Mackenzie County Reeve Josh Knelsen is thrilled he had a chance to meet with the new minister of municipal affairs.
Tracy Allard, who is also an MLA in the Grande Prairie area, tweeted out a photo of a meeting with Knelsen in Edmonton.
The Trending 55 Newsroom reached out to Allard’s Press Secretary on Monday but has not received a response.
According to Knelsen, the main topic of discussion was the damage from the flooding of Fort Vermilion in April.
“I was hoping we would walk away with a signed cheque, which didn’t happen,” says Knelsen.
“I was encouraged by the meeting and think it went well. The province is hurting (financially) as is the country so it is not easy to write out cheques as it has been.”
The flood, which was caused by an ice jam in the Peace River caused around 450 residents of Fort Vermilion to be evacuated.
At a press conference in April, former Municipal Affairs Minister, Kaycee Madu told the Trending 55 Newsroom that there was an estimate of $45 million in damages to buildings and various infrastructure.
When it comes to the type of support the community can expect from the province, Knelsen says he is not sure at this time.
“I know a lot of people are getting anxious and we would like concrete answers but unfortunately we don’t have those at this time, but I am hoping sooner than later,” says the reeve.
Knelsen does believe that Allard understands issues facing municipalities in the northwest.
“She (Allard) came south to move to Grande Prairie, which is not something you hear of very often in cabinet positions, so she understands what we are going through,” explains Knelsen.
According to her personal website, Allard was born in the Yukon Territory’s capital of Whitehorse.
In closing, Knelsen says his focus is making sure a major flood like this does not happen again.
“It is a little more costly and takes a little bit longer than we would like, or the people would like,” states Knelsen.
“We want to get it right so all we can do now is ask for a little bit of patience.”
– Kenny, Trenton, Trending 55 Newsroom
