What makes a community?

The city of Grande Prairie is as strong and diverse because of the people that make up our community. People, who I have watched in the 34 years I have lived here, give so much to make Grande Prairie the best place to live. Roads, snow removal, potholes and other city services are important, but even more important is our people and their quality of life, which has been my key focus on council the past four years.

Why do people move to Grande Prairie? 

A lot of people move to our city for the opportunity, to work and to build and achieve a better quality of life. When I moved here, my plan was to stay for a couple of years and move on but fell in love with the greater opportunity that this city offers, a culture of working and supporting one another to succeed.

Why do people stay?

Because what was once a semi-remote dot on a map becomes home. There is a thriving community filled with opportunity, our amenities that build quality of life exceed their expectations, as we continue to work to attract medical professionals in an overly competitive global market, we must have the amenities that create a work life balance and a place for their families.

There are significant challenges in recent years and now new ones with the current US administration and I feel these past four years we have been able to adapt to an ever-changing landscape and must continue to be innovative to stay on top. Global issues can and do affect our economy and by extension they create real challenges that will directly affect the people of Grande Prairie. We need to have individuals on Council who are experienced in having the tough conversations and work and advocate for our city and for its people to continue to grow and prosper.

The issues moving forward will be about taking care of our people, our community. Our municipal leaders need to be creative and willing to take risks and take on an innovative and leadership role. To have new ideas that support the vibrant entrepreneurial spirit of our city. Together, we need to be ready to build onto the foundation of our community as one that attracts new ideas and keeps business thriving, even in economically challenging times. Our region is fortunate due to its diversity.  It was built on agriculture, then forestry, oil and gas, healthcare and is now a thriving regional hub and everything that brings from retail and entertainment to government services. We thrive because we diversify and seek opportunity and that must continue. We need to identify and develop the next pillar in our economy. Is it the Technology Industry? Work continues with our County of Grande Prairie and MD of Greenview counterparts with the new partnership Invest NW, with a key focus on the Greenview Industrial Gateway, which will be an economic benefit for the entire region.

The people of Grande Prairie are resilient. I think we have shown that more than ever in the last year. We have always handled a bump in the road, and the odd pothole because that is the nature of where we live.  We have a huge entrepreneurial spirit in Grande Prairie. It is the backbone of our community. 

Since moving here 30 years ago, everything I have contributed to in my community has been done with the purpose of building my quality of life and that of others. Running for city council is the natural progression of that and culmination of that purpose.

Since I moved here and started my family, I have seen this city grow and mature, 28 000 to now over 70,000, while other cities across Canada struggle and fade away. We must not forfeit our advantage. We need to innovate and be bold because that is what we do in Alberta and Grande Prairie. I enjoy the quality of life we have here and am not willing to sacrifice that, I’m here to build on that. We need to create space for private businesses to be innovative and bold, to see an opportunity and provide the environment and ability to build on that quality of life so many desire.