Economic Development Partners with ACFA to Recruit

Did you know that Grande Prairie has the 3rd largest French Association in all of Alberta? Not bad for being the 7th largest city in the province right? The size of our Francophone community is a real asset for our city as it leads to some very important partnerships like the one below. 


The City's Economic Development Officer will be traveling with ACFA representatives to Brussels and Paris in an effort to highlight the job opportunities available in our region.


It goes to show that investments to support and partner with our cultural communities make us an attractive place to live - and if we're an attractive place to live then people will consider moving here when they might not otherwise. 


With the labour market tightening up again Grande Prairie will benefit from the doors our cultural communities can open for us. 


All the details are below in the City media release. 

Recruitment Opportunity for Grande Prairie Employers
Media Release
October 24, 2011


The City of Grande Prairie is representing the region at the Destination Canada job fairs in Paris, France and Brussels, Belgium in partnership with the L'Association Canadienne-Française de l'Alberta (ACFA).

“There is a skilled worker shortage developing within our region,” says Brian Glavin, Economic Development Officer. “The Destination Canada event is an excellent opportunity for our community as the applicants have been pre-screened to be fluent in English as well as being skilled workers.” The events, which run from November 15th-19th, will have between 3,500 and 4,000 job seekers.

“The job fair provides employers with access to a pool of highly qualified workers looking to relocate to Canada,” says Glavin.

The job seekers span a wide range of specialties, from engineers and mechanics to chefs and surgeons. Companies looking to hire skilled employees can contact the Economic Development department for more details or sign up directly on the Destination Canada website.

Media enquiries may be directed to:

Brian Glavin
Economic Development Officer
City of Grande Prairie
780.538.0475

Michelle Margarit
Director
ACFA - Grande Prairie
780.532.6335

2011 State of the City Address

This afternoon I had the pleasure of presenting the State of the City Address at an even hosted by the Chamber of Commerce.

Here's the full text of the speech:


Good afternoon,


It's my pleasure to present the State of the City Address for the first time as Mayor of Grande Prairie.


Before I go any further, I'd like to extend my thanks to the Grande Prairie and District Chamber of Commerce for hosting today and to each and everyone of you for attending.


I take great pride in telling others across the province how Grande Prairie, Alberta's SEVENTH largest city, is home to Alberta's THIRD largest Chamber.


The Chamber is a key partner for the City and I believe the state of the organization speaks to the strength of our local economy. Thank you Dave, Dan and to your whole team for hosting today -and for all the work that you do.


By design, Council and Administration come together form a single unit so I'd be remiss if I didn't recognize the members of my team who are here today...


Councillors;
Croken, Gustafson, McLean, Munroe, O'Toole, Radbourne & Wong


.... and our Senior Administration Team:
Greg Scerbak & Frank Deskawech


It’s hard to believe that we’re closing in on March – We’ve already had a busy start to the year and everything suggests it will be a significant milestone for your new Council.


I had the pleasure to speak at the Chinese New Year celebration last month. At the time I noted that 2011 is the Year of the Rabbit – recognized as a year of calm, peace and an opportunity to reflect.


As global events have shown, we can probably still expect this year to have its share of excitement and turmoil. But I believe that locally, 2011 will be marked as a time of taking stock of where we are and laying the groundwork for future success.


In November, just weeks after the new Council was elected, one of our first tasks was to review the 2011 budget that had previously been approved by the prior council.


At that point, we were each working from a perspective informed by the issues we heard from residents during the election.


AND, although it's a challenging task for a new group, I believe we were focused on a shared goal of keeping any tax increase to a minimum - Which we accomplished.


We reduced a proposed 7.6% tax increase to just 2.5%. In large part this was achieved by deferring capital projects and putting off proposed staffing increases.


For example, council choose to defer a request for 6 additional RCMP officers in 2011 that would have added just under $750 thousand dollars per year to the budget.


It's obvious that those types of deferrals are only short term solutions.


To put our community on a more sustainable path we will need to take a longer term view and address our challenges head on.


During our March 9th to 11th strategic planning session, Council will discuss, from a Big Picture perspective, our priorities related to programs, facilities, infrastructure, services and tax levels.


The new Strategic Plan that emerges will not be a revision of past plans with a few new words here & there.


It will be the vision this council uses to guide the next three year budget cycle, and beyond.


Why is it so important to take time away from overseeing this $100 million operation to develop a plan?


I believe that at the start of this new term and budget cycle, it’s more important than ever that Council forms a collective vision of where we believe the community needs to go.


Think of it like this: A couple are discussing their vacation plans, They could go visit family in Kelowna, or Calgary or Saskatoon.


If they can't come to some consensus on a preferred option...


If they can’t first agree on a final destination, a goal, it's likely they'll end up not going anywhere at all.


Once they decide it's Calgary, the actual route they take to get there can follow.


They could fly or drive down Highway 2. Or even, maybe Highway 22. Each has it's pluses and minuses but without first agreeing on a destination, the route wouldn't even matter.


So the challenge for your council is to agree on a goal. A vision of what we want our community to be in the future. We need to set the destination.


Once developed, the Strategic Plan will provide a vision for Administration, allowing our admin team to set service priorities and develop a budget for Council to review next fall.


Over the course of the planning session, Council will also provide Administration with a range of financial expectations within which they can build the budget, based on the priorities we’ve established.


Going in to this, Council’s challenge will be to think long term.


And, to balance our community's needs for infrastructure and services with the reality of our fiscal situation.


We already know that our revenue maybe be reduced by as much as $2 million as a result of the end of the fire agreement with the County of Grande Prairie, and there may be an additional loss of up to $2 million as Aquatera transitions to its own corporate services by year’s end.


In addition to the reduced revenue in these areas, we’re also dealing with the results of lower than expected funding from the provincial government's Municipal Sustainability Initiative, or MSI, grant program.


When it was announced MSI was intended to deliver long-term sustainable funding to municipalities which would allow us to make long-term planning decisions and investments in infrastructure.


We were told we could “Bank on It.”


Unfortunately it hasn't exactly turned out that way. For example, due to provincial budget changes last year the city received $6 million less than was forecast.


This in turn required us to take on extra borrowing to complete the construction of The Multiplex. Over the term of mortgage this extra borrowing will cost us approximately $3 million in interest, further reducing the effectiveness of our MSI monies.


Ironically, today is also provincial budget day, so we are hoping for good news for municipalities and for provincial capital projects in our community.


The final part of the financial picture that council needs to consider is the mix of land-uses in the city and how that impacts our ability to generate revenue.


In study after study in Alberta and across North America it's recognized that residential properties consume more in services than they provide in tax revenue. It's industrial and commercial assessment that pays the way.


The difference is staggering;


Residential properties tend to consume approximately $1.60 in services for every $1 in tax revenue they generate.


While Industrial development consumes just 14¢ in services for every $1 it generates.


In Grande Prairie our assessment is approximately 74% Residential, 24% commercial and just 2% Industrial.


As a business person, imagine discovering that 75% of your customers used more in services than they generated in revenue. What would you think of the outlook for your business? What would you do?


This is one of the factors that council cannot ignore when thinking about our community's strategic plan.


On the more positive side council will be well equipped with an array of public input to consider as we think about the future:


This includes resident concerns and feedback we each heard during the election.


Early results from the 2011 Quality of Life/Customer Satisfaction Survey will be in, and public consultation documents from the Municipal Development Plan and Municipal Sustainability Plan processes will provide extra context.


All of this information – the challenges and the public input will help provide the foundation for our strategic plan which we'll report back to the community on later this spring.


Speaking of public input: Right now, the research firm of Ipsos Reid is conducting the Quality of Life/Customer Satisfaction Survey by getting in touch with approximately 400 city residents.


The last customer satisfaction survey in 2009 revealed that more than 90% of residents feel there is a high quality of life in Grande Prairie.


Residents were the most satisfied with our services in the areas of Fire, Police & Enforcement and Crime Prevention.


At the same time they showed concern with Infrastructure, Affordable Housing & Land Use and Planning.


It'll be interesting to see what the top of mind issues are for our citizens this time around.


It'll be surprising if we don’t hear significant feedback about our snow removal program following the record downfall in mid-January.


Council has already taken the proactive step of asking Administration to conduct a thorough review of our snow removal and ice control program at the end of this winter.


The point is not to look solely at our efforts in reaction to this one weather event but to consider how we address snow removal in the big picture. Including preplanning, resources and communications.


One great news story emerging from the record snowfall was how the community embraced social media as a means of expressing their concerns, asking questions and receiving updates on our progress.


Residents can expect we’ll continue to open up opportunities for them to join in the conversation with, and about their city government.


Having a social media presence certainly proved to be a bonus when it came time to promote vacancies for volunteer positions on our boards and committees this fall.


We had a record response, with far more people interested in serving than we had spaces!


In fact, nearly 40 people applied for just 18 positions on committees.


This represents an incredible success story in community engagement and participation, something we are eager to repeat in other municipal processes.


As well, our budget deliberations last fall were webcast for the first time.


I think people appreciated the opportunity to tune into deliberations from the comfort of their homes, offices or calssrooms.


I mentioned earlier that this would be a year focused on setting the stage for success in the years to come.


Our Land Use Bylaw review, to be complete by year’s end, is one of these foundational elements.


This document will guide the dynamics and aesthetics of the City as it continues to grow.


The update will revise existing provisions to allow the City to meet its mandate to effectively control and regulate land use while still remaining sufficiently flexible to permit new opportunities and innovations.


