Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:00 Good morning, Fort McMurray, wood, Buffalo, and the rest of the world. You've tuned into the Mac Sydney morning show. I'm your host, Elliot Pierre. And we're going to start this episode off the same way we start every episode off with a moment of gratitude. I know you could be doing a million other things with your time. So the fact that you're spending with us truly does mean the world to me. So thank you on that note, Tanner hit him with the intro.
Speaker 1 00:00:24 Oh, she caught me, loves near listen to the next anymore.
Speaker 0 00:00:29 All right. We're back. Today's going to be a fun episode. It always is. I think this gentleman has the record for being on the show the most times at this point, I think this is his third visit. He's the third visit aired. There we go. And so, uh, anyways, as you guys know, I don't introduce my guests. I let them do that themselves. So on that note, sir, can you please re-introduce yourself to people at home?
Speaker 2 00:00:50 Well, thanks Elliot and Tanner is always a pleasure to come up here. And I guess today I'm a, um, I'm here as a, to be reelected the ward one, right as a, I just finished a couple of terms and they weren't easy terms. Um, I still want to serve the community. Um, I, I realized after five terms with the Catholic school district and how the provinces, uh, handling the pandemic, it was best to pass that torch if you will. And, uh, focus on, uh, I think we have a need, uh, to, to carry on what we carried on, I guess, 13 and 14 to try to right size our city and get things back to where we were. I know that when we started in 30, we lost our way with industry. We got them back at the table, you know, they were always good supporters, but for some reason, uh, with some old fi outside influence, they, they seem to, uh, you know, uh, knocking on the doors, but nobody was listening.
Speaker 2 00:01:49 So I think there's work to do or some great partners, you know, serving eight years on council. I've, uh, I've learned quite a bit about myself. Uh, not always, right. You don't need to take more time to listen. And, uh, but I'm always been grateful because, uh, you know, I was thinking I'm gonna drive this morning. Uh, this community has given me everything, you know, a family farm. And, uh, I feel like a bit of a, uh, even though it wasn't born here, but when I left high school and came here, made a lot of good friends. And, uh, that's the reason why back here tonight, because I did think over the summer, uh, it was time for me to slip back and probably just have a job there with the chief for now and see how that goes. But, uh, after the council meeting, I would oversee Mrs V and a few other seniors, and they reminded me in 97.
Speaker 2 00:02:47 I have a little picture that I shared with you, my two girls and, uh, the nicest woman I've ever met in my mother-in-law. And, uh, Steve has gone, no cancer took him as well. And that's why the pink is outdoor. So he's not just Steve, I've lost a few, including my mother. And, uh, so it didn't look like, uh, they felt it was fair to, to check out. Uh, I started to realize that we can go back as a council. And I guess the first thing we need to do is realize our place with our citizens, our bosses. And obviously we can't be at task with administration on every issue. But when I first came in council, I remember, uh, my first winter, for some reason, there wasn't out new year's Eve, new counselor and the lights and the power was out in Gregoire. And I think it was about 11 o'clock at night.
Speaker 2 00:03:45 And I figured, you know, we had some people out there need to be looked after. So, uh, you know, call George and Phil at the school districts and ask them if we could use the school if need be and go around, helping NACCHO knows. But where I came from was an org chart that had an uncalled person that I couldn't get ahold of, nobody from senior admitted at that time. And that was, uh, you know, to make, make the record straight. That was a 2013. One of the first things I guess we did was we got ourselves on the org chart because I wouldn't think that people, you know, one of our key jobs as a counselor is to keep the city safe and, uh, we're not perfect, but, uh, like the twin Polly's, for example, the motion I put forward, it wasn't put forward to terror Donald because he didn't like him.
Speaker 2 00:04:33 It was unsightly, but it was unsafe. We have people living there and that's part of counsel's job. Right. You know, and I think that we need to go back to our core pillars of protective services, community services, and making sure that we are preparing our residents for the moral, because when we take that hit and five to one tax ratio, you know, from, from having taken Combs of over a billion are going to be shrunk to over half of that, but we'll still have the infrastructure to manage and run. And I think that when you sit back and you think about all that, what a great opportunity to join a new mayor, a new, a team of counselors, uh, Joey by, uh, a couple of short lady, J uh, culture shroud, I don't think is a secret that, uh, you know, as much as we lock horns sometimes.
