Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland with Grande Prairie Mayor Bill Given (photo from the City of Grande Prairie Twitter)

By Emily Keller

politics

Deputy Prime Minister, Grande Prairie Mayor discuss future of natural gas sector

Jan 9, 2020 | 2:20 PM

As part of her tour around Alberta, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland made a short stop in Grande Prairie Thursday to sit down with Mayor Bill Given.

Freeland was in Peace River on January 8, where she met with Mayor Tom Tarpey.

Given believes this meeting was more of a listening mission for Freeland and the federal government.

“I believe that there is a sincere intention to make an effort to really understand the concerns and priorities of communities like Grande Prairie and areas like the Peace Region. I got a strong sense that we will see ongoing engagement from the federal government and likely from the deputy prime minister in the future.”

Mayor Given says the main topic of discussion was the future of the region’s natural gas sector, and that Freeland was well-aware of the potential of the industry to become a ‘bridging energy’ before the meeting began.

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“She also appreciated that there’s a lot of opportunity for value-added product developments other than energy coming off that natural gas resource, but I think Grande Prairie residents and residents of our region would want to ensure that the federal government gets energy policy right and that they have a clearer understanding of the impact that those decisions have on local communities like ours.”

Given adds that he felt the dialogue needed to begin somewhere and that this morning’s meeting was a start.

“At this stage, I would hope that an outcome of a meeting like this would be a more regular communication between the City of Grande Prairie on behalf of our region and the federal government and that conversation and dialogue have the potential to touch a number of different areas that are impactful and meaningful to our community.”

Given says the deputy prime minister had planned to meet with the Chamber of Commerce and host a round table on Thursday as well but was forced to cut the visit short after being asked by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to return to Edmonton following the events of the plane crash in Tehran on January 8.

She began the trip in Edmonton on January 6 where she met with Mayor Don Iveson, before speaking with Alberta Premier Jason Kenney and Mayor Naheed Nenshi in Calgary on January 7.