Sweetgrass and CFWE news briefs - February 18, 2016

Fort McKay First Nation to jointly launch new service company

February 17, 2016. Fort McKay First Nation has teamed up with Noralta Lodge to form a new accommodations service company. The company will service clients out of Noralta Lodge’s Fort McMurray Village location and is designed to provide leading workforce accommodations and logistics solutions to the oil and gas industry. Noralta Lodge’s Village, which houses five open lodges with over 3,000 guest rooms, is located on Fort McKay First Nation traditional lands in close proximity to several major oil sands production sites. “We are proud to announce the addition of this new company to the Nation’s business portfolio,” said Barrie Robb, CEO business development, Fort McKay First Nation. “In light of the current economic times, we are fortunate to be able to continue to grow.” This service company will be officially launched in March.

Ministers lined up for federal Alberta Liberal policy convention

February 17, 2016. The Alberta wing of the federal Liberal party will be holding its biennial policy convention in Edmonton Feb. 26-28.  The convention is being chaired by Karen Leibovici, Matt Grant, and Puneeta Sandhu McBryan. The roster of special guests for the convention already includes MPs from Alberta and across Canada, including Minister of of Infrastructure and Communities Amarjeet Sohi (Edmonton Mill Woods), Minister of Veteran Affairs and Associate Minister of Defence Kent Hehr (Calgary Centre), Minister of Democratic Institutions Maryam Monsef (Peterborough – Kawartha), Minister of National Defence Harjit Sajjan (Vancouver South), Randy Boissonnault (Edmonton Centre) and Darshan Kang (Calgary Skyview). “After an exciting election last fall, this is an excellent opportunity for Liberal Party members both old and new to come together and discuss how we can continue to engage fellow Albertans in building a strong, positive future for Canada,” said Leibovici. The national biennial convention will be held in Winnipeg later this year.

Early protection measures in place for wildfire season

February 16, 2016. There is still snow on the ground, but permits will be required as of March 1 for all planned fires in Alberta’s forest protection area, with the exception of campfires. Accelerating wildfire season preparations was one of the recommendations of the Flat Top Wildfire Complex Review that followed the 2011 Slave Lake area wildfires. “By beginning one month early, we can more effectively monitor burning activities and also ensure that our firefighters are well prepared to respond quickly when wildfires are detected,” said Agriculture and Forestry Minister Oneil Carlier. Training starts for wildfire crew members and leaders at Alberta Agriculture and Forestry’s training centre in Hinton, beginning in March. Fire permits are free and can be requested at any Agriculture and Forestry office. Last year, Alberta spent Alberta spent $474-million fighting 1,786 wildfires that claimed almost 5,000 square kilometres. Below average snowfall this winter could lead to more fires this year.