Speaker 2 00:05:23 So I have nothing but respect for JV. She knows that. I'll tell ya, uh, if Jane could have the streets paved with gold, rural, uh, she would, but, but what would you expect from a counselor? That's, that's her ward. And after I got to know Jane, she takes five minutes, every golf shot, but she cares about her people at Christmas time, she's unsalted me and there to make sure people have stuff. And she's also an elder, you know? So, uh, uh, Cedars were always good to be, you know, my kids I've ever Mr. Vertical, uh, give my kids first bugs. Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:06:02 Well, it's a Testament to you, Keith, I've got to give you tons of credit. And like you said before, you've done it for eight years now. You're coming back again. And the last few years in Fort McMurray have not been easy years to say the least between the wildfires, since you've been on two floods, and now we're dealing with the pandemic. So for you to come back and have that passion about Fort McMurray is really saying something about you and your character, because you don't have to come back.
Speaker 2 00:06:28 Well, I certainly don't need a job. I got, I think I have a good job. Uh, but you look back at the wildfire, uh, the flood, the pandemic, you don't this community. Hasn't had a break in about five years. Yeah. We have a lot of people that are taken from our community and not give them back. That that creates an angst of as all, you know, we have rural versus urban or downtown versus up the hill. They don't, we, we need to go back to our roots. And when we have these catastrophic failures and before we do there's many, many good people, uh, from industry that could actually help us, we just need to get the, uh, the relationships back in order and the, uh, egos out of the way to, uh, to springboard those relationships, because there's some awful good talent in this community that can build a Dyke 24 hours a day.
Speaker 2 00:07:22 Yeah. They can help you out with protective services, human relations, uh, anything, any kind of branding, you know, they are our partners. They, they actually paid 95% of our tax base. Not because I'm favored. I was at the end of the day, uh, heroin. They keep heroin to show good at. Uh, so, and I think our focus has gotta be maybe it's the last winter road, something that we could work with, Senator a black gun that we started last last may. Uh, we have some, some relationships with the province and the federal government that takes some responsibilities that some of those older ships back. Right.
Speaker 0 00:08:01 Great. So I've got a question for you cause, uh, you actually, like, we've talked about having experience on council before with all of these new counselors, there's going to be, the majority are going to be fresh. They're going to be green. Is there any advice that you could give to all the candidates that are running till who, when they win? What's it going to look like when they on day one, when everybody sits around that table?
Speaker 2 00:08:23 Well, I know I'm not going to lie my first day. I was certainly an unwelcome guy and I know there's a counselor dirty. He's not there anymore, but, uh, I know that there's a few counselors who could tell you why that happened, but it's so overwhelming. You know, you have literally taken the responsibility of the safety of our citizens. That's that's number one. And then you have to make sure that you don't get into in the way in the weeds of the operation council's role is to create governance and bylaws to create a community that people want to call home. They want to feel safe. And we want to make sure that we steward to the bylaws. And if that means in wintertime, we have to get out of her car and knock on the door and say, Hey, you know, Jesus, it's snow removal day and nine chances out of 10, momma's going to say, Hey, I'm just going to take the kids to school.
Speaker 2 00:09:17 Perfect. That's, that's the sense of community we need to get back to not have a car on the record half and halfway up, and then say, well, maybe, you know what, we've cut you a deal. Yeah. We need to create a community that I grew up in and have many, many people were up in, you know, years ago. Uh, uh, the buzzy A's over there, the Cardinals, uh, you know, we used to take our families over road, Creston Heights to place with beautiful. You don't need to drive through. It was almost like a winter Wonderland if you were. Yeah. And they don't know for years, people get old. Some of those traditions go like, but I'd like to see, you know, like maybe the blueberry festival come back. Everything doesn't have to be a $50 million project. Correct. We need to get out of our way.
Speaker 2 00:10:06 And we have a lot of good people to volunteer in this community. You know, we've got a lady that takes pictures, keeps us counselors abreast of what's going on in all the other thing we'd like to finish and make sure that we're, uh, like I said, we don't get into weeds, but certainly true. Uh, council's quarter that I started in 13 and we, we, uh, we're soon to find out we had a problem with, you know, the morale in our city. We don't manage that, but we only have one employee that's a CAO. And his period of that, uh, we worked through him or her and, uh, our governance be follows our notices of motions that are probably not monetary attached, but it's the will of council. And there's a, uh, motion has passed. It's only right. Those follow the true that's right. And somehow the last few years, we kind of lost that.
