Wood Buffalo city councilors now full-time after surprise vote

Fort McMurray area city councilors will now serve full time after a surprise vote at a council meeting Tuesday.

After a tense debate, Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo councilors voted 6-3 in favor of changing their positions from part-time councilors to full-time councillors. It’s unclear what the change will mean in terms of potential raises or job expectations.

The change took effect on Wednesday.

The motion was not on the council’s original agenda and was added at the start of the council meeting by the councilor. Kendrick Cardinal.

Cardinal also made a motion to remove the notice period for the motion and instead chose to pass it that evening. This motion was approved by a vote of 5 to 4. This meant that the public did not have the opportunity to comment on the transition from part-time to full-time.

“I think it’s relevant and important that this is done today,” Cardinal said.

According to Cardinal, he introduced the motion because “there needs to be a change in the way we do things in the community and that is inclusion of people.”

Advice. Kendrick Cardinal made a motion to appoint full-time advisors. (Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo/YouTube)

Advice. Allan Grandison opposed the removal of the notice period.

“It will take some time for all of this to be resolved,” he said at the meeting. “I don’t think it can be done just as a wish list overnight.”

Cardinal was adamant about voting as soon as possible.

“I’d like to move this motion forward today. This is the third time I’ve brought this motion forward and I’ve been bullied and I’m fed up with it,” Cardinal said.

“Let’s do it.”

Grandison believed it was crucial that the community had a say in such an important decision and believed the council should instead consider doing a third-party review on the matter.

Advice. Jane Stroud asks whether moving from part-time to full-time work would mean an increase in pay.

“I’m sure there will be and after our review, I’m sure it will be implemented at some point,” Cardinal said.

According to the RMWB municipal election candidate guide, as of 2020, councilors received $46,200 per year, although this figure is subject to annual adjustment.

Advice. Allan Grandison was the most vocal opponent of the motion. (Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo/YouTube)

Advice. Keith McGrath was strongly in favor of the motion. He argued the change would allow the council the time needed to support an overburdened administration, ensure contracts are awarded to local businesses and make it easier to monitor projects.

Additionally, McGrath said there are issues in Wood Buffalo’s rural communities that he would be able to resolve more quickly if the motion passed.

Advice. Keith McGrath says the issue of appointing full-time advisors is not about money, but rather about the ability of advisors to help the administration. (Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo/YouTube)

McGrath said the change would allow advisers to better assist the administration.

“It’s not about the money, it’s more about we’re going to make this place our home again,” McGrath said.

This is a claim that Grandison later disputed.

“I keep hearing that it’s not about the money, so maybe the amendment should also say that we can all work full time but we will have the same salary,” he said. Grandison said. This amendment was not added to the motion.

Advice. Shafiq Dogar said working full time would give him time to visit Wood Buffalo communities because he feels “ignorant” about their needs. The Dogar district does not include rural communities in the RMWB.

Mayor Sandy Bowman said he could not support the motion for several reasons, one being that two councilors were absent from the vote and he thought their presence was important.

He also posted on Facebook the next day, saying the issue of a full-time council has been raised several times in the municipality’s history, but “decisions like these, we have to do our due diligence and following a good process… will not happen in this case.”

The vote passed with six votes in favor: Ken Ball, Funky Banjoko, Cardinal, Dogar, McGrath and Loretta Waquan. Bowman, Grandison and Stroud opposed it. Advice. Lance Bussières and Coun. Stu Wigle was absent.

An RMWB spokesperson said in an email to CBC News that the municipality does not have a plan in place to implement the transition.

“Further investigation and analysis are needed to understand the implications and next steps needed to effectively implement this decision,” the statement said.