Subscribe to Local News
► Listen Live
Home Blog Page 1065

AUMA President Helen Rice on Allison Redford's resignation

Jenny Oatway
-
0

Alberta Urban Municipalities Association President President Helen Rice says she was surprised to hear about Premier Allison Redford’s Resignation on Wednesday evening. Rice is also commending Redford, who officially steps down on Sunday, for all the work she did during her two years as Premier.

“I think now what’s really important is that the government continues working on the issues that we have raised. I don’t want to lose six months in a leadership race. That would be very frustrating.”

Rice says the AUMA maintained a great relationship with Redford during her term.

“We had breakfast just last week and talked, and she seemed to understand our position. She was the one that made the comment that the AUMA and the municipalities are partners, not stakeholders. That was a huge victory for us.”

Rice says Redford was a big supporter of the AUMA and Municipalities working as partners, not just stakeholders.

The AAMDC spring convention wrapped up earlier this week

Jenny Oatway
-
0

County of Grande Prairie Councillors have returned home after spending the first half of the week in Edmonton for the Spring Convention of the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties.

Reeve Leanne Beaupre says they had an opportunity to press the province for more funding for FCSS departments across the province.

“As we’re delivering services we see that we’re actually delivering those services to more people, so we’re being asked to do more with less money, and of course the answer was well at this time unfortunately it’s not in the budget, so we asked them to reconsider.”

Councillors also heard a few new infrastructue announcements at the conference.

Beaupre says one was an increase in funding for municipalities that provide medical co-response to highway emergencies.

“There will be an increase from $400 an hour to $600 an hour, which is really reflective of the cost to provide that service.”

Beaupre says she was also taken aback by Premier Redford’s resignation, after hearing her speak at the convention on Wednesday afternoon.

JDA Kings rally to stay in playoffs

Erica Fisher
-
0

It took two overtime periods to get there, but the County of Grande Prairie JDA Kings are still in the NWJHL finals.

They went into Thursday night’s bout with the North Peace Navigators down three games to none, but the back-and-forth match ended four-three in their favour.

The Navs will try and win it all at home Saturday.

MLA Wayne Drysdale's statement regarding Allison Redford's resignation

Jenny Oatway
-
0

Transportation Minister and Grande Prairie-Wapiti MLA Wayne Drysdale declined a phone interview with Free FM earlier today, but did offer up this statement.

“First, I’d like to thank Premier Redford for her service to Albertans and her vision for a better province. I was very proud to serve under her leadership. Despite yesterday’s developments, this government was elected to do a job – govern this great province – and we need to stay focused on that work. I’m looking forward to continuing my work, both as MLA for Grande Prairie-Wapiti and as Minister of Transportation. Albertans deserve nothing less than our full attention and commitment.”

Harper gov't announces $24,800 for Elder's Caring Shelter in GP

Jeff Henson
-
0

The Federal Government has promised 24,800 in funding to the Metis Local 1990 Elder’s Caring Shelter in Grande Prairie.

The grant is part of the New Horizons for Seniors program.

Peace River MP Chris Warkentin says for a rather small dollar figure, this funding has the potential to make large impact.

“This initiative will get senior citizens out doing a number of different physical activity programs that will include bowling, some that will include square dancing, and really an opportunity for senior citizens to get engaged in their community, as well as have some fun and get some exercise to boot.”

Warkentin says this funding announcement is the first of many through the New Horizon program on the way for the Peace region.

Union members braved the cold this afternoon to rally against pension cuts

Jenny Oatway
-
0

It was a chilly afternoon for rallying, but that didn’t stop around 30 members of various provincial unions from gathering outside the QEII Hospital to express their frustration over pension cuts.

The demonstrators saw quite a bit of reaction from passing drivers.

Laurie Quinton with Alberta Union of Provincial Employees says their plight is one that many people can relate to.

“This affects many people that are not out here, it affects also retirees, it affects our children, everything. I think there are other people that do get pensions that can relate to this, and they wouldn’t want to see that happen to their pension either.”

Quinton says she hopes union members don’t see Premier Redford’s resignation as a sign that the fight is any closer to being over.

“We do still need to continue to fight because it is the conservative government that is bringing this down and we need to make sure that they know we’re not happy with it.”

Lunchtime rallies were held in nearly a dozen cities across the province this afternoon, including Edmonton, Peace River, Hinton, and Fort McMurray.

Ritchie Bros. holding large agricultural auction in Grande Prairie

Erica Fisher
-
0

Ritchie Bros has announced it will be holding dozens of agricultural actions over the next month and a half, including one in Grande Prairie.

The local auction is one of four featuring equipment from multiple sellers, and will take place on April 9th and 10th.

More than 1,600 pieces of agricultural and industrial equipment will be up for bid, along with commercial, residential agricultural, and industrial real estate.

Bidders can take part in person at 721076 Range Road 51, as well as online in real-time at www.rbauction.com.

A brochure of items can be viewed online.

Spring weather still a way off for Grande Prairie

Jenny Oatway
-
0

March 2014 has seen some wildly variable temperatures so far, with a bitter cold snap ushering in the month, followed by unseasonable warm temperatures for the last few weeks.

Environment Canada Meteorologist Dan Kulak says even though today is the first day of spring, we likely haven’t seen that last of that wintry weather just yet.

“I think if we’ve lived here a while we’ve realized that springs can be variable and cold, followed by warm, followed by more cold and really, heavy snows in the spring can be a sign of spring coming, but we have to be prepared for that weather that just doesn’t seem to want to get rid of winter.”

Kulak says it’s hard to say how long until spring will really start this year, as they haven’t found any strong weather indicators yet as to what we can expect.

Teepee Creek students start own small businesses

Erica Fisher
-
0

The Teepee Creek business community is seeing a surge in startups today.

Since September, grade seven and eight students have been developing their own small businesses with a hypothetical $1,000,000 budget.

Jenna Yasinowski challenged them to look at their own skills and the needs of the local market to come up with a viable business.

“I hope that they get the spirit of what makes them unique out of this, and all the hard work that’s put in to planning out a business.”

The students will be going around the community today with business cards and flyers as well as taking orders for everything from babysitting services to farm fresh eggs and baking.

MLA McDonald confident in government's future without Redford

Erica Fisher
-
0

Although her decision shocked several members of her caucus, MLA Everett McDonald says Premier Alison Redford’s party supports her and will rally to find a new PC leader.

The Grande Prairie – Wapiti representative believes recent events like her expensive trip to Africa lost some of the province’s trust.

“Certainly the trip to Africa was one of the highlights that we heard, and I think Alison has struggled with communicating her message back to the public in a way that was easy to understand.”

The caucus has already selected Deputy Premier Dave Hancock as Redford’s interim replacement, and a leadership vote will later be held.

McDonald says he doesn’t believe Redford’s resignation will change the government’s path moving forward.

“I think this is just an exciting turn of events, really. This will give Albertans a chance to make sure that we have a leader that they have chosen and that our government can move forward.”

McDonald maintains the government’s focus will stay on the budget during the leadership search.

Dave Hancock to replace Redford as interim premier

Erica Fisher
-
0

Dave Hancock has been chosen to replace Alison Redford as interim party leader and premier.

Redford announced her resignation Wednesday, and will officially step down at the end of the weekend

Hancock is currently the deputy premier, and is the longest-serving minister in cabinet.

He serves at the MLA for Edmonton-Whitemud and Minister of Innovation and Advanced Education.

JDA Kings facing possible elimination tonight

Erica Fisher
-
0

The County of Grande Prairie JDA Kings are facing elimination from the North West Junior Hockey Leagues finals tonight in game four of their series with the North Peace Navigators.

The Navs have won all three games so far and could sweep the best-of-seven series.

If they do, they’ll go into the Alberta Junior B Championships in April as the number one team from the NWJHL.

As the Kings are hosting the provincials, they automatically have a spot.

Game four goes tonight at 8:30 p.m. at the County Sportsplex in Clairmont.

Rallies to protest union pension cuts today in Peace region

Jeff Henson
-
0

A pair of rallies will be held in the city today to protest cuts being proposed to union pensions.

The provincial building and the QE2 Hospital will host the rallies, which will include members of CUPE, the Alberta Union of Provincial Employess, Health Sciences Association of Alberta, and United Nurses of Alberta.

CUPE Alberta President Marle Roberts says they are particularly frustrated that the Redford government does not want to hold meaningful consultations with them regarding the changes.

“And I say meaningful consultation, and then when we do put input in, they go back to the same stand that they had before we even put proposals in to them in regards to the pension plan, and that is: no, it’s not sustainable.”

Caps on pension contributions and cost of living allowance adjustments are some of the areas that concern unions.

Roberts says when you factor in retirees, the changes will impact around 300 thousand union members across Alberta.

There will also be a rally in front of MLA Frank Oberle’s constituency office in Peace River.

Team Pomeroy wins Ladies Commercial Basketball championships

Erica Fisher
-
0

The local Ladies Commercial Basketball League finals wrapped up Wednesday night.

Team Pomeroy has won the championship, defeating Top Realty by a score of 63-46.

The Crown and Anchor Girls beat Prospector Energy 45-31 to take first in the B division.

Response to Premier Redford's resignation

Erica Fisher
-
0

Local MLAs took to Twitter yesterday to give their initial reaction to Premier Alison Redford stepping down.

