Hello Chestermere! This is the first year that we in our household have not faced the crazy line ups at our local stores with arms full of pencils, paper, pencil cases, new indoor running shoes and everything else required by the first week of school. We thought we would be relieved, but we genuinely felt like something was missing. I think the trigger was being up in Fort McMurray this week for our caucus meetings. Our last day was filled with the tour of the areas that burned down, and though the critical infrastructure was still standing like schools and recreation centres, the areas harder hit looked like a bomb had taken them out. There were no children running to meet school buses, or parents standing out on corners with their cups of coffee waiting with their munchkins for the bus to come. There were no school zones packed with anxious first day parents walking hand in hand to the school office or playground sounds in the affected areas. There were however, local heroic first responders waiting to welcome back the latest group of folks that have finally been allowed to come and view the remnants of their homes, and to finally begin the mourning process for their material losses. Every time I saw a first responder, I could not control the tears and the pride I felt for what these brave folks had done to save their community. I along with our Wildrose Caucus, Brian Jean, and his lovely wife Kim Jean surveyed the damage and saw some of these areas for the first time since the fire took their homes and along with it all of their memories. It was profound seeing it through their eyes and that of the fire chief and the rebuilding committee. We also had a tour of the Suncor/Syncrude oil sands and their facilities, the tailings ponds, and the reclaimed areas. These facilities are world class, and I could not have been more proud to be an Albertan at that moment. There are so many that are working so hard to create new and improved ways of handling the obvious environmental issues surrounding the responsible resource development of the oil sands. The tailings ponds hold the left over hydrocarbons, sand, water, clay, and silt when water has been used to take bitumen out of the ground. They have made some tremendous innovations in one area called the Wapisiw outlook uplands reclamation area where there is a very large tailings lake. The tailings fluid is kept there so that the solids in the tailings can separate out. Any leftover hydrocarbons can then be skimmed off the top. The process that we saw is where they have capped the lake over the years with fresh water so that the bacteria in the fresh water will go to work in helping the tailings fluid to in essence become clean again. These groups have also created a method to take some of the clay and sand and use that along with the overburden and create new mixed wood areas. When they remove the top soil, they keep it and all the natural seeds that are contained in that soil. They are then able to put this soil back on top of the reclaimed areas so that the natural and indigenous species are able to grow back where they once grew. The original reclamation areas were having issues with weeds and grasses and so with the consultation of the First Nations, they were able to plant wheatgrass and other indigenous grasses that did not choke the tree and bush populations. There are actually species of frogs and toad that are now reproducing in the reclaimed pond and buffalo grazing on reclaimed grasslands.
The recovered sulphur is currently a problem, covering an area the size of several football fields. Sulphur is a cyclical commodity used in many products such as fertilizer and when demand picks up we can expect to see these stockpiles disappear. Fort McMurray along with the rest of Alberta is the economic engine of Canada, and to see some of this first hand was truly a privilege.
Look for me and some of the Wildrose team in the Country Fair parade this Saturday September 10. After checking out the great entries in the Red Ribbon contest be sure to attend the STARS pie auction. This annual event, hosted by the very funny Bill Brown of Elevate Auctions who donates his time, raises money to support the STARS Air Ambulance service. Please open your wallets for this very worthy cause and take home a delicious pie. I will have 2 pies in the auction. Following that check out the Insurance Bureau Of Canada booth for a special presentation.
On Saturday September 17th we will be doing the Rotary Amazing Race around Chestermere, raising money for the great work Rotary performs in the community and showcasing local businesses. Look for “Fast Past The Post” on bicycles. We’re throwing down the gauntlet to other cyclists in Chestermere: why not enter a team!
Check out https://www.crowdrise.com/rotaryamazingrace to donate to a team or form your own.
I hope to see many of you around the constituency and as always, we love to hear from you.
Leela Sharon Aheer, MLA
