The County of Grande Prairie has approved its new 2022-2023 government advocacy priorities. Reeve Leanne Beaupre says the priority areas include economic development, transportation, and health.
“Council has outlined three areas that we feel are crucial for maintaining and enhancing quality of life in our community, Each priority carefully considers the urgent needs of our community while maximizing the opportunities available to us.”
For economic development, the County’s focus will be on supporting job creation, workforce development and talent attraction, economic diversification, and infrastructure development. For transportation, the priority is to promote the County’s transportation infrastructure needs to support a resilient supply chain and safety for the public.
“One of the ones that probably we hear the most about, especially around election time when candidates or the incumbents are out knocking on doors is about conditions of roads and investments in roads,” says Beaupre.
Finally, the County will seek improvements to healthcare services to better meet local needs. Beaupre notes that while health may be a provincial responsibility, the County can help with recruiting and retention.
“Embracing the healthcare practitioners, whether they’re doctors or nurses or lab technicians or anything along that line in the community. So, working together with our local hospital foundations, our municipal partners, and the province of Alberta.
Specific projects that are a priority for the County include a provincial model for electricity that eliminates pricing disparity across Alberta, the Highway 40X Connector, transportation infrastructure needs related to rail and air service, and support from the province in attracting and retaining healthcare professionals.