BONNYVILLE - On Wednesday evening, more than 50 people tuned in to watch the livestream of the MD of Bonnyville’s two reeve candidates exchange words and answer questions submitted by constituents ahead of the municipal election on Oct. 18.
The two candidates running for the title of reeve in the 2021 MD of Bonnville municipal election are former MD councillor Barry Kalinski and reeve incumbent Greg Sawchuk.
Both candidates came prepared with statements and notes for the virtual forum hosted by the Cold Lake Regional Chamber of Commerce, held at the Lakeland Inn in Cold Lake.
Starting the forum, reeve candidate Kalinski said, “There is a unique energy out there. People are engaged and hungry for change and I am excited to invest my time and help to initiate that change.”
Kalinski added two out of his four sons would be taking over their long-running family business of farming and logging, giving him the time to dedicate himself fully to the needs of the MD.
Prior to losing the 2017 municipal election for reeve, Kalinski sat on the MD council for 10 years as the councillor for Ward 4.
“During the decade I was on council, we saw the municipality grow and prosper. Earning a well-deserved reputation as fiscally responsible and a leader among rural Alberta municipalities,” he said.
Kalinski told voters he will be focused on providing top notch basic services, investing in much needed capital projects and working together with neighboring municipalities while taking into account the rapid and evolving economic climate.
"One of the top issues in the MD is our spending is out of control. We need to get spending under control,” he told ratepayers.
Speaking to viewers tunning into the virtual event, Sawchuk started by saying, “Thank you to those who took a leap in faith in me four years ago. Voting for a rookie, an outsider and a dreamer. And (those) who were able to stand by my side throughout the making of this MD and the vision that I had for it.”
Sawchuk followed by listing some of the changes he has helped implement in his previous term as reeve.
“Our council has moved towards an information-based decision-making process, we challenge administration to come up with all the pertinent background information, and also empower them to come up with recommendations,” he said. “Council has made great strides in governance and managing the MD like a corporation — scheduled strategic planning, long-term capital plans, an annual business plan.”
Decisions Sawchuk sees as successes during his time as reeve include the lowering of residential mill rates and the initiation of the Lakeland crime reduction unit and the recent signing of Inter-Municipal Collaborative Framework documents with neighboring municipalities. Other big wins for the MD council and residents were the amalgamation of ID 349 and changes in how roadway maintenance is assessed and prioritized, he said.
“I am fiscal conservative — I would rather shrink capital projects than raise taxes. And as everybody knows, the taxes have not gone up while we've been here,” he said.
Candidates respond to publics questions
Throughout the evening, candidates received two minutes to respond to questions posed by constituents who submitted them in advanced or added them to the comment section of the livestream.
Questions submitted focused on tourism, commercial air service, vaccination passports, collaboration with the City of Cold Lake, literacy rates, vacant plots and underdeveloped subdivisions, local health care and employee turn-over among MD administration.
Both Kalinski and Sawchuk spoke positively about the possibility of the growth and expansion of the Cold Lake airport as hub.
Kalinski says initiatives to expand air travel have the potential to add value to the region, but sustainability is key before investing into an expansion venture with the City of Cold Lake.
“Past efforts have been made and unfortunately proved to be unsustainable, so should this venture fly – pardon the pun – sound economics have to be at the forefront of any conversation, especially considering today's COVID battered travel industry. If private enterprise sees an investment opportunity in our region, and wants to look to the City of Cold Lake for partnership, the MD should absolutely entertain that delegation.”
Sawchuk agreed. “We know logistically that we are tough to get to — we’re the end of the road,” he said. “The opportunities for economic development on and around the airport are numerous... There are many examples of municipalities investing in core infrastructure on an airport to support existing industries, and to attract new investment.”
Asked about the municipality’s relationship with the oil and gas sector, both candidates spoke positively about the relationship, adding that many roads and services are funded from the tax revenue generated from their operations within the MD. Sawchuk and Kalinski stated they would like to see growth and collaboration continue between the MD and private enterprise.
When it came to the divisive issue of vaccine passports both candidates said they would lead council to heed the advice from provincial health experts.
“Public health is a provincial mandate, we follow the provincial guidelines, whatever they put out. We don't have medical staff on our on board, we are not informed enough to make an individual decision,” Sawchuk told voters, adding “I just wish that we could all stay six feet apart for a little bit longer and get through this.”
Stating that he was a strong proponent of individual freedoms, Kalinski said, “When it comes to the current pandemic, we are in uncharted waters. All levels of government are doing their best to safely navigate the storm. At the municipal level, we will continue to heed the advice of our public health professionals, continue to try to provide the highest level of services that we can for our residents under the current conditions. We encourage everyone else to be smart, considerate of others, and safe so that we can emerge from this pandemic stronger than ever.”
CAO controversy
One question in particular heated up the forum. That question being: “What do you attribute the high rate of turnover of CAOs and other managerial positions over the past four years?”
Not mincing words, Kalinski stated, “When this new council took over, they were on a firing spree. They fired I don’t know how many years of experience in the MD of Bonnyville and the severance that went along with it was probably well over a billion dollars.”
He also commented that he knew of local people had been overlooked for positions within the MD. “We need to hire local people and people that can do the job,” said Kalinski.
In response to both the question and Kalinski’s comments, Sawchuk acknowledged that one CAO had been removed from their position with the backing of the MD council and that other CAOs had chosen to move on for their own personal reasons.
When it came to other administerial changes, Sawchuk said, “With each one of these administrators, you're going to find that they have their own different outlook and they will make changes as they see necessary. Again, this is not a council decision, it is a CAO decision.”
Moving on to other hot button topics, both reeve candidates recognized and outlined several serious and long-standing issues in the region, such as shortages of medical staffing, diagnostics equipment and long-distance patient transfers tying up local ambulances and crews in the region.
Although Kalinski mentioned the possibility of purchasing more ambulances, no concrete plans to tackle these ongoing shortages were presented to those listening.
The virtual forum can be viewed online through the Cold Lake Regional Chamber of Commerce.
For more coverage on the 2021 MD of Bonnyville municipal election head to LakelandToday.ca