This will be key as the City begins to annex land from the County of Grande Prairie through the Inter-municipal Development Plan, adopted last year.


The IDP identifies short- and long-term annexation areas and steps are underway to initiate that process with open houses for affected land owners scheduled for early March.


Annexation is vital to the City’s economic growth. It will provide much needed land to attract new industrial and commercial firms.


The short-term area covers about 6,000 hectares, predominantly in the northwest, northeast and several quarter sections surrounding the City identified for annexation in the former IDP.


Our Transportation Master Plan is also progressing. It will help us as we develop our transportation network to address some of the pressures of today and prepare for future growth.


This massive undertaking will explore pedestrian, cycling, transit and vehicle opportunities in the City, and beyond.


Of course it's not all long term planning and blue-sky thinking. As we head in to 2011 the city is working on a number of important projects that will impact the future of our community and improve life for residents.


By April, we will be able to gauge interest in the possibility of redevelopment of the former York Hotel and/or Germain Park properties in our City's Centre.


A “Request For Information” is available on AlbertaPurchasingConnection.com and has been distributed across the country to attract proposals. This is probably the most flexible and transparent process the city has ever undertaken with respect to land development. Proposals will be judged on five simple criteria:

• How do they support the concepts within the Downtown Enhancement and Municipal Development plans?
• How do they increase Density and impact Activity in the downtown?
• What is the developer’s experience with projects of this nature and their financial capability?
• What are the proposed project timelines?
• And finally, what is the overall financial benefit to the City?

It appears that the positive effects of the City's investment in purchasing the property are already being noticed by the business community.


Yesterday at the DownTown Association's Annual General Meeting the City was presented with a certificate of appreciation for the positive impact the change has had for businesses in the area.


Also this year,


We will expand on the foundation of our City-Wide Wireless Initiative by adding up to 100 hot spots across the community. Residents will benefit from improved customer service as our field staff will have the ability to retrieve information remotely, just as though they were at a workstation in city hall.


Our brand will be launched shortly with a new visual identity including a logo and slogan that promote the community’s innovative, resourceful and entrepreneurial nature.


We’re looking forward to the opportunity to have visual imagery that helps residents celebrate what they have while encouraging visitors and new businesses to come see why we love it here.


Close on the heals of the new visual identity the city will launch a completely redesigned website. This will be the first major update to the city's web presence since 2004 and will allow residents and visitors to find information more easily.


We will also integrate social media features to enhance our communication capabilities and begin the steps of integrating OpenData principles.


And, recognizing that investing in infrastructure is still a priority for our community, a significant amount of capital projects will be underway including:


Twinning of 116 Street between 84th and 97th avenues as well as paving the section between 68th and 84th avenues. This will be a welcome relief for residents in the Westpointe neighbourhood and for drivers as it paves the last section of gravel between the bypass and the correction-line.


Also on the books is the badly needed rehab of 102nd Street from 97th ave to 86th avenue.


These will be just two of the projects in a summer road & sidewalk construction program that will total almost $21 million dollars.


We’ll be nearing completion on the third fire hall as we move into 2012. This facility will be an extremely valuable addition to our ability to protect the community. Its location in the west end means neighbourhoods and businesses in that area of the City will be safer and that we'll be able to provide excellent service to the residents in the annexation areas.


The ultimate highlight of 2011 will be the completion of The Multiplex.


This facility will offer something for everyone in Grande Prairie, and beyond. I know I can’t wait for my turn on the FreeFM Freerider.


The Multiplex will be a dynamic attraction for the region, helping to make this community a destination to travel to . . . and for visitors on the road, a location where they can be enticed to stay an extra day or two.


And it all wouldn't be possible without our community partners like Telus, Menzies, Servus Credit Union, Rotary Clubs of Grande Prairie, FreeFM, Daily Herald Tribune RBC and Radium Industrial Solutions who have come on board to support the project. Thank you.


As a municipality, we are always examining ways to improve how we do business and means to support the develop our local economy.


We have formed an Economic Development Advisory Committee, with public representatives from various sectors of the local economy.


This group will help guide the work of our Economic Development Department as it addresses the priorities outlined in our Economic Development Plan.


One of the priorities in the plan was to address the underlying costs of doing business in The North.


In response, the Economic Development has begun providing residents monthly updates on the cost of retail power while providing education on energy aggregation and promoting energy efficiency.


Also, Over two years ago we first initiated our Business Visitation Program.


Through the process, we received a lot of rich data to help us better understand the needs of our local business community. We'll continue to follow up on those needs and priorities.


The City is also undertaking process improvement initiatives to enhance our customer service.


We took a significant step forward with the recent renovation at the City Service Centre, which for the first time brought together our Parks, Fleet, Transportation Services, Engineering and Planning in one building. This move will provide a one-stop-shop for construction and development and improve our internal coordination.


