WORKING ON ECONOMY

Economic success is key to having a viable community. Residents need to be able to find good jobs that will support their families. Many strong businesses support our vibrant non-profit organisations. And a thriving business community is essential for the City to generate the tax revenue it needs to fund services.

 

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

  • Developing partnerships, strategies, and infrastructure to get development happening on airport lands. Some of this land is City owned, which creates revenue opportunities besides property taxes. Additionally, offering proximity to the airport is one “unfair advantage” the City can deploy to attract taxable industrial property into the City.

  • Council to better partner with and advocate for arts, culture, and sports groups as well as community non-profits. These organizations are a significant part of our economy and need to be recognized as such.

  • Continued efforts to properly manage City expenses to contain tax increases. Appropriately balancing this with the need to maintain the high quality of services Grande Prairie needs to have in order to attract and retain labour.

  • Exploration of an indoor park and garden space on the Montrose Cultural Centre site to help residents maintain mental health through our long winters while also attracting development downtown.

  • Continuing to improve licensing, permitting, inspection and other City processes so that the City doesn’t stand in the way of starting or growing business.

  • Continued strong support of Northwestern Polytechnic’s efforts to innovate and expand its offerings.

  • Continued strong support of Maskwa Medical Center and other efforts to enhance healthcare in our region. Not only is healthcare a strong growth opportunity for our economy, but it is also critical to attracting and retaining labour for all sectors.


 

During my time on Council, I am proud of:

  • The launch of Invest NW and Work NW alongside the County, MD of Greenview, and Chamber of Commerce. These collaborative initiatives are helping our entire region work together to grow economic opportunity.

  • The strong success of Sport Tourism including hosting the 2024 Alberta Winter Games and the National Indigenous Hockey Championships.

  • Sustained efforts to contain spending in order to keep tax increases at less than half the rate of inflation despite rising costs, decreased provincial funding and added services

  • Downtown becoming more vibrant and attractive than it ever has been before

  • Success at supporting both Northwestern Polytechnic and Maskwa Medical Center as they have attracted private capital, provincial investment, and mandates to offer innovative and important services to our community

  • A strong post-COVID recovery for our airport

  • Economic Resiliency being included in Disaster Planning so that economic recovery can be properly supported if we ever face a large disaster in our community

  • Four apartment buildings currently being built in our community. These will help with affordability, generate tax revenue, and make it easier to attract and retain labour to Grande Prairie.

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.