A significant announcement came out of Saddle Hills County on March 12th after a partnership between internet service provider Canadian Fibre Optics, the county, and the provincial and federal government has started to bear fruit.

Project Aurora will see around 1,600km of infrastructure built from the Grande Prairie area throughout Saddle Hills and connects 787 homes directly to fiber internet.

Jodi Bloomer-Kaput, Co-founder of Canadian Fibre Optics, and lifelong Peace Country resident says the project is a welcome one as Saddle Hills County has historically been disconnected from the rest of the province.

“Many companies are doing a great job of putting forward temporary fixes on the issues, some are taking bold steps to build fiber and solve the problem for good, but no one was focused on industry,” she says. “In a region with point four people per square kilometre, this is monumental.”

Bloomer adds that the company has already built fibre in every home in numerous communities in the Grande Prairie region such as Grande Cache, Valleyview, Wembley, Beaverlodge, and Sexsmith. She says the addition of Saddle Hills County is another step in connecting rural communities with the rest of the country and the world.

“We have fiber from Edmonton, up to Fort St. John, and now our partnership with Saddle Hills county, the Government of Alberta, the Government of Canada, has allowed us to think even bigger,” she says.

A schedule for the project has yet to be finalized; however, Bloomer says crews are already beginning operations throughout the county.

“This is a large-scale multi-year project where over 1600 kilometres of infrastructure underground will be built.”

County Reeve Alvin Hubert says the project “can’t be overlooked” as rural municipalities like his continue to embrace digital technology.

“As we look towards a future where digital technology is increasing at the forefront of how we communicate and do business, it can’t be overlooked how much a fiber internet connection means for rural communities like Saddle Hills County” he says.

Connection is free for all Saddle Hills residents, and residents who wish to fill out a fiber request can do so online on the Canadian Fiber Optics website.

Stormwater Utility discussions are over for Grande Prairie’s current city council after a lengthy years-long debate.

Over the past four weeks, city council has hosted a series of public engagement sessions regarding what a potential change to the current model could look like.

Currently, stormwater utility billing is collected from residents based on their property taxes, and before the engagement sessions, council came up with four models to address public concerns.

The first was a tiered model with a billing cap that would have seen residents pay based on the number of billing units within a property, the second was a flat fee model that would see residents who own a small home, or a large commercial space pay the same $33.36 per month fee, the third was a billing unit model with no cap that would have low-density residential properties pay a fixed monthly charge of $6.85 per month per dwelling unit and larger properties pay the same with no upper limit on the number of units charged, and the fourth was a bracket model that would have high-density properties pay a base rate assigned to their tier.

In February, council seemed to be confident in one of four potential changes to the current system; however, over a period of four weeks, it was discovered that now might not be the right time to make the switch.

“I think that over time council learned more and wasn’t comfortable with that change,” Mayor Clayton says.

According to Mayor Clayton, Grande Prairie “tends to be in the top six” property tax rates in Alberta, and the change in stormwater billing would have given council a more “apples to apples” comparison between the city and other municipalities.

“Council wanted to see those dollars that it costs to operate stormwater removed from property tax bills,” she says. “If council removed that we wouldn’t be a top ten of highest levels of taxation across the province.”

A change in stormwater utility was included in council’s budget deliberations last fall, and with the decision to remove the change from the discussion, a $4 million hole has to be filled by council’s tax rate and mill rate deadline in April. Currently, it is unclear where that money will be coming from, and council has directed city administration to come up with some ideas to fill the gap.

“There will be more information coming to council prior to then for deciding how to absorb that difference that would have been collected through a stormwater utility, there’s always consideration whether it be taxation, whether it be reserves,”  she says. “We’ll have a better understanding of how that affects ratepayers at the end of March, beginning of April.”

The Mayor is urging residents to recognize that Grande Prairie’s taxes “aren’t just expensive” because of items like snow removal and facilities, but the higher rate is a result of the fact that stormwater utility is collected through property tax.

A new chuckwagon driver will be representing the Peace Country in the upcoming World Professional Chuckwagon Association season.

DJ DeSutter says being able to get into the driver’s seat and turn the barrels at the upcoming Grande Prairie Stompede will be an extremely special experience because he will be fulfilling that dream in front of family and friends at his hometown show.

“My brother [Tyler Desutter] is an outrider, he has been outriding now for a couple of seasons and I am excited to have him there beside me. It has been a dream for both of us.”

The rookie driver says along with his brother, the rest of his family has been extremely supportive of him chasing this dream and has jumped on it with him. DeSutter adds he also thinks he has the “best mentor in the game” in 2023 World Champion Driver Chanse Vigen.

“He is extremely knowledgeable when it comes to the horses and racing on the track, I owe a lot of credit to him for mentoring me and giving me the experience and skills to be successful on the track.”

On the equine side of the sport, DeSutter says he has a few nice outfits that he is looking forward to training with this spring, and getting out on the track with come the end of May.

However, before the first horn blows, DeSutter along with 39 other drivers will be stepping up to have sponsorship on their wagon sold at the WPCA Tarp Auction Gala and Fundraiser on Saturday, March 16th. He is one of eight permit drivers stepping up onto the stage on Saturday, and one of two rookie drivers making their debut in Grande Prairie, the second driver being Brett Nolan from Dewberry, Alberta.

Members of the United Nurses of Alberta’s North District stood outside of the Pomeroy Hotel on March 12th to express their concerns regarding the provincial government’s decision to “not massively overhaul” the structure of AHS.

Provincial Health Minister LaGrange was inside the hotel holding a discussion as part of an ongoing effort by the province to hear feedback on the status of healthcare in Alberta; however, Danielle Larivee, First Vice President for United Nurses of Alberta says some of her members feel like they have not been heard by the province.

“We’ve had members in other locations at those sessions who really didn’t feel heard so if we’re not going to be heard inside, we’re going to be out here outside, saying what we need to say,” she says.

According to Larivee, it is the UNA’s position that municipalities across Alberta, particularly in the north, are suffering due to a shortage of healthcare workers. She says historically, recruiting has been difficult in the north, but shortages seem to be at an all-time high.

“There’s an absolute critical shortage of doctors and nurses on the front line across the province,” she says. “Once in a while we’d have some closures over the summer when we had vacations and things, but now we have closures all the time, we’ve never seen that before.”

Larivee says the problem lies within the province’s choice to restructure Alberta Health’s organizational chart, rather than address the issues health workers and patients continue to face in Alberta.

“We are in a crisis at this point, but instead of putting every bit of energy of health into dealing with that crisis, we’re hearing that they’re more focused on changing the org chart within Alberta Health,” she says. “This is the wrong time to change who’s responsible for who, that actually creates uncertainty, and is also going to lead to delays in decision-making and the kind of action we need on healthcare.”

Larivee says the UNA will continue sharing their perspectives on the matter with Alberta Health Services and Minister LaGrange with hopes that more Albertans recognize “they need to demand that they take action,” as the health service worker shortage continues.

Beaverlodge RCMP charged a Grande Prairie man with alleged impaired driving after conducting traffic enforcement on Highway 43 in the County of Grande Prairie.

According to police, on March 8th, at approximately 11:30 p.m., RCMP attempted to stop a pickup truck; however, police say the driver failed to stop and fled at a “high rate of speed.”

The RCMP says a pursuit was not initiated, but the vehicle was located shortly after stuck in a snow bank. Upon investigation, officers discovered the driver was deemed to be impaired. As a result, 32-year-old Grande Prairie resident Matthew Michael Murphy was charged with impaired driving provincially.

Additionally, the RCMP says Murphy was wanted out of a Beaverlodge for an alleged sexual assault and sexual interference on a minor from July 2023. Investigators add that Murphy was also wanted out of Beaverlodge for flight from police and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle from April 2023.

Murphy was brought before a justice of the peace and released. He is scheduled to appear at the Alberta Court of Justice in Grande Prairie on March 25th.

County of Grande Prairie Fire Chief Trevor Grant travelled to Lloydminster to express his gratitude to Border City crews who helped out Grande Prairie crews during last year’s wildfire season.

Grant, says when the fires started in May last year, “it was taxing for their fire department.” 

“We asked the province for resources and Lloydminster answered the call and came out and did a great job,” he says. 

According to Grant, when the news broke that four homes were lost in the county last year, the Lloydminster crews were “key to ensuring that the fire did not breach the perimeter” they set up, and Lloyd crews managed to protect around 440 homes in the Grande Prairie region. 

Justine Boisson with the Lloydminster Fire Department said the commendations from Grant were unexpected, but the Lloydminster firefighters were glad to lend a hand and know that it was appreciated.

“We went there as support for their crews, and we were able to give them a bit of a break,” said Boisson who had just come in from a structure fire.

Looking ahead, Grant says a damp Spring could make the difference and lessen the fire hazard risk this year. He noted that last year moisture levels were at 75 per cent when they called for help, and for this winter, moisture levels are at 40 per cent. He says crews are hoping for the best even as they make preparations for the upcoming fire season.

Grant has been to St. Paul to express further gratitude on behalf of the community. He is also recognizing the efforts of the Canadian military, the County of Vulcan, the City of Calgary and Strathmore, and other fire teams across the province that he will be visiting. 

With files from Gerry Lampow, MyLloydminsternow.com Staff

The Grande Prairie RCMP is asking for help from the public in locating missing 20-year-old Dana Buckley as the RCMP is worried for her wellbeing and would like to speak with her.

Buckley is described as having a medium complexion, five foot four inches tall, weighing 120 pounds with blond and pink hair and brown eyes.

Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of Dana Buckley is asked to contact the Grande Prairie RCMP at 780-830-5701 or anonymously through Crime Stoppers.

Northwestern Polytechnic celebrated the school’s Fairview campus’ Class of 2023-24 convocation graduates in the Fred Speckeen Theatre on March 9th.

70 graduates were in attendance and the program included a speech from the 2023-24 Fairview Valedictorian Alex Zinman.

Zinman, a graduate of the Animal Health Technology program, completed their two-year diploma with “academic excellence” and says they were proud to represent their fellow classmates.

According to NWP, Alex first attended Sheridan College for illustration and spent time at the Academy of Realist Art in Toronto, where they studied of master-style drawing and painting, but a part-time job at an outdoor educator farm revealed Alex’s love for animal science.

Alex says they now plan to attend the University of Lethbridge to pursue a Bachelor of Agriculture through NWP’s partnership with U of L which recognizes student’s credentials, and transition into a post-diploma degree program.

NWP President Dr. Vanessa Sheane congratulated the Fairview graduates at the event and called the graduates an “extremely dedicated” and talented group.

Nearly one kilogram of methamphetamine was among the items seized by the Grande Prairie RCMP Drug section after a search warrant was executed on a residence in the Patterson area on February 22nd.

According to police, investigators seized 918 grams of methamphetamine, 148 grams of cocaine, 27 grams of fentanyl, 265 oxycontin pills, $14,700 in cash, a handgun with a defaced serial number, two sawed-off rifles, and drug trafficking paraphernalia during the warrant’s execution.

As a result of the investigation, 43-year-old Grande Prairie resident James Burwash was charged with three counts of alleged possession for the purpose of trafficking, possession of Canadian Currency over $5000 as proceeds of crime, three counts of possession of a prohibited firearm, three counts of possession of a prohibited firearm while knowing its possession is prohibited, two counts of defacing a firearm serial number, three counts of possession of a prohibited firearm with ammunition, possession of a prohibited firearm obtained in the commission of an offence, careless use of a firearm, and two counts of failure to comply with orders.

Burwash was brought before a justice of the peace and remains in custody. He is scheduled to appear at the Alberta Court of Justice in Grande Prairie on March 11th.

One person has died following a collision between a quad and a pickup truck on Highway 43 near the Williamson Park entrance.

The Valleyview RCMP says the collision took place shortly after 7 p.m., when it’s believed the quad was crossing the Highway 43 when it made contact with the pick up. When police arrived on scene, the driver of the quad was declared deceased, while the four occupants of the truck were uninjured.

The deceased is a 26-year-old Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation resident, and the Alberta RCMP wishes to extend their condolences to the loved ones of the deceased.

Grande Prairie’s 2024 Women of Influence Awards recognized countless women in business, volunteering, and trades with three awards and more than a dozen nominations at the Bowes in Bonnetts Energy Centre on March 8th.

Among those nominated, the Young Woman of Influence Award went to Daisy Nellis, the Trailblazing Woman of Influence Award went to Samantha Jones, and the Distinguished Woman of Influence Award went to Cecilia Mzvondiwa.

Daisy Nellis, a 16-year-old Grande Prairie Composite High School student and Youth Advisory Council Chair says the award opens up more opportunities for her to pave the way for other young women in her community.

“I’m really excited to have won the award and I also think that being the youngest woman will open a lot of doors for people coming up behind me and make things a little bit more easy to access for people,” she says. “I hope that winning the award gives more attention to the advisory council I think that’s a really worthy cause to have more youth join and have more youth voices show up to events.”

Nellis says her message to other young women in her position is to continue working hard and making connections in their communities.

“I also just want to use this to encourage people to get out in their communities to help others and help themselves.”

Samantha Jones, an electrical engineer for Drax Global and Vice Chair of the Peace Region APEGA branch says she has been through the trials and tribulations that come with being a female in a predominantly male work environment and plans to continue her advocacy for women in STEM through her volunteering in schools and workplaces.

“I’ve been saying a lot lately that all I feel like I do is little things and I feel like its a culmination of everything that I’ve been doing over the last ten years of my career and my charities and my volunteering that I guess it is making a big impact and it is making a difference despite me not feeling that I deserve to be recognized for it,” she says. “It’s crazy that there’s really only a few of us and it’s really got me passionate about breaking that gender barrier and getting more women involved in science and engineering and male-dominated careers because it’s really rewarding.”

Jones’s message to other females in traditionally male workforces is to continue pushing forward and keep in mind that women can do anything.

“Just keep going if you ever feel like you’re outnumbered or overwhelmed you can do anything that anybody else can do,” she says.

Cecilia Mzvondiwa is a Human Resources representative for Alberta Health Services and a part-time lawyer in her private practice born and raised in Zimbabwe and says the award is both “humbling and exciting.”

“There’s so many awesome women around Grande Prairie and the region,” she says. “I would say Grande Prairie and region grew me, I’ve been here for 17 years, I came here as a young woman going to school for my masters, and I’ve grown, I’ve gone to school, I’ve graduated, I’ve started businesses, so I would like to continue to support other women and pass on the light and shine the light on others by providing mentorship programs for young entrepreneurs.”

Mzvondiwa says she plans to continue advocating for women of colour immigrating to Canada through her law practice.

“I think the message I have is for Black immigrant women because it’s a struggle to come from another country and to start life all over again, and see yourself getting to where you want to be,” she says. “I think integration within the community is what helped me, so participating, volunteering, helping others, all those things do help in growing one and making one part of the community.”

All three women brought home a trophy, certificate, and a bouquet in recognition of their status as women of influence in Grande Prairie, and all nominees were recognized by name with a certificate at the ceremony as well.

The Grande Prairie Police Service is continuing its efforts to localize its programming with plans to receive authorization from the province to conduct physical testing in the city.

The GPPS held a demonstration of what applicants can expect on the physical test, and GPPS Superintendent Greg Redl says the agency is now one step closer to becoming a standalone police service.

“It’s another step particularly in becoming our own standalone police service, being able to handle our entire recruiting process from start to finish locally, which is one of the goals of having the Grande Prairie police service,” he says. “Having a lot more local content, local involvement, local control.”

Currently, The Alberta Physical Readiness Evaluation for Police Officers is only offered in a few locations throughout the province in cities like Calgary and Edmonton, which means if approved, an A-PREP offering in the city would make Grande Prairie the northernmost location for potential officers to take the test.

“There are only so many places in the province that are authorized to offer this physical evaluation that’s mandatory, provincial standard for all the municipal police agencies,” Redl says. “Just a few more steps from now and we’ll be offering this here.”

Redl adds that alongside the cognitive APCAT testing and additional screening procedures, physical testing is “very important” for new applicants, and encourages healthy habits for officers throughout their career.