Speaking of these important departments I'd like to recognize them for their commitment customer service.


Just a few weeks ago the City was honoured to receive the 2010 Customer Service Award from the Grande Prairie Home Builders’ Association. For our staff to be recognized by such an important partner is very rewarding.


On a on a different topic, I'd like to cover some of the steps we've taken around advocating for our City and the Region.


The job of keeping Grande Prairie top of mind for Provincial decision makers is never ending and has to be a priority for the City.


Earlier this month, Council approved a schedule of twice yearly visits to the Alberta Legislature.


These will occur in Spring and Fall of each year for the balance of the term and will be in addition to our continued support of regional lobby efforts such as those led by the Chamber of Commerce.


I believe the objective of these kind of missions should be to proactively build relationships & increase communication with Provincial Ministers and departments.


We need to ensure that Grande Prairie's voice is heard and that our story is understood.


Some of our immediate priorities include; capital funding for Aquatera's Waste Water Treatment Plant improvements, construction of the new hospital, expansion at GPRC and support for new K-to-12 schools.


In all of this we recognize that our partners are important.


Immediately after the election council and I identified a number of community partners and regional municipalities that council wanted to meet with.


We have regular meetings with our partners at the County of Grande Prairie, the Chamber, our local school boards, GPRC, the Homebuilders’ Association, the Urban Developers Institute and many, many others in an effort to strengthen our understanding of the community and keep the lines of communication open.


In closing ...


It’s been my pleasure to update you on some of the challenges the city is facing, some of the key municipal initiatives coming up in the short term and to offer some insights into what the future holds.


I believe the best way council can contribute the continued progress of our community is to:

• Be a Willing & Accessible Community Partner
• Continue Working to Provide Excellent Service
• Openly Discuss the Challenges Facing our City
• Establish Clear Priorities and regularly report on our progress and finally,
• To Be Visionary by setting long-term goals that will guide our organization and our decision making.

The first few steps will happen in the coming weeks.


I'd ask you all to lend us your support as we proceed and I'll commit that we'll remain accessible & accountable to you as we move forward in building an excellent community that you can be proud of.


Thank you.

Prestigious $2.3 million research award to GPRC

Grande Prairie Regional College is among the eleven colleges which will receive Federal funding from Natural Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) to work with their communities and local businesses to get new innovations from campuses into the marketplace.  The Honourable Tony Clement, Minister of Industry, today announced a total of nearly $15 Million to develop a number of diverse, environmentally-friendly technologies, and strengthen industry, community and academic relationships.  Grande Prairie Regional College has been awarded $2,300,000 for an environmental research initiative led by instructor and researcher Dr. Weixing Tan, which will be conducted through the Centre for Research and Innovation (CRI) at the College.  

This initiative, entitled Pollutants to Products (P2P), is among those selected for funding following a nation-wide peer-reviewed competition.  The College, and its industry partners and stakeholders, have dedicated the last decade and $1.5 million developing sustainable local solutions to environmental issues. One project studies carbon and pollutants capture by microalgae; another investigates enhancement of reforestation and carbon sequestration; and the other diverts wastewater from waterways to a poplar industrial fibre production. Each project contributes to a reduction of the region's wastes and harnesses natural processes to turn atmospheric pollutants to useful products.

"Grande Prairie Regional College is very proud to be among the colleges selected for this funding," says Susan Bansgrove, Vice-President Academic.  "Dr. Tan has long been recognized for his applied research in areas related to sustainable forestry practices and the environment.  These projects have been very important for our region, and have also provided enormous opportunities for our students in recent years."

"I am very pleased and honoured to receive this highly-prestigious award," says Tan.  "It is the great support and contributions from the College, local industries and communities that makes it a reality. This award provides additional excellent opportunities to involve students and faculty in applied research, which we have been doing for many years. The involvement of students really enhances their learning and provides significant motivation in terms of their study at GPRC."

A news conference will be hosted at GPRC Grande Prairie on November 9th 2010, to provide more in-depth information about the research project and its partners, as well as to celebrate the announcement of the grant.

CFIB Survey Response

I just submitted my response to a survey sent out to mayoral candidates by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB).

I don't always agree with the CFIB. In particular I disagree with them on their position on franchise fees (Bill 203) and I said as much when I presented at the Legislature committee hearing a few weeks ago in Edmonton.

Having said that there are areas I can see common ground and I appreciate their efforts to advocate on behalf of their memberships.

Below are the questions CFIB asked and my responses. There are some areas where I've added information for this blog post - they are noted in italics.

If elected as mayor:

1.Will you implement a multi-year plan to reduce the difference between what businesses and residents pay in municipal property tax based on the same assessed value?

