Even though it is constantly pulled off the books, criticized in the media and quite frankly, creates nothing but distrust between the rural communities and this council.”
Following his address, RMWB Councillor Jane Stroud put forward a motion to remove the Conklin Multiplex from council’s deferred capital project list in order for the project to be resumed which council approved.
Councillor Colleen Tatum spoke out in favour of the Conklin Mutliplex and suggested the grievances rural communities have with the RMWB are similar to the ones Fort McMurray has had with the provincial government in the past.
“To me, Conklin represents a wrong to the rural community similar to a fight for Highway 63,” Tatum said. “We accuse the province of taking so much money from Fort McMurray in royalties and taxes and getting little to none back. So our Highway 63 became symbolic for that fight. We couldn’t understand why we couldn’t have something that was so vitally important to our community.”
Quintal also bemoaned the fact he said rural indigenous groups are insufficiently represented on council and also said that although rural areas being responsible for the lion’s share of tax revenue for council, the urban centre of Fort McMurray is given a disproportionate amount of funding and investment. Quintal called for a re-examination of the 1995 amalgamation agreement that created the RMWB.
“This was a legally-binding agreement that would be governed by a council of seven urban seats and three rural seats, where all communities would work together for joint prosperity in the region- or so we thought,” he said. “We would give up our tax base and we would get services such as pipe, water and sewer, policing and good governance. Since 1995, the rural communities have contributed billions in tax revenues for the RMWB.”
“But here we are, over 20 years later, and still asking for a number of these services.”
Following Quintal’s speech, Councillor Colleen Tatum put forward a motion for council’s Rural Committee and Sustainable Development Committee to meet with the Rural Stakeholders Group on Thursday or at a later time to be agreed to by Quintal’s group in order to listen to the group’s broader concerns. Council also approved Tatum’s motion.
“I support realigning our commitment to the rural communities and looking at the fact that the homeowners in Fort McMurray enjoy the lowest tax rate possible on the backs of our rural communities,” Tatum said.
“At the end of the day, the rural communities are impacted by oilsands development and if the oilsands development are what’s paying the taxes – the 95 per cent of the taxes to the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo – why shouldn’t the rural communities be able to prosper from that?” Quintal said in an interview with Global News Monday evening.
Watch below: Rural communities in Wood Buffalo say Fort McMurray is disproportionately reaping the benefits of oilsands tax revenues and that they want more investment in their communities. Nancy Carlson has the details.
According to the Albert government, the Conklin Multiplex’s construction is estimated to cost $46.8 million and RMWB documents show the facility is being planned to include an ice rink, a kitchen, administrative offices and a gym. It will also serve as a community centre with a maintenance garage, nurse’s office, a daycare and outdoor sports fields.
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