The Progressive Conservative leader announced her resignation Thursday, after struggling with recent criticism over her leadership skills and expense claims.

Grande Prairie – Wapiti MLA Wayne Drysdale thanked her for her “service, leadership and vision for a better Alberta”, while Frank Oberle of Peace River said the province is better off for her work to build it.

Redford also took to Twitter after her announcement, to thank Alberta for giving her “the opportunity of a lifetime.”

Elsewhere, Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith argues the move shows the Conservative party’s problems can’t be fixed.

AUPE President Guy Smith says he believes she made the right decision, and hopes the relationship between his union and the government can be fixed.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper thanked her for her years of service, while Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird called her a “smart and classy woman”.

County looking for applicants for seniors and special needs transportation grant

Jenny Oatway
-
0

The county of Grande Prairie has $88,000 in seniors and special needs transportation grants set aside for this year, and they are looking for applicants.

FCSS Director Kathleen Turner says generally the grant money is used to cover the cost of running a bus of some sort.

“So whether it has wheelchair access or not, we have both of those kinds of busses out there, so that’s the most common, but other clubs use it to pay expenses for drivers who will do car-pooling.”

Turner says the grant aims to recognize the value of those people and organizations within the county.

“It just shows the level of support that we have, again, for our not-for-profits, to keep them viable, recognizing that they’re expenses grow and grow every year. So we just want to be sure that they are able to provide a service that provides a quality of life for our residents.

The grant is available either online at the county’s website, or through their main office.

Community builder initiative founder pays visit to Grande Prairie

Jeff Henson
-
0

The founder of the Becoming a Community Builder program is very impressed with how our city has reacted to being picked to take part in the initiative.

Over 180 people have signed up so far to take part in the 15 week, online personal and professional development program.

Ian Hill is in Grande Prairie to promote the program.

He is confident that those registration numbers will increase significantly between now and the program’s launch next Friday.

“This is about making people aware of the program and encouraging them to participate.  The program is free, and when you stop and think about it, the people closest to the problem really are the most likely ones to solve it.  And if we can make an all-out commitment to equiping them, then we believe that great things will happen.”

Grande Prairie is one of six Alberta communities selected to take part in the free program.

City searching for ways to continues providing tax rebate to seniors

Jenny Oatway
-
0

City administration may be looking into a new way to provide a $100 rebate to seniors in the city.

The rebate was originally attached to the province’s Alberta Seniors Benefit income subsidy, which no longer exists.

Assessment and Tax Manager for the City, Don Swant says the difficulty now is figuring out which seniors in the city are eligible for the rebate without the help of the province.

“Some of the difficulties that we would have are determining their incomes, and what the baseline will be, as the province has that information and we don’t. So for us now to determine who it is and who it’s not, we’ll have to set some guidelines.”

Administration initially recommended scrapping the rebate altogether.

However, the corporate services committee expressed that they would prefer to find a way to continue handing out the rebate, rather than doing away with the program out of inconvenience.

The province is now offering a tax deferral program instead.

Swant says there are about 430 seniors in the city who had been receiving the 100 dollar rebate.

City looking to create school bus safety awareness campaign

Erica Fisher
-
0

A public education campaign on safety around school buses is in the works, thanks to a parent who spoke up at a city committee meeting.

Beatriz Fernandez says that in some other cities in the country, when a school bus is dropping a child off, there are signals that require vehicles behind it to stop.

But here in Grande Prairie, that’s not the case.

“It’s only the amber ones that mean that traffic can slow down, but they don’t have to stop, and more and more parents started to be concerned.”

Fernandez says she is satisfied with the City’s idea of working with partners to create education on school bus safety for children and drivers.

New traffic signage coming to parts of 92 Street and 100 Avenue

Erica Fisher
-
0

Pending final approval by City Hall, new signs with lane control information will be installed in three areas that may currently be confusing for drivers.

Senior Traffic Analyst Norman Kyle says city council was approached by concerned citizens last fall.

“It was a concern from some of the residents that lived on the street there that the general public did not understand that they were allowed to park their vehicles overnight or during the day when it wasn’t those peak times.”

The signs will be put up on 92nd Street westbound at 100th Ave and south bound as 104th Ave, as well as on 100th Ave at 96th Street.

Photo: The lane control signs will likely look like this, with the addition of the words “one lane only”.

1...1,0641,0651,066...1,076Page 1,065 of 1,076
Available on

Navigation

Location

#105-11002 104 Avenue
Grande Prairie, AB
T8V 7W5

Phone numbers

Studio Phone: 780-357-1047
Newsroom Phone: 780-357-6397

- Advertisement -

© 2025