No

Comments: Urban municipalities in Alberta cannot afford to do this. I believe the focus should be on creating a regulatory environment that welcomes new business development. As new properties are built the tax burden will be diffused across more properties. An additional option would be see Linear Property Taxes pooled regionally and distributed on a per capita basis with in the regional catchment area. This would allow urban municipalities to reduce the tax burden on small business. In my opinion, this is a huge inequity that allows some municipalities to keep residential and commercial property taxes artificially low. I'll be doing a full post on it this week.


2.Will you work to limit future growth in operating spending by the municipal government to a sustainable benchmark such as inflation plus population growth?

Yes

Comments: I have committed to ensuring that the 2012-2014 budget cycle follows this formula.

3.How do you plan to reduce the amount of municipal red tape that small business owners in your community must deal with?

Explain: The City of Grande Prairie has already implemented the BizPal program which substantially reduces “red tape” by allowing businesses to get information from 3 levels of government at once. In the area of development we are working to revise our development permitting process to make it faster and more efficient for customers – I support this and will continue seek ways to streamline city processes.


4.Do you support new taxation powers for municipalities?

No

Comments: At this time the best solution to aid in municipal financial sustainability is to secure a legislated share of current tax revenues from other orders of government. Additionally, Linear Tax property revenues should be reexamined. My suggestion would be that they be pooled with in regional catchment areas and distributed within the region on a per capita basis.


5.Do you support the municipal government being subject to external, independent, value-for-money operational and financial audits?

Yes

Comments: The current Municipal Government Act already provides the minister with all the tools needed to require audits, of any kind, from every municipality.


6.Tell us about the other ways you plan to make your municipality more small business-friendly?

Comments: I believe our local government can add value for the business community by:
- Televising Budget meetings (and archiving on the web)
- Opening City Data to the public to allow businesses to make use of it
- Helping identify and address the cost barriers to doing business in the north, with particular focus on transportation infrastructure & electricity costs.

Why Grande Prairie Is A Great Place To Invest

An important function of our Economic Development department is inform companies and individuals about Grande Prairie and why they should consider investing here.

To support this there is the InvestGrandePrairie.ca website that has lots of practical info that corporate head offices and regular people alike will find useful. The website has been up for some time and is a great asset - but of course there's nothing like "face time" and we are sometimes called upon to do presentations about the region. To this end Brian Glavin, our Economic Development officer, has put together a slide show outlining the reasons that Grande Prairie is a great region to invest in. Brian presented this at a GGS committee a couple of weeks ago, just so council would be aware but I thought I'd take it a step further and get an electronic version to share with you.

Check out the slide show below and if you, or your company, is looking for a place to invest - consider the Grande Prairie region!

Green Jobs for Earth Day!

What better way to cap off Earth Day 2010 by attending this FREE event discussing the potential of green jobs and the new green economy right here in Western Canada- I'll be there tonight, hope to see you there too!

RePower Alberta: Putting Power Back into the Hands of Albertans, the kick-off event for Albert’s first annual green jobs tour!

Albertans face a choice: Do we want to build a future with clean, efficient, sustainable electricity sources or do we want to continue using old, polluting systems that are becoming increasingly scarce and obsolete? Do we want to increase resiliency in our communities, diversify our economy, and create good green jobs that provide for our families and take care of our land? Voters are demanding economic stability and recognizing the environmental and economic cost of over dependence on the oil and gas industry. Your region has great potential for green jobs and renewable energy development in the new green economy. These economic gains can be made as we enter the new economic frontier of renewable energy, efficiency retrofits, green technology research and development and manufacturing.

When: Thursday, April 22 (Earth Day), 2010, 7:00pm
Where: Room D308, Grande Prairie Regional College
Cost: FREE

Speakers will include:

- Valerie V. Gilson, Executive Director of Peace Energy Cooperative
will be sharing the success story of the Peace Energy Cooperative and the great initiatives happening in Dawson Creek.

- Randyn Seibold, Entrepreneur, Renewable Recruits
will present on a report on the clean energy 'industry hot-spots' around Canada, and what some of the most sought-after professionals are.

- Yvonne Peterson, Industry & Continuing Ed Green Building Program, Fairview Campus
will give an introduction to the GPRC Fairview Campus and its Green Building Summer course cluster

- Sheryle Carlson, Associate Director of Sierra Club Prairie Chapter
will present on the RePower Alberta Campaign and give an overview of the renewable energy potential in the province, how our energy demands can be met by clean energy and create good green jobs, and some of the great initiatives taking place across Canada and the world.

Event Sponsored by:
- SPOC (Start Protecting Our Communities - Grande Prairie)
- Green Peace Canada
- Sierra Club of Canada - Prairie Chapter
- Solar Eden Project

Multiplex Theming Concept Images

In my last post on the Multiplex I posted some pictures from inside of the construction site. Today I've got more images to share, this time though you'll be getting a look into the future of the project rather than at how it stands today.

At a committee meeting yesterday council was presented with concept images for the theming of the aquatics portion of the building. (The Daily Herald has a story on the committee meeting here.)

We approved going ahead with just under $900,000 worth of dinosaur related theming elements. It's always been a part of the plan to include a theme in the aquatics centre (the $900,000 has been in the project budget since the beginning). I think this is important because it will set the stage for the multiplex, and the aquatics centre in particular, to become a "can't miss" attraction in the city.

The reason it's dinos is to tie in to a local element - the Pipestone Creek dinosaur bone bed and the future River of Death & Discovery dinosaur museum. The vision, or my vision anyhow, is that when both facilities are up and running our area will have a highly marketable tourism attraction: "Go to the Museum and Don't Forget to Visit the Waterpark!" It might sound far-fetched today but with a little planning & coordination that might just be something that attracts people to the area and keeps them here a few days longer- all the while contributing to the local economy.

The quality of the images below is only kind of so-so because they're scanned from the hard copy. You can click each picture for a larger view which might be a bit easier to see. Anyhow, let's get on to the pictures:

As you come out of the change rooms you exit through rock walls over grown with vines and embedded with fossils. There are pterodactyls in the air overhead.

Right in front of you is the children's pool and the spray deck. You can climb up in to the tree-top to be under the big dumping bucket with giant dragonflies around you.

Around the back of the tree-top water feature are the stairs which go right through huge dino bones sticking out of the ground.

A little further along is the chance to ride a pre-historic wave on the flowrider. (council agreed to remove the dino from the top of the rocks to keep the theming within budget.)

Way across to the north end of the building is the tower that leads up to the start of the waterslides. As you speed down the bodyslide you come splashing out of the mouth of a T-Rex.

If you come down the tubeslide you end up in the adventure river where the current takes you through a mountain and around the river island.

The view riding along the river is pretty exciting.

While the kids are off doing all this the adults might decide to relax in the hot-tub and listen as a waterfall tumbles down from a rock outcropping. (Council voted to remove the large dino on top of the rocks, as well as the palm trees. The thinking is that, while this are should be consistent with the theme, adults will enjoy the area without needing as many features as in the youth oriented areas.)

This final image is an example of the work from Studio Y Creations who will be doing the theming. They have done work for the Tyrrell Museum and will have no problem making dinos that look realistic. I'm going to make sure that at least one of the beasts lumbering in the building is an authentic looking local.

An Economic Forecast As We Go To Budget

Some time ago council asked administration to provide an economic forecast for us so we could have some idea of how the global economic downturn might impact us locally. On Monday the 2nd they presented it to council for review at an open public meeting before our regularly scheduled meeting. There weren't many people there, aside from council and city staff, to see it so I thought I'd share the presentation from the report here:

**a couple of charts didn't come through the conversion to the post here - sorry.**

All in all, yes; we have to be aware that things have changed... Development isn't booming like it was and revenue will be down because of that (by about $900,000) but at the same time Grande Prairie is pretty well diversified and in a much better position than many other cities.

I understand that admin already has some measures to deal with the reductions in revenue they forecasted so hopefully our budget session will be pretty straight forward. One thing that is uncertain, and that we won't know until the spring, is how much MSI grant money we will get from the province. Last year the province reduced this grant by about $2.5 million and it did impact taxes - because we had already committed it to the construction of the Multiplex.

At the AUMA convention last week Premier Stelmach assured delegates that we would (eventually) get all the MSI money the province had committed to so hopefully we can deal with any reductions in the short term.

AUMA Convention 09 - Day One

The schedule for today at the AUMA convention is below and I've made some notes with a little more details on the sessions I'll be attending.

Wednesday, November 4
7:00am, Registration

8:00am, Committee Reports
I'll be attending the "Municipal Governance Standing Committee" Described in the conference package as: Today, more than ever before, Alberta municipal governments need to be prepared for the future and this session has been designed to provide members with important insight into navigating that future. Dr. Andrew Sancton from The University of Western Ontario will lead the group in exploring alternatives to municipal amalgamation, leading participants to think more creatively about changes that will help municipalities better serve their citizens. AUMA has committed to providing learning opportunities and tools to assist municipal governments in achieving sustainable futures. A review of municipalities’ issues regarding the assessment system in Alberta, discussion paper presentations at the President’s Summit, and on-going dialogue with members have resulted in the development of relevant policy papers that will be presented at the convention.

** Update ** After the above session I also managed to make it to a presentation entitled Opportunities For Small Communities in BioEnergy. Aldermen Minhas and Wong joined me as well.

11:15am, Lunch

12:15pm, Opening Ceremonies & Keynote Speaker Brett Wilson
Yes, that's Brett Wilson the Calgary oilman, TV Dragon, and possible PC party leadership contender
1:45pm, AGM & Awards

2:00pm, GP Council Meeting with Alberta Transportation. We've arranged to meet with the senior staff from the department to bring forward some issue we have in relation to funding for projects, transit funding, and maintenance of highways in the area.

3:00pm, GP Council Meeting with R.C.M.P. As with Transportation above we've arranged a special meeting with the top officials with the R.C.M.P. K-Division district to talk about some of the concerns we have in the policing area.

3:30pm, Education Sessions
I'll be attending "Planning For The Economic Recovery: Be Ready To Act": The current economic climate has certainly added to the many challenges municipalities face. Just over a year ago, we were enjoying a booming economy but faced sky-rocketing costs and a severe labour shortage. Six months later, we were in an economic recession with increasing unemployment and funding cuts. Presenter Bud Crouch has a track record of successfully helping organizations prepare for the future. This session has been designed to help you successfully navigate through the unstable global conditions from both strategic and tactical perspectives. You will be given the tools to be proactive, to adapt quickly and to best position your organization to take advantage of opportunities as they arise.

3:30pm, Trade Show Opens

5:00pm, Additional Supplementary Sessions

6:30pm, Council Dinner

AUMA COnvention 09 - PreConvention Session

I'm starting my day off in downtown Calgary as I get ready to head over to the Telus Convention Centre which is hosting the AUMA convention this year.

I'm here a day before the convention actually opens because one of the pre-convention sessions caught my eye. At 9am I'll be heading off to hear about Managing Your Municipality in an Economic Crisis, the convention handbook describes it like this:

Turbulent economic times affect more than the bottom line of an organization and whether the economy is booming or in decline, it is the people who are impacted. If your municipality is looking for creative ways to manage your workforce through economic difficulties, this session will be of interest to you. Join our panel of industry experts to learn about new trends in management, developing a more functional and productive workforce, and how to incorporate better management practices. You will definitely leave the session with valuable insights and solutions that will make your workforce and your bottom line healthier.

Timely right? Last night before council we had an economic forecast presentation from staff and although GP is doing much better than many places we still heard that admin expects there to be a $900,000 drop in revenue from issuing fewer building permits. With that kind of news coming forward I thought this session could be very valuable. I'll report back.

If you want to check out any other info on previous AUAM Conventions click here or find "Conventions - AUMA" on the menu to the right.

Computer Gaming - The Future of the Peace?

I've been meaning to write about this very cool topic for a while now and just haven't managed to get around to it... until tonight that is.

If you think that the Peace Country is only about traditional resource based businesses like oil and gas or forestry you'd be part right. They do, of course, play a huge role in our economy as do agriculture and (to a growing extent) retail tourism but what else is there? What could we look to diversify our economy?

Well, the folks a PREDA (Peace Region Economic Development Alliance) have an answer:

Computer Game Industry Development

PREDA has done a lot of work on this so I'll let them explain it in their own words:

"Computer games in North America have gross sales exceeding $10 billion dollars annually. To give this some perspective, this is more income than total Hollywood box office receipts. Some analysts have computed that current annual world sales of computer games are approximately $30 billion and that this figure could grow to $100 billion within the next decade.

Canada has an excellent reputation for producing computer games including major studios such as: Electronic Arts Canada in Burnaby, British Columbia; Bioware in Edmonton; Rock Star games in Toronto, Ontario; and Ubisoft in Montreal, Quebec. Dozens of smaller studios have been established across the country - with major city centres such as Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal being hotbeds of development. Even smaller communities have been able to attract game studios, including HB Games in Lunenberg Nova Scotia, Thunderbird Games on the Queen Charlotte Islands and HermitWorks Entertainment of Grande Prairie.

What this means is that computer game companies the world over are constantly looking to hire both new and experienced employees in order to meet the demands of providing new and exciting games.

The creation of computer games involves a complex mix of talented individuals including: computer programmers who build the game engines and toolsets; concept artists; modelers and animators; designers; as well as musicians and sound effects specialists. Currently, the Grande Prairie Regional College (GPRC) Computer Science and Fine Arts Departments collaborate to graduate students with the interdisciplinary educational requirements and industry skills needed to pursue a career in new media.

GPRC alumni are currently employed throughout North America at large computer game studios including BioWare, Electronic Arts (EA), Backbone, and HermitWorks Entertainment. A group of stakeholders sees an opportunity to grow the computer gaming sector in the Peace Region.

Interested in becoming involved? Contact PREDA Cyber Infrastructure Chair Libero Ficocelli at 780.539.2825 or PREDA Project Officer Nicole McMullan at 780.538.5635."

If this is your kind of thing, or you know someone who might be interested, check out more on the the Launch Effect discussion board here. And even though it's over you might be interested in GameXpo 2007 that happened this winter at the college.

I'd have to sat that in an economy where more and more jobs are going to be based on what you know this is a good step towards the future.

Just Like Being There

I thought I'd post pictures of the booths in Peace Country row, so you can see the presence that our region has here in Yellowknife. This idea of putting all of these booths together to make a bigger impact was started three or four years ago when the City invited a whole bunch of regional organizations to come together for the last Prospects North here in YK. Since then we've done the same thing at shows in Edmonton and Whitehorse.


The new City booth which is just being used in it's very first trade show. Notice the floor - it's an aerial photo of the whole city with markings showing how the city limits have moved over the years.


Right next door to the City is GPRC.


Down the row is the Town of Valleyview


... and High Level. With Mayor Mike Mihaly on the right.


Rounding out this side of the isle is an open booth which we turned in to a relaxing area that is promoting the Peace through the Branding the Peace Logo.


On the other side of the isle is the GP Chamber


Town of Peace River


In this booth the Mighty Peace Tourism Association is representing PREDA, the Town of Fairview, the MD of Fairview, Hines Creek and a couple of others.


... and finally, right across from the City of GP is the Grande Prairie Regional Tourism Association.

So, now you can feel just like you where here with us in Yellowknife, promoting the Peace Country - you just didn't get to enter your name in for the door prize draws.

Off To The Real North

I'll be getting up a little extra early tomorrow to catch a plane to Yellowknife for the Prospects North Conference.

From the City's Media Release:

City Delegation Prospects Future Opportunities

Three members of City Council and economic development staff are part of a Peace Country delegation participating in Prospects North 2007 next week in Yellowknife.

Themed The Next Big Thing, the Sept. 18-20 event is focused on the economic future of the North. It will examine untapped economic potential in areas such as mineral resources, power generation, communications technology, manufacturing, as well as cultural and environmental businesses.

“We need to continually explore ways to further diversify while supporting our existing economic generators,” says Jean-Marc Lacasse, City of Grande Prairie’s Manager of Economic Development.

“There is a strong foundation in our community based on oil and gas, forestry, agriculture, our position as a regional shopping centre and as a general economic hub. Now is the time to identify other opportunities for growth to complement these sectors.”

Prospects North is a great opportunity to connect with other community representatives from Alberta, the Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut, says Lacasse. “This is a key event as it’s the largest business and investment conference in the North, giving us a significant showcase for the city and region.”

Prospects North is expected to attract 500 delegates and 100 trade show exhibitors. A ‘regional village’ will represent communities and economic development agencies throughout the Peace Country.

The regional village is actually a number of organizations with booths, side by side by side making what basically turns into a Peace Country feature area. In addition to the City other Peace County groups in attendance will be:

Grande Prairie & District Chamber of Commerce
Grande Prairie Regional College
Grande Prairie Regional Tourism Association
PREDA
Town of High Level
Town of Peace River
Town of Valleyview

It's a great way to sell our region. Myself, Alderman Croken and Alderman Heath are representing City Council at the conference.

GP in a Nutshell

Jean-Marc Lacasse, the Manager of Economic Development for the city, handed me a new hat this afternoon.

That's not really news, I know...

The website that was embroidered on the back of the hat was noteworthy though: www.investgrandeprairie.com

One of goals in the city's Economic Development Planis to bring together all the Grande Prairie information out there in a concise package. The result is a Community Profile, a one stop resource for those looking to invest in our community, with details on everything from demographics to service clubs, taxes and regional trading area.

The whole Community Profile is here and if you are looking for Demographic Information or Building Permit Statistics there are both there too.

There you go, everything you ever wanted to know about Grande Prairie, on the back of a hat. Thanks Jean-Marc!

The Rumors of GP's Demise - Greatly Exaggerated

"An ongoing rumor of a slew of housing foreclosures in Grande Prairie has no truth to it, says the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation." -full story

This has been an annoying little rumor that has been going around the city for a while now. Hopefully it's put to rest by this article by Darrell Winwood in the DHT. I first heard of this was over a year ago and since then it's kept coming back from different people who have "heard" that "last month there were 20 (or 30 or 40) foreclosures in GP."

People here are pretty sensitive to that kind of thing because it brings up memories of the early 80's when the NEP shut down Alberta and Grande Prairie. There are still lots of people living in our community who had to go through that. For them the memories of walking away from a home they couldn't afford or going in to bankruptcy are probably pretty vivid.

It's true that oil & gas activity across the province is not as busy this year as it has been. Any slowdown in that sector does ripple out across the economy - but it's not like the dead stop that there was back in the day. Most people I talk to say it's more like a "breather" and a little chance to catch up.

Add to this the fact that over the years GP has developed a more diversified economy and the true picture starts to come into focus.

We're doing alright - the rumors of Grande Prairie's demise have been greatly exaggerated.