The City of Grande Prairie has announced a one-year naming rights agreement renewal for the Weyerhaeuser North Arena at Design Works Centre.

Grande Prairie Mayor Jackie Clayton says the city is “looking forward” to building on the relationship between the two parties, and the renewal marks the continuation of their long-standing partnership.

“The Weyerhaeuser North Arena has been a valuable community gathering place for participants, spectators, and enthusiasts of ice activities since its initial naming in 2003,” she says. “This is a legacy that we’re excited to continue throughout 2024.”

Additionally, the city says the renewal is a crucial step in council’s commitment to building relationships with local organizations that contribute to Grande Prairie’s quality of life.

A series of events are scheduled throughout the year at the Weyerhaeuser North Arena, and a full weekly schedule is available on the city’s website.

The Alberta Winter Games are less than one month away, and numerous recreation organizations are gearing up for the more than 2,400 coaches and athletes who will be using their facilities.

Nitehawk, Eastlink Centre, Design Works Centre, Bonnetts Energy Centre, the Grande Prairie Curling Club, Northwestern Polytechnic, and the Crosslink County Sportsplex are among the most prominent facilities that will be utilized during the games, and Lisa Kerkhof, Games Manager for AWG, says many of the city’s recreation options will be closed to the public during the games.

“Every recreation centre in the city is for sure being used,” she says. “There will be limited hours for Eastlink Centre for sure, everything else won’t have availability.”

The games fall on a long weekend, which Kerkhof says would lead to closures for many facilities regardless of the games.

“The Saturday and Sunday will be limited hours at Eastlink and then everything else will be closed to the public for the most part.”

Despite the closures, Kerkhof says she is encouraging residents to still get out in the city during the games to watch the 17-sport event. She says the games present a great opportunity for residents to get out and watch young athletes excel in their respective disciplines.

“It’s a great opportunity for the community to see not only some great athletes but some really fun sporting adventures,” she says. “You can head to Eastlink Centre on Saturday and take in things like speed skating, ringette, judo, gymnastics, fencing, there’s a whole bunch happening at that campus.”

Kerkhof adds that the volunteer process is going “very well” and the games have seen great support from the community. Interested individuals can still sign up online until February 7th.

After celebrating Mack the Tortoise’s first anniversary at Wembley’s Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum, museum officials took the opportunity to speak on the benefits of having a living specimen at a natural history museum.

Ashley Kerr, Communications Coordinator for Philip J. Currie, says there are two living specimens at the museum- Mack the tortoise, and Peanut the corn snake. She says having the two reptiles not only serves as a significant draw for visitors but also as an important educational tool for kids.

“A museum is a great place to go especially our museum, dinosaurs are really cool and we have a lot of amazing displays in our gallery, but of course, these are stagnant displays,” she says. “You have to read and learn about them, and they’re fascinating, but as a kid, you might be looking for something really engaging, so it’s awesome to have these wild, real, alive specimens.”

Kerr says the two scaly friends manage to teach museum goers important lessons about the animals that walk on earth today and serve as a reminder of the planet’s history, as real-life examples of what some creatures became after the extinction of dinosaurs.

“They teach you a lot about the wildlife you might see in your everyday life, you’re not going to come across a dinosaur, but you could come across a turtle, or a snake,” she says. “The more you know about these animals, the more you respect them, so I think it’s a really good draw and educational piece that is even more engaging than the stuff we already have in our gallery, definitely for kids.”

According to Kerr, Mack and Peanut are quite social creatures who enjoy meeting new people and are available to visit during museum hours from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Thursday to Sunday.

2Day FM’s third annual Sock Drive came to a close in a big way on February 2nd, with over 2,700 pairs of socks donated directly to Wapiti House in Grande Prairie.

Sheri Schlyter, Hybrid Outreach Team Lead at Wapiti House says the donation means warmth for their clients, and with Grande Prairie’s notoriously frigid winters, warming products are always a welcome donation at the house.

“It means warmth for our clients, obviously with these cold winters we get here we have a lot of individuals that come with frostbite and close to frostbite,” she says. “It’s something we never have enough of because sometimes we have 130 to 200 people accessing the shelter.”