Speaker 0 00:11:04 Fair enough. All right, Keith. Well, we're at part of the show called the max CD minute. You've been here before, so you know, is going to hit you up with some questions. That's the luck to you. Tanner hit them up with the Maxine minute.
Speaker 3 00:11:15 Alrighty. Question number one for you. What is your favorite part of being a voice, a voice in the community you call home?
Speaker 2 00:11:25 Well, my favorite part is to, uh, you know, it's, whether it's, uh, a and w to listen to the seniors, want to don't wrong last week, or go to, uh, the lunches, go to, uh, you know, support the kids in our community or the elders, uh, you know, uh, as a counselor, we get to go, uh, to indigenous days, whether it's, uh, treaty days or, or Christmas, I always liked being a part of council at Christmas because that's what council should be, uh, give them back to the community, you know? And I think that's one of the greatest things that would be in a counselor. When you're part of that
Speaker 3 00:12:03 Question. Number two, what is one thing about Fort McMurry that drives you to try and make it better?
Speaker 2 00:12:10 Well, uh, you know what, Tanner, when I got off the bus, I had nothing. It raised a great family, never had the house, got a house, never had had, I always had a dream of having a few old cars saved up. We got those. And, uh, I would say, what makes the keypad one four big worry. I just probably weren't going to retire. I want to be one of those people that maybe has a grind, has a grandkid that can see something that dykes or something that we built, or some of the buildings that we put at caribou park up in newborns. I look around and community, I guess why he stay? I remember ability interpretive center or remember landscape would to say that at school, in Westwood school, remember Frankie Richards, Richard McKenzie, and those guys, uh, get me this old wheel. Rodney is up in heaven. They're now in dance. Even Bobby Howard take me in for Christmases and stuff. So I look around this community. It doesn't matter if it's at a secret or Suncor or down south. I got a story for every stop. I think what I learned is sober. I haven't just got a family. I got a, I got a big fabric. There you go.
Speaker 3 00:13:21 Uh, question number three. What is one thing? What is the thing you find most fun about being in council?
Speaker 2 00:13:31 Well, I, I get amazed sometimes a wash said, yeah. And how it turns out, you know, that's, that's what amazes me, because I think I've been in trouble enough to know that if I tell you something today, be the same story next week. So I've never had a, I don't do well tonight. I've learned the hard way that not all things are equal. He was 40 some times is what you hear at three o'clock. It's not here. What you, what's your hair at seven, eight people talking at that. Amazed me.
Speaker 3 00:14:07 Question number four. What is one place in Fort McMurray that you think has always instilled a sense of community within this town?
Speaker 2 00:14:17 Well, there's going to be a lot of people hate the answer that I'm going to say two places, no lie. You know, whopped me, Torchy, Pete, uh, Tom Weaver, Mr. Weaver Jermaine's was used, you know, the lunatics Lutonix such a digital piece. I called Frederick Donnelly's family. You know, the Causeway that they built and the two P shooters we put underneath for 20 minutes, they were supposed to keep the water from leaving. But what a scene that I figured a lot of work here, you know? And, uh, the second place I know you're not going to believe it. It seems to me, we built a city center back in 30 before it started a council that didn't work good enough. We blew 20 minutes. That's getting scrapped and Owen, somehow we're building the same thing, a block away. We're all what we need. Actually, if we took our city building down there on the snow and we made a boardwalk from that all the way to a home hard hardware, and you fill that up a little few, stand up, open it up to the public and have a nice a permit system where if you want to sell a hot dog, he came for the kids.
Speaker 2 00:15:31 I think that's one thing that's lacking. And it doesn't make a whole lot of money. Cause I don't really see like people think. Why, why did you, why did you go against that park so much? Because I lived through the decision that was made, be it the whole back of the city center he's gone and don't forget it cost about 17 or 18 minutes as a spend, but don't forget the work that goes into that. So we have some, we have some changes and I don't think we need to spend a hundred million streetscape downtown. Maybe if we had a consistent color in our buildings, we can do that. Probably true bylaw. It doesn't take money to fix all the problems. We'd all like we have a beautiful park up there. That'll put a motion for order. Our counselors, uh, supported me as a splash practice. And later on in life, I got the chance to, uh, uh, put forward Dr. Wong's name because everybody knows Dr. Wong. He delivered a lot of kids. So that's, that's what keeps me here. That's what a proud of. I've got a lot of, a lot of things, right? We've got a lot of things wrong and people invested at a time until we, so I'd say you got eight years at Adobe, my apprenticeship, and now I should be able to work with a brand new, uh, people that are independent, uh, and, uh, dare to serve the community.