“Generally we recognize that our police recruits, as they go through their class are probably in the best shape that they’re going to be of their entire lives at that point,” he says. “We want to make sure we have a really good foundation there to try and encourage healthy habits, we use the term fit for duty, fit for life.”

Additionally, Redl says experienced police officers arriving in the spring will also be subject to running the physical test and the program will be offered annually to encourage a high level of fitness among GPPS officers; however, the program is only mandatory at the beginning of an applicant’s career.

Members of the United Nurses of Alberta’s North District will be gathering in front of the Pomeroy Hotel on March 12th to express their concerns regarding the current state of the provincial healthcare system.

13 members from the UNA’s North District from Grande Cache to High Level, and High Prairie to the B.C. border will be in attendance, and the UNA says the location of the rally is purposeful as the venue is the same as the province’s public engagement sessions.

According to the UNA, the provincial government’s decision to “not massively overhaul” the structure of AHS will discourage single new family physicians from opening a practice, discourage nurse, physiotherapist, and allied health worker recruitment, and lead to longer wait times for Albertans.

Representatives from the UNA say they are predicting “months of organizational chaos and inertia” as leaders from all levels of the system, figure out their roles and who they are accountable to.

Additionally, the UNA says healthcare workers will be subject to “decisional paralysis” and will not be able to make positive changes within the system.

The public awareness rally and information picketing will take place on Tuesday, March 12th, from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.

In an effort to open up communications between community leaders and the municipality, the City of Grande Prairie is hosting an event featuring a number of panelists from around the city to discuss the current state of the city.

“State of the City: Grander Conversations” will feature numerous city representatives such as City of Grande Prairie CAO Shane Bourke, NWP President Dr. Vannessa Sheane, Chamber of Commerce CEO Tanya Oliver, and Grande Prairie Police Service Superintendent John Respet.

The City says the event will be conversational in nature, and presents attendees with the opportunity to learn more about emerging trends and outlooks in the community, all moderated by Mayor Jackie Clayton.

Clayton says she is excited to host the event as it gives a fresh perspective for community members to find out what is happening in the city directly from people “on the front lines.”

“Grande Prairie is a diverse city, an economic leader, and the hub of our region, and the State of the City: Grander Conversations event is our opportunity to share the community stories behind this success, and look forward together on what our future can bring,” she says.

Additionally, the city says the 2023 Annual Report will also be launched at the event.

The event is scheduled for March 26th from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Theresa Sargent Hall in Montrose Cultural Centre and tickets are available for $40 online through  Bonnetts Energy Centre.

Recruiting for the Grande Prairie Police Service continued throughout the first quarter of the new year and with deadlines fast approaching, close to 140 applicants have been sent to the GPPS.

Greg Redl, a Superintendent for the GPPS says work is currently underway to vet candidates and such a large pool to choose from gives the police service the chance to pick the best candidates possible.

“It’s a very good sign,” he says. “I’d say we’re very well positioned to get enough quality applicants for our first recruit class, I couldn’t be happier with the reaction we’ve had from the local community.”

In addition to new recruits, GPPS representatives have said the agency is seeing an uptick in interest from experienced officers from around the country. Redl says the first officers in GPPS uniforms, members of the public will interact with will be these experienced officers and May 27th will mark the beginning of the first experienced officer training program.

“It was a little bit slow to start with what’s going on nationally with respect to some cities moving to municipal police agencies, I think there was some hesitation, some concern that maybe this wouldn’t proceed but as people have seen, the dedication and the hard work we’ve put into this, and the very positive direction we’re going with recruiting, that’s been ticking up and I’m really happy about that,” he says.

Redl adds that experienced officers will go through a five-week training program at local venues in Grande Prairie to ensure they are physically and mentally prepared to hit the streets this Fall.

“Because they are already trained through a police academy somewhere else in Canada, the course is not as long,” he says.

As the recruiting process for experienced officers comes to a close in April, Redl says further advancements are being made, and residents can expect to see a GPPS vehicle on the streets “within the coming weeks.”

“I’m really excited to see that, it’s really a physical representation that we exist, that we’re here, that we’re starting this large journey to start protecting and policing the people of Grande Prairie,” he says. “I would say within the coming weeks you’ll see a Grande Prairie Police Service vehicle in town so make sure to wave.”

The first batch of recruitment comes to a close on March 15th, and interested applicants can apply on the GPPS website.

The Grande Prairie Public School Division and the YMCA of Northern Alberta have announced the launch of a new support program for grade five and six students across three schools.

Officials say the program will give students extra support when transitioning from elementary to junior high and was made possible by a $50K donation from TD Bank Group.

GPPSD Superintendent Sandy McDonald says the program is welcome as the school division continues to push its students to success as they further their educational journeys.

“Together, we’re preparing students for their next academic phase while equipping them with confidence and skills they can take outside of a school setting,” she says. 

According to the GPPSD, the funding will aid students develop skills and tools for the move into junior high through one-on-one support, workshops, and recreational, artistic activities.

The program will be implemented at Hillside Community School, Maude Clifford Public School, and Crystal Park School.

Healthcare worker retention continues to be front of mind for numerous Grande Prairie officials and AHS has invited residents to learn about strategies in place through a public meeting of the Peace Health Advisory Council.

According to AHS, the online event is scheduled for March 20th from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and participants will hear from a variety of AHS staff and community organizations regarding work being done to retain healthcare providers in the region.

Recently, the Alberta Medical Association began pushing the provincial government to invest in the medical industry, especially in northwestern Alberta, and Northwestern Polytechnic has been increasing training opportunities for students interested in entering the medical field.

According to the AMA, more than 50 practitioners operate in Grande Prairie across 24 practices.

AHS says the Health Advisory Council has played an instrumental role in supporting the direction of AHS through public engagement and public participation is “essential” to continue improving the quality of service provided by AHS.

The meeting will be held over Zoom and interested residents are encouraged to e-mail [email protected], to receive the link for the meeting.

Chief Financial Officer for the City of Grande Prairie, Danielle Whiteway provided an update to Grande Prairie City Council’s Financial and Administrative Services Committee regarding the recently implemented Enterprise Resource Planning system for city administration.

According to the city, the ERP is a cloud-based system that streamlines communication between city departments and has been an item of discussion since 2021.

Whiteway says implementation of the system has increased transparency and accountability of business processes in Grande Prairie and enhances city employee experience by centralizing all data entry into one system.

“We’re a multi-million dollar organization, we’re accountable to the public, to other levels of government, and really to our own organization in terms of data availability, and just sharing of information,” she says. “This system has allowed us to sort of turn multiple systems into one, which allows for a flow of data and information between departments and users.”

As the city continues to adopt newer technology such as Artificial Intelligence and centralized systems like the ERP, questions surrounding cybersecurity were brought forward by numerous councillors and Whiteway says cybersecurity training for staff is currently underway.

“The city, predominantly in the ITS department is always looking for new ways, and AI is something that’s becoming more and more utilized,” she says. “We know that it’s coming, we’re using it as we can, but also adapting our cybersecurity measures accordingly too.”

Whiteway adds that the average Grande Prairie resident will have a more positive experience when dealing with city representatives as the ERP takes a significant amount of workload off city employees.

“Sometimes the things that happen behind the scenes to support our more public-facing services are not maybe as obvious to everybody, citizens alike,” she says. “The everyday resident may not see direct benefit, but indirectly I think it makes for smoother-run operations, it takes some workload off folks that are providing more frontline services for citizens, so their attention can be more where it needs to be.”

City Council’s Financial and Administrative Services Committee received Whiteway’s report for information on March 5th.

Alberta Health Services has announced a series of early childhood information support sessions for parents in Grande Prairie.

According to AHS, the service gives families with pre-walking age children the chance to meet with a public health nurse, and other parents, weigh and measure their child, and ask questions regarding early childhood.

AHS says a variety of topics will be discussed during each session including physical, cognitive, and social development.

The program will be held on the first and third Thursday of every month in the Linda Smith Story Room at the GP Public Library. Each session is scheduled for 90 minutes, with 30 minutes of structured programming and 60 minutes for questions.

Additionally, residents looking for pregnancy, birth, or other early childhood support can contact the Grande Prairie Public Health Centre at (780)-513-7500.