Community Platform

I’m not shy about sharing my ideas. Here you can see my Council Previews where I share my take on major issues before heading into meetings. But we need the entire community working together to build a great Grande Prairie. Which is why my campaign is focused on talking to residents.

Below, I list my priorities for next term. My platform lays out what I intend to advocate for if I get re-elected. But I’m always open to pushback or new ideas. As you read my platform, I’d love to hear from you. What do you think our next Council should be focused on? You can always find me on social media or email me at dylan@bressey.ca. I’m also always happy to meet for coffee or have a phone conversation.

VALUES

As I undertake Council work, TRANSPARENCY is key to everything I do. Residents have a right to know what the City is working on and understand why Council makes the decisions it makes. Transparency is key to allowing residents to become good citizens who hold Council to account in elections and have input into decisions throughout the term. To promote transparency, I’ve published Council Meeting previews, spent a great deal of time talking to residents, and advocated for better communications and engagement from the City.

As I transparently do my work, there’s been three primary values that I’ve applied to decisions. My goal on Council is to make Grande Prairie more sustainable, livable, and connected. What I mean by that:

• Sustainable means having what our community needs to be stable and healthy in the long term. This includes a smart and modern approach to regulation, reasonable taxation, professional asset management, and strong regional partnerships.

• Livable means having what we need to go about our lives. This includes safe communities, a healthy economy, robust transportation networks, help for people who need it, and plenty of opportunities for work, education, and play.

• Connected means having residents feel like they are part of a great community. They have many opportunities to meet other residents and build social networks. There is a robust and healthy non-profit system for residents to contribute to and benefit from. And Grande Prairie is a City people can be proud to live in and excited to visit.

Finally, I put a great deal of work into Advocacy. Through my work with Alberta Municipalities, I’m regularly travelling across the province to tell Grande Prairie’s story. This allows me to be part of pushing for our community’s needs to other orders of government and attracting both private and public investment in our region. It also gives me the opportunity to learn about great ideas and best practices to bring back home.

If re-elected, I intend to advocate for:

• Increasing opportunities for the public to learn about City processes and have meaningful input into Council decisions. Including regular “lunch and learns” where residents can sit with staff members to learn and ask questions about City programs and departments and regular “Ask Council” booths at the Farmers Market and community events.

• Continued focus on delivering City Services more efficiently.

• Creating a Benefit Based Procurement policy to enable City capital spending to provide better benefits to our local community and economy. Ideas within this policy may include a requirement to source locally when legally allowed to do so, and incentivizing some City Contractors to hire people with barriers to employment.

• Commissioning an independent study to benchmark City salaries against comparable positions in the private and non-profit sectors and other government organisations. An Executive Summary of this study should be publicly released. In the community and at Council, I’ve heard lots of conversations about staff compensation. We should be sure to base these discussions on facts and data, not anecdotes.

• Ensuring the Police Transition continues to progress well. We need to deliver a Police Service that is reliable, professional and effective. Base services that are equivalent to what was offered under the RCMP contract should be delivered at our below the cost of maintaining the RCMP. Investments in enhanced levels of service need to have their benefits carefully weighed to their costs.

• Create a long-term roadmap and budget for recreation and culture investments as the City grows. We should have a fiscal plan now so that we can build in the future without having a huge impact on taxpayers’ pocket books.

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.

If re-elected, I will push for us to advocate for:

• Reforms to electricity distribution and transmission fees to make life more affordable for our residents and support investment in Northern Alberta.

• Fair funding of midsized cities and regional service hubs like Grande Prairie. The provincial government provides less funding to cities of our size than it does to Calgary, Edmonton, towns, villages, and counties. That isn’t fair, especially when we are delivering so many services that benefit residents beyond our municipal borders.

• Preserving municipal democracy. Whether it is eliminating Councillor Codes of Conduct, moving to introduce municipal political parties, or removing decision making from communities, the province continues to weaken local democracy. These efforts should be reveresed. In the meantime, Councils need to double down on providing excellent governance to maintain their effectiveness.

• Supporting Maskwa Medical Clinics, attracting medical professionals to our community, introducing a catheterization lab at the Grande Prairie Hospital, and funding medical first response by firefighters are some of many ways we should be encouraging the province to enhance medical care for our residents.

• Provincial and federal support of affordable housing. The reversal of provincial decisions to remove resources and supports from people with disabilities. Taking care of people who need help is the right thing to do. But it is also fiscally responsible since it helps them participate in our community and helps keep people out of our hospitals, shelters, care homes, and jails.

If re-elected, I intend to re-run for my role at Alberta Municipalities. This allows me to dedicate lots of time and build key relationships to advocate for the City of Grande Prairie as well as cities, towns and villages across Alberta. Additionally, my role at ABmunis also allows me to serve on the Alberta Municipal Services Corporation Board which provides insurance, employee benefits, electricity, and other services to both the City and local non-profits. I hope to continue having a direct role in ensuring these services are both sustainable and well priced.