Schlyter says the organization is grateful, as socks are a “hot commodity” for the house, with a variety of uses even off your feet.

“Oftentimes when we are out of mittens we use them as mittens, sometimes you need four pairs of socks because you don’t have the right footwear, you can use them to wrap a cut, they are used for a lot around here,”  she says. “You can put them pretty much anywhere on your body, they’re very resourceful.”

Donations are always accepted at Wapiti House, and officials say socks, toiletries, towels, bedsheets, and hygiene products are among the most needed items.

Alberta Ballet is returning to Grande Prairie for the second year in a row with a free outreach program for aspiring dancers to give ballet a shot in a fun, non-threatening setting.

After a successful pilot program last year, Alberta Ballet has officially launched a free six-week program for Grande Prairie youth to learn ballet technique, music, and movement in a relaxed environment.

Janis Galloway, Community Impact Officer for Alberta Ballet says the program aims to build confidence in young people and give them a chance to try something new.

“The focus is about building confidence, nurturing their self-expression, maybe they make a few new friends, and of course strengthening their physical health and literacy,” she says.

The program requires no previous dance experience, and Galloway says this is purposeful, as youth who might feel nervous to try a new activity can join in, and experience the “joy of dance,” without the feeling of competitiveness common in most dance programs.

“When kids enter those tween and early teenage years, the opportunity to try a new activity and enter a new recreational stream is really hard,” she says. “A lot of dance programming across Alberta is quite competitive, [but] our purpose with the outreach classes is just a low-pressure environment where anybody can come, see what they think about dance, explore it, and we hope that they find a new passion.”

Classes are available in several age groups- six to eight, nine to eleven, and twelve and up. Classes are scheduled to be held at Alexander Forbes School, and interested individuals can sign up online.

Grande Prairie RCMP are set to start using body cams in February, as part of a field test to make the provincial RCMP more transparent in their operations.

On February 6th, body cams are scheduled to roll out to RCMP members in Grande Prairie, St. Paul, and Parkland County for an eight to ten-week test.

Corporal Mathew Howell, a public information officer for the Alberta RCMP, says this is the second field test for the police service after the first failed to meet the RCMP’s criteria. He says a body camera launch has been in the works for years, due in large part to the RCMP’s long procurement process.

“The RCMP has a process when it comes to acquiring new equipment, and they essentially tell the market- this is what we’re looking for, and then everyone will place bids in and whoever the best bid gets the first attempt, [and] in our case the first attempt did not meet our threshold and our criteria,” he says.

According to the RCMP, officers will wear their cameras in the middle of their chest, and members of the public will know it’s recording when a red light is visible on the camera.

Howell says the cameras are an important aspect of both citizen and officer safety, and allow residents who choose to make complaints to undergo a review process to identify if an officer was acting inappropriately in a situation.

“A lot of people are saying officers are acting a certain way towards them, and there’s complaints coming in,” he says. “If every interaction is filmed and downloaded into our system, then as soon as there’s a complaint, that footage can be taken and used towards that complaint.”

Howell says the process will benefit both parties during a complaint, allowing residents to prove their complaints, and allowing officers to prove they were acting within RCMP policy.

“It’s something that will help on both ends of the spectrum,” he says. “By being filmed, every interaction becomes something that will be there and accessible for those kinds of interactions.”

Should the field tests prove to be a success, the RCMP says a national rollout will proceed in the following 12 to 18 months after the field test process is complete.

County of Grande Prairie Council has announced their support to submit a joint application for funding with the City of Grande Prairie to aid their continued collaboration efforts.

Under the Alberta Government’s Intermunicipal Collaboration Framework, the County of Grande Prairie would act as the managing partner municipality, and County Reeve Bob Marshall says the decision is a prudent one, as the two municipalities are preparing to enter negotiations soon.

“This is a preemptive, proactive step, towards our negotiations with the city around our inter-municipal collaborative framework we have set up with them,” he says.

In April 2021, both the City and County entered a Cost Sharing and Information Sharing Agreement, which expires on March 31, 2025. Reeve Marshall says with the help of the grant, mediation and procedural costs will be covered by “about half” of the full cost, saving both parties money during the process.