Speaker 3 00:16:59 And your final question. What is one thing you've done to help forward, make Mary grow that you're most proud of?
Speaker 2 00:17:09 Well, I think I put the, put a few motions forward that, uh, that expedited the, uh, the wood Buffalo recovery committee. We formed that because we knew what it was, lots of talent out in the community. And at the same time we had the ministration had the folded, her hands, keep it rolling. And I guess, you know, people ask me about my, my relationship with indigenous people like brothers and sisters, because they're the ones that I'm connected to because I see some of her pain because a lot of people from east coast had that same pain. And when I drive into a former Marine Mariana lakes, it took a bit of convincing. But up under the sign, when I see the TPS, I wanted to at least head dress, but I never got what a water, but what I got was this is the end of the, don't see <inaudible> territory. Yeah. I've known a lot of great chiefs than a lot of people fed before BRCA in Fort chip, Conklin, JVA, Anzac. Yeah. I've connected with them. All right. Because most were pretty real. And, uh, I, when I walked in also championed I cause,
Speaker 0 00:18:19 And those have been your five questions. There we go. Good job chatter. Thank you. All right. Well, we're coming to the end of the show. My man. So before I cut you loose, everybody gets a shameless shout out or plug. So the Mike's on you, the camera's on you have some fun.
Speaker 2 00:18:34 Well, I want to thank you guys, forgetting to gauged. And uh, I want to say something to the candidates. My first election campaign, I had two sides and a truck and I used to get up every morning. I moved the old black truck around, right. And it was working at 40 and cold and I had to use a photocopier, but I got to say one thing about this group of candidates, if they're going to work together, like, like we have a dis campaign, I think for big worries and for a base change, beautiful change, independent people working for the community because this had to be Lisa's campaign. Even though they had a few old time politicians trying and trip things up, muddy up the waters, the respect that I seen out there, uh, you know, I noticed a couple of fossils about stories and stuff, but Hey, when you write, what do you, when you ran as many campaigns as I did, uh, you find that you keep your sides to yourself, you know, and that never on in front of somebody else's cause that's a sign of respect.
Speaker 2 00:19:32 And another guy told me that if you put a sign up crooked, you're a corporate person. So I try to keep everybody going to level. Um, but I want to say thanks to all the candidates did a Catholic school district. I had 17 years. I served those kids. Beautiful, beautiful experience. So good luck to those trustees, to the forming Marie public school board trustees, to all the, uh, mayor or candidates. And uh, and to all the candidates because once mayor and council is elected, we need to go back and represent for Mariana lakes, to Fort Smith, to for city, everybody in between there all our bosses. We need to make sure that Ottawa and the province remember we're forming Marie is because we take on these big capital projects and get, get about equal to a fly on an elephant's behind. We got big money spent on these projects.
Speaker 2 00:20:32 We have about another half, a billion dollars to finish. So we're going to need a few guys around here that, Hey, you might not like kitty, but we went out like Dolly. We went out like this, ordered that one, but we love for me, Marie. So whoever's in that place with the checkbook, got a former relationship with them. That's what they call business development. Yeah. And for big, Murray's getting shorted as a stick, but I really liked these candidates and this is how we all work together. George's campaign brother. I got to tell you the, the ladies that I served with over the years in different boards, a lot of smart people. And I can tell you that this group of candidates has the nicest kind of vague that I've ever been out. Don't get me wrong. There were still four days left, but we're not out of the woods yet, but there's been a very peaceful campaign, myself and dogger, as everybody knows a bit frightened for a long time. I mean the first Christmas meal and my place, uh, in OB and let's have a storied relationship, but uh, you know what a guy lost his dad. So anybody thinks Lance is a quiet under campaign, you know, why did he lost his dad's or yeah.
Speaker 0 00:21:47 There you go. All right. Well, Keith, thank you very much for coming on the show, man. Can't wait to have you back again and again and again, and good luck with the election coming up, everybody at home, that's been another episode of the Mac city morning show. Once again. Thank you so much for tuning in it truly does mean the world to me. I hope you're having a great day and we'll see you tomorrow. Peace.
