Photo: Government of Alberta

By Shane Clausing

YEAR-END INTERVIEW

Grande Prairie MLA Tracy Allard reflects on whirlwind 2020

Dec 26, 2020 | 5:00 AM

In what has been a challenging year for many residents in Grande Prairie and throughout Alberta, Grande Prairie MLA Tracy Allard says that she was happy to see the community continue to grow and show its strength in 2020.

“I would say the strongest theme we’ve seen is resilience coupled with kindness,” said Allard in reflection of the year 2020.

“What I mean by that is I see in the residents of Grande Prairie a true resiliency, a capacity to rise above any challenge and to band together in kindness for the greater good.”

“I believe we led the province in terms of generosity, our ability to think through a problem and our ability to be creative and innovative about how we can solve it. I continue to be incredibly proud of the work that I do for the constituency, but also of the constituency that I represent. There’s just such incredible people in the Peace Region.”

This year, the Grande Prairie area also saw some major infrastructure projects completed and announced. Allard tells EverythingGP that a lot of these were a long time coming.

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“Cutting the ribbon at the Grande Prairie (Regional) Hospital was a long time coming. I’m really delighted for that project to be moving ahead and see people in 2021 actually be able to access care in that facility. That will be a banner day.”

Allard also mentioned the importance of the twinning of 19 kilometres of Highway 40 south of Grande Prairie, which was announced in February.

Allard says while it was nice to see various different projects be completed or get underway, her biggest takeaway from the year was seeing how the City of Grande Prairie and local businesses were able to keep showing signs of community strength despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I think of businesses… who’ve done campaigns and have really stepped up in the middle of a pandemic. They’ve given back to the community and I think it’s really inspiring.”

“All things considered, I think Grande Prairie has done really well. Economically, I don’t think there’s been a region that hasn’t been impacted with the pandemic, the economic global recession and the world oil crash.”

“With respect to how Grande Prairie has responded, I am incredibly proud of the citizens, health care workers, frontline workers, teachers and physicians. So many people have stepped forward and said that ‘I want to be a part of the solution’.”

“And thank you to our Mayor and Council in the City, County and M.D. for working in collaboration with Municipal Affairs and with our government to serve the people the best way we can.”

A major story that broke in the City of Grande Prairie this year was Mayor Bill Given announcing is resignation from office, effective December 31.

Allard says that she’s had grear experiences with Mayor Given and wished him the best.

“I think I’m learning that when you go into public life, somehow, people don’t look at you as just a person. People maybe don’t understand the sacrifice that entails, in terms of time away from your family and the comments you endure on social media from people who aren’t fans of what you’re doing.

“I just want to thank Mayor Given for decades of service to our province and in particular, the people of Grande Prairie.”

With two COVID-19 vaccines now approved in Canada, it seems that as we head into 2021 more good news is ahead.

However, as good news is coming, economic uncertainty created by the pandemic still remains. Allard thinks Grande Prairie and the Peace Region could help lead the way for the province in recovering from the pandemic.

“We have been exceptional at investment attractions, granted we have some natural resources that have helped in that end, but we also have some real visionaries, true entrepreneurs and the entrepreneurial spirit that is embodied in the Peace Region.”

“I believe that we will work collectively, I believe that we’ll work quicker than some other jurisdictions and I believe we’ll see a real bounce back in recovery in 2021. I’m very excited to see that happen. It’s time for Alberta to have some good news.”

While there was lots of up and downs for the province and Peace Region in 2020, Allard was met with a big surprise this year.

Less than a year after she was elected into office, Allard was named the Minister of Municipal Affairs for the province. Allard said that she never could have imagined being in a cabinet position this early in her political career.

“You could’ve knocked me over with a feather when the Premier called me on August 23 and then only 48 hours, I was being sworn in. It was all just a whirlwind.”

She added that she’s learned a lot over this past year.

“For myself personally, 2020 has been a year of introspection, growth and asking harder questions and really looking at what matters. If it’s taught me anything it’s taught me not to take for granted the things that I have in the past.”

“I certainly won’t take for granted a Thanksgiving dinner with family in the future. Things that we’ve always had, seeing them not be available in 2020 has really made me re-evaluate what matters the most. I hope that some people will really see some value for themselves in this year as well.”

With 2020 winding down, Allard wanted took some time to thank the residents of Grande Prairie.

“Thank you to the people of Grande Prairie for putting their faith and trust in me. I know it’s been a challenging year and there’s been a lot of bumpy moments and I just wanted to thank people for their patients, kindness and to wish them a happier and brighter 2021.”