WORKING ON quality of life

It is important for the City to make reasonable investment into Quality of Life for residents. People deserve to enjoy where they live. Opportunities to build friendships enhance safety. And having an attractive community to live in is vital to our economy by supporting labour attraction and retention.

 

If re-elected, I intend to advocate for:

  • Continued reform to Council’s Community Group Funding framework. Funding decisions should be more transparent, streamlined, and aligned with community priorities. Once funding is set at an appropriate level, it must keep up with population plus inflation growth. Ensuring volunteers and non-profits are adequately supported is a much more cost effective way to build Quality of Life than having the City deliver programs on its own.

  • Creating a long term roadmap for the development of major recreation and culture facilities, including a basic fitness and teaching pool on the Avondale site. We do not need major investments now, but we will need them eventually as the City grows. We should have a plan to build them out effectively and without having an undue impact on tax rates.

  • Increased staff resources be put into developing and supporting Neighbourhood Associations. If properly fostered, Neighbourhood Associations are an excellent tool to recruit volunteers, raise private funding, and provide advice to the City to enhance their communities.

  • Close gaps in the City’s Active Transportation Network. A plan should be put in place to make this happen within the next 5 years.

  • Exploration of an indoor park and garden space on the Montrose Cultural Centre site to help residents maintain mental health through our long winters. This could be used to attract private investment in downtown housing.

  • Working with community partners to continue enhancing opportunities for young adults without children and seniors to connect with others and have fun. These are two demographics that frequently move from Grande Prairie. Retaining them will help our community and economy.

  • Continued support of Maskwa Medical Clinic and other efforts to attract and retain medical professionals to our community and enhance residents’ access to healthcare.

 

During my time on Council, the following work has been done to enhance Quality of Life:

  • Creating and implementing an Aging Well Together plan to enhance opportunities for seniors

  • Implementing a municipal Health Care Strategy and supporting Maskwa Medical Clinic to enhance residents’ access to quality medical care

  • An overhaul of the City’s approach to Boards and Committees to give more voice to the Youth Advisory Council, Neighbourhood Associations, and other bodies made up of everyday residents. This allows for feedback and ideas outside of City Hall to be heard and acted on.

  • The building of Keyera Place in Smith, the bike skills park in Crystal Lake, and a recreation dome in Trader Ridge to enhance recreation opportunities on the north end of town with cost effective facilities.

  • Restructuring of the Transit system to re-align routes with growth, introduction of On Demand Transit for neighbourhoods with low ridership, and the introduction of free Transit for youth.

  • A focus on getting more services built east of the train tracks. A new grocery store in Cobblestone, activity Centre in Smith, and bike park in Crystal Lake are new services that eastside residents can now access without crossing the tracks.

  • Enhancing regional collaboration with other municipalities to enhance services and efficiency through collaboration. Negotiating a Recreation and Culture Cost Sharing Agreement with the County of Grande Prairie to make the funding of these services more sustainable fair to City residents.

Do you have questions, ideas, or feedback? I’d love to hear from you! Find me on social media (@DylanBresseyGP) or click here to contact me.