Mayor Don Scott spoke in support of Teck’s Frontier Oilsands Mine Project at the joint federal-provincial review hearing for the project Saturday.
Although he supports the project, he highly encouraged Teck to consider hiring a local workforce, calling it “critical” for our community.
“We have an amazing region and the municipality will work with Teck to showcase why living in our region is the best choice for employees.”
He suggested working with Teck to create bus routes for local workers to make it to the work site, which is located roughly 110 kilometres from Fort McMurray.
He said if it’s necessary for workers to travel via plane, that Teck should use the Fort McMurray International Airport.
The airport, which can accommodate 1.5 million passengers per year, reported just over 713,000 passengers in 2017.
Scott said this shows that there is a capacity for industry-related flights.
“Encouraging employees of projects located in the region to reside in the region contributes not only to the fiscal sustainability of the region, but to the development and sustainability of our communities.”
At a council meeting on June 27, 2017, former mayor Melissa Blake also encouraged a local workforce and use of the airport.
Teck said they understand the importance of being involved in their local communities and their economies, but that they wouldn’t be able to assess the extent to what extent a local workforce would be economically viable.
The hearing continues until Oct. 27 and is live-streamed daily.