“If we’re successful in getting it so instead of both municipalities having to shoulder the full cost, we’re using provincial dollars to cover some of those costs as well.”

According to the county, the grant will benefit both parties by funding a facilitator for upcoming negotiations.

Wembley’s Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum observed a special “shell-a-bration” for their ten-year-old tortoise on January 30th.

Museum officials marked the first anniversary of their reptilian friend Mack the tortoise coming to the dinosaur museum in Wembley with a day full of his favourite activities.

From 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. museum guests were treated to a special event celebrating Mack’s anniversary with a meet and greet, “find the grape” games, and “turtle time” to educate museum-goers on what makes the tortoise so special.

Ashley Kerr, Communications Coordinator for Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum, says the day was packed with opportunities for Mack to interact with new friends.

“We had him come out and he met the kids, he did some little activities and little games where he tried to find grapes in cups, so it was a pretty educational experience and the kids loved it,” she says.

While the day was packed with fun, the museum used the opportunity to educate the curious young scholars in attendance both scientifically through a documentary showing and culturally through Indigenous speaker Rebecca Morin, who shared insights on the significance of turtles and tortoises in her culture.

Kerr adds that Mack has become a bit of an unofficial mascot for the museum, due to his social nature, and the love from his fans.

“I would say that Mack has really become the heart of the museum, our handlers here really became more than just his caretakers, and they love Mack, Mack’s a very sociable tortoise, he’s always trying to interact with people, he’s always eating something green.”

Mack continues to serve as a living piece of history for the museum, providing a hands-on learning opportunity for scholars to interact with and witness in real-time, what walked on earth before us.

No one was injured after a fire near a downtown building Thursday evening.

The Grande Prairie Fire Department says they initially responded to reports of a dumpster fire, but the blaze quickly spread to the exterior of an adjacent building. Despite evacuating the building, which houses commercial and residential suites, no homes were lost, and no one was injured as crews knocked down hotspots.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation with the fire department and Grande Prairie RCMP involved. Fire officials say the building’s sprinkler system and quick action of first responders helped get the blaze under control in fairly short order.

County of Grande Prairie residents can expect to see a bump in their utility bills come next month.

According to the county, as of March 1st, Clairmont residents connected to Aquatera will see a water rate increase of 7.1 per cent and a wastewater increase of 6.8 per cent, while residents outside of Clairmont will see the same water increase, but a 6.7 per cent increase for wastewater.

County Reeve Bob Marshall says the increases can be credited in large part to inflationary pressures on Aquatera and the county alike. He says rising costs in labour, chemicals, and power generation have left the utility service in a “pinch,” leading to higher costs for the consumer.

“We’re all seeing those pinches and as a corporation, they’re feeling that as well, so unfortunately those get passed on to the users,” he says.

Despite the increase, Marshall says plans are in place to soften the blow for Aquatera customers. The Reeve says the county has committed $525,000 per year in Aquatera dividends from 2022 to 2027.

“We want to try to minimize that as much to our ratepayers,” he says. “Basically, we’re giving it back to our users within the county that are using Aquatera.”

Marshall says consumers will not see a “net-zero” impact on their bills thanks to the commitment; however, he says users will not see the “full impact” of the costs between 2022 and 2027.

The County of Grande Prairie is looking to hear about those who make a difference in the region. Nominations are now open to spotlight volunteers and organizations who made significant contributions through the county’s “It Takes a Volunteer” program.

According to the county, the program was a success and recognized 10 individuals, six volunteer groups, and three volunteer organizations, and County Reeve Bob Marshall says the inaugural program was an important opportunity to recognize the volunteers who worked tirelessly to make their community better.

“Highlighting volunteers in our communities is not just about acknowledgment; it shines a spotlight on the profound impact of volunteering in building strong, interconnected communities,” he says.

Interested individuals can submit their nominations online before March 3rd, and nominees will be recognized during National Volunteer Week in April.

The program launched on February 1st, and looks to recognize dedicated individuals, groups, and organizations who have shown dedication to enriching the lives of county residents.

One person has died following a collision on Highway 668 near Range Road 61 on Thursday morning. The Grande Prairie RCMP says the incident happened shortly before 8 a.m. when a pick up truck heading east on Highway 668 was rear-ended by a semi-truck.

Fire and EMS personnel did attend the scene, however, a 51-year-old Grande Prairie resident was pronounced dead as a result of the collision.

The name of the deceased will not be released.

The overall vacancy rate for Grande Prairie’s primary rental market is down, while rent saw a roughly $100 year-over-year uptick.

According to the latest report from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation as of October 2023, Grande Prairie had an overall vacancy rate of 1.5 cent down from the 4.8 per cent recorded in the same month in 2022. Across the city, there was a 5.1 per cent vacancy rate for apartment properties with three or more bedrooms, 1.3 per cent in two-bedroom apartments and a 1.4 per cent vacancy rate for one-bedroom apartments.

As of October, the average rent in the city was $1,145 up from the $1,071 reported in the same month in 2022.

According to the CMHC across the country, the primary rental market was 1.5 per cent, a reportedly new market low.

Talks of a potential new performing arts centre hit Grande Prairie City Council during their Monday evening meeting.

Councillor Grant Berg, a prominent figure in the city’s art scene, says he as been waiting for over a decade for the discussion to return to the chambers. He says the city lacks an important piece of quality of life in the form of a dedicated live theatre-style event space.

“I was so excited back in 2010 when a report came out that Grande Prairie was due for a performing arts centre, it is something to start working towards [but] still to this day, 33 years later, I still don’t feel that we’ve filled that,” he says.

Berg says the potential to install and utilize an event space like a performing arts centre has been a driving factor in his career as a city councillor, and he says it is important to him that projects like these are accomplished sooner rather than later.

“I’ve been waiting for this report knowing it was coming for quite some time, and I’ve actually been on committees throughout my life where the report comes out and it gets shelled and it disappears,” he says. “These projects take anywhere from four to ten years and if we don’t start acting now, ten years from now we’re once again going to be having these conversations and we still won’t have a performing arts centre.”

According to Berg, the city is “not even a consideration” for groups that choose to tour through the Peace Country, with most productions opting for our neighbouring communities like Dawson Creek in British Columbia to host their shows.

Currently, Bonnetts Energy Centre functions as the main venue for several of the bigger acts that come through the city, with smaller acts choosing venues like the Douglas Cardinal Theatre at NWP, or the Grande Prairie Live Theatre; however, Berg says between those two extremes, the lack of a mid-sized space deters much of the live shows that come through the area.

“A lot of these events that are on tours are not going to play in hockey rinks, it’s just not feasible,” he says. “Artists take pride in their music and I want to hear good quality, and we have that with the Douglas Cardinal Theatre, but it’s simply too small, the live theatre does a great job but again they’ve only got so much seating capacity.”

According to Berg, a facility between 1,000 to 1,250 seats would be adequate for many of the acts, and he says a dedicated theatre space would not only benefit residents wishing to see live shows, but many of the local acts would be able to utilize the space for events like dance competitions.

“Part of it is developing our internal culture, we’ve got so many dance groups that could put on some fairly big competitions here, and that’s part of that tourism piece.”

Berg adds that the only pause from council comes from funding, and talks are set to continue to establish what the space might look like based on community needs and desires.

Donations continue to roll in at the 2Day FM office for the annual Sock Drive, with the most sizeable donation coming in from local OHS company- 911 Industrial.

Tiara Chambers, Operations Manager for 911, says the donation was a natural one, as the company works with community wellness programs like Wapiti House and provides support for less fortunate members of the community.

“For us, it’s just something that hits home and it’s been a hard year for a lot of people so we just want to give back,” she says. “We work a lot with people that are vulnerable in our community as an emergency service so for us it’s just wanting to give back and see these people have a smile on their face and help them out and make their day a little bit brighter.”

Chambers says protective services for the unhoused is a key priority for 911 Industrial, and the opportunity to ensure a safe winter is one that is not taken lightly.

“We want to make sure they’re protecting themselves as much as possible from the elements we’ve had,” she says. “We’ve had a nice winter this year but that’s not always the case here in Alberta.”

She adds that the donation comes as a sort of call to action for other local entities to donate and help support the less fortunate in Grande Prairie.

