New Ideas, New Attitude, New Vision

Greg Sawchuk announces his candidacy for Reeve.

It was the worst-kept secret, Greg Sawchuk laughed in front of a crowd of supporters at his family’s Muriel Creek Ranch House, on Thursday evening, as he announced his intention to run for the position of Reeve for the Municipal District (MD) of Bonnyville. Sawchuk says he plans on running on a platform of new and open corporation with neighbouring municipalities, to leave old grudges in the past and move to work together for the better of the area.

Although Sawchuk does not have a background in politics, having never serving a seat on Council, he believes the years of military training, including 14 years flying search & rescue helicopters in the Canadian Air Force, has given him the leadership training necessary to hold the position. Sawchuk serves on the Co-op board; which operates similar to a municipality, in that the board of directors have one employee, the General Manager. The Board gives direction to the GM to carry out the everyday business. Whereas Council and Reeve have one employee, the Chief Administrative Officer, who takes direction from the Council and Reeve to carry out the business of the MD.

Along with that, for the last six months, Sawchuk has been attending a number of Council meetings; not just in the MD, but in the Town of Bonnyville and Lac La Biche County to better prepare him for the job and get him in touch with the issues that affect the region. “Having attended meetings and having attended meetings, all over, I know that I could qualify. I can take on the position [of Reeve]. I have leadership training, through the military and all sorts of leadership training comes from the Co-op.”

Sawchuk is a successful farmer and entrepreneur; who was one of the pioneers in the area for solar energy. The Muriel Creek properties, which include the farm, solar energy company, and the ranch house, are located between Cold Lake and Bonnyville in the MD. As Sawchuk puts it, “living here all these years has made me very aware of the issues, and fighting between the municipalities.”

Sawchuk stands strong that regionalization, or amalgamation is not his solution and he would not seek that out. Noting that Mayor of Cold Lake, Craig Copeland, has opening stated that he believes regional government will better the Lakeland region. Sawchuk however, believes that by working better with the other towns, cities, and counties in the area, they can achieve stronger relationships and help one another achieve goals; all while looking out for what’s best for their people. “Urban Councillors won’t understand the needs of rural people. You need rural Councillors for rural people.”

“We’re going to have to see who’s elected. It could be a whole bunch of new people at the table (of every municipality),” Sawchuk says there’s the possibility that there will be fresