The Wood Buffalo Recovery Committee now has a Chair and Vice Chair following unanimous approvals from the committee which held its first official meeting Wednesday afternoon, three months to the day after the community was forced to evacuate because of ‘The Beast.’
Municipal Affairs Minister Danielle Larivee banged the gavel to bring the meeting to order, serving as honorary chair until a selection was made.
Jeanette Bancarz was named to the Chair’s position. Bancarz is a long-time employee of ATB Financial and proud Fort McMurray resident who is deeply integrated into the community as a volunteer with various social profit organizations and brings strong management and financial experience to the WBRC.
“What helps from being involved in the community is that you have, you develop, a passion, you develop a commitment to see the community through this,” she said. “Every one of our committee members is extremely passionate and committed to the success of our recovery.”
Maggie Farrington was affirmed as vice chair. Farrington is CEO of the Athabasca Tribal Council and is also Chair of Wood Buffalo Housing Development Corporation and is a former Director of Aboriginal and Rural Relations with the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo.
“On behalf of the WBRC I would like to thank Jeanette and Maggie for putting their names forward to be Chair and Vice-Chair,” said Marty Giles, WBRC member. “In the short time we have been in orientation meetings we can see they have the passion for the hard work ahead leading the WBRC.”
Bancarz said there are many challenges that lie ahead for the committee, one of the first of which will be overseeing the approval of the phased re-entry plan for the green homes in Abasand, Beacon Hill and Waterways.
An update from Erin O’Neil with REOC explained the plan hasn’t been approved by the Chief Medical Officer of Health at the province and until it is there will be weekly updates on the status of the plan every Thursday.
“Communication to our community members is key of course to ensure that our stress levels kind of go down as we work through this process,” said Bancarz. “The REOC team has been tireless in their effort to get people back in their homes and, quite frankly, with our mantra about being safe, resilient, and together, safe is the first word and so we need to hold true to that and make sure that our community members aren’t put at risk before we allow them to return to their homes permanently.”
The phased re-entry plan will be similar to the June 1 re-entry and will even include members of emergency services and fire trucks stationed at the entrances to communities to welcome home the residents with standing homes returning to Abasand, Beacon Hill and Waterways. The plan is to have Phase 1 include green homes in Abasand and part of Beacon Hill and have Phase 2 include green homes in the other part of Beacon Hill and in Waterways.
Once the Chief Medical Officer of Health approves the re-entry plan it will take five to seven days to implement Phase 1 and Phase 2 will then follow according to the plan.
An update is expected Thursday afternoon with more details to be released.
The WBRC also appointed an interim Recovery Team Leader. Former combat engineer Dana Woodworth will fill the spot until someone is hired to the permanent post, something that could take a few months’ time.
A recipient of the Meritorious Service Cross from the Governor General of Canada, Woodworth is a practiced strategic analyst with 33 years of expertise in planning and emergency response.
Following the 2011 Slave Lake fires, Woodworth was heavily involved in the provincial response and after-action reviews. As the Deputy Minister of Environment and Sustainable Resource Development, he led Alberta’s approach to remediation following the Southern Alberta Flood of 2013, as well as oversaw all wildfire operations in the province.
“Dana would be an incredible asset for residents and the community and we look forward to bringing forward this recommendation to Council,” said Bancarz. “Dana is the right leader at the right time and has a great understanding of our community. The WBRC would also like to thank Council, municipal administration, first responders and all of the incredible staff working tirelessly on recovery efforts every day. The WBRC is ready to move forward in collaboration – with our residents as top priority – as we stay safe, resilient and together on our path to recovery.”
The next meeting of the WBRC will be Wednesday, August 17 at 6 p.m. in Council Chambers at Jubilee Centre.
All WBRC meetings are streamed live online and the WBRC is inviting all residents to attend.