“We want to make sure that it raises the bar for people to show up and help support, and give back when they can.”

The current record donation belongs to Remax with 1,000 pairs donated last year. Donations are currently being accepted at the 2Day FM office where they are processed and shipped directly to Wapiti House and the Saint Lawrence Centre.

Grande Prairie City Council has endorsed a new Recreation and Culture Strategy to help facilitate future planning and decision-making regarding investments in facilities and services in the city over the next 10 years.

The strategy was developed through a multi-phased approach, and included feedback from stakeholders, residents, and community leaders from around Grande Prairie, and examined expectations and demand for municipal recreation services.

Two resident surveys, one survey for community recreation and culture groups, and one youth survey were conducted and revealed five overarching themes were revealed by community members- community capacity, equitable opportunities, innovation, investment, and community celebration.

As a result of the feedback, the city says the new strategy will ensure recreation and cultural facilities provide quality service through the incorporation of new technology, and improved accessibility for residents.

The implementation is set to occur in phases once community needs and council priorities are established. The strategy was officially adopted on January 29th.

The MD of Greenview has announced the launch of “Voyent Alert,” a new communication service for residents.

According to the MD, the system provides notifications during emergency scenarios, and day-to-day affairs such as community events, facility hour changes, garbage and recycling pickup dates and times, and road closures.

The system is available through a variety of mediums including- text, email, voice calling, and a mobile app, as well as an online portal. Residents can choose one or multiple methods, which the MD calls a “crucial feature” during emergencies.

Wayne Brown, Director of Emergency Management for Greenview credits the implementation of the service to last year’s wildfires. He says quick and clear communication between residents and the MD is a top priority ahead of the warm season.

“With any large emergency like the wildfires we experienced last year, it’s critical that we have a method of delivering timely information quickly and clearly to our residents,” he says.

The MD of Greenview is the third largest rural municipality in Alberta, and in an effort to reduce confusion, the alert tool features “advanced geo-fencing” and topic groups to allow for targeted alerts to specific local areas.

Additionally, the service is able to provide affected residents with the distance and direction from an emergency and the best evacuation routes.

Residents are encouraged to sign up for free online on the MD’s website, or by downloading the mobile Voyent Alert app.

In an effort to make Grande Prairie City Council Committee meetings “more transparent,” council has begun discussing some possible changes regarding how committee meetings are run.

Currently, city council holds a series of five committee meetings consisting of different councillors and the mayor; however, Deputy Mayor Gladys Blackmore says most councillors stay for all five meetings whether they are an official member or not. She says changing the format to “Council Committee of the Whole” would open the floor to all councillors to have a say on what goes to Monday’s meetings.

“I just really feel that if we’re all at the table having a discussion, then lets call it what it is, which is Council Committee of the Whole,” she says. “Everyone then speaks to the subjects on the table, everyone gets a vote for what’s on the table, and then it would come to council.”

Blackmore says the meetings would not look any different physically; however, the change would allow for easier logistical processes, saving time for viewers and councillors alike.

“The process would be more transparent, but wouldn’t necessarily look different, or take any different amount of time,” she says. “You would save 10-15 minutes of the switching back and forth on the camera.”

Council is scheduled to vote on the matter at a later meeting in February.

Harry Balfour School in Grande Prairie has received a $50,000 grant from the County of Grande Prairie to help fund it’s replacement school’s new playground.

The total cost of phase two of the project is anticipated to be $175,000 and includes an outdoor classroom and several smaller playground structures.

Recently, the school reached its fundraising goal of $345,000 for phase one of the project through donations from the school’s “Participarent” group, corporate sponsors, Christmas Concert funding, and a government grant.

Harry Balfour Principal Jen Clevette says the funding is “exciting” as many new buildings do not have the luxury of opening up with playground equipment ready for use. She adds that the outdoor exercise equipment currently set up at Harry Balfour will be relocated and will be available for use while the project is underway.

In addition to the $50,000 from the county, a further $50,000 will come from Peace Wapiti Public School Division funds to support phase two of the project.

Harry Balfour’s replacement school is on track to open for the 2024-25 school year in September, and officials say the playground should be installed and ready for use on the first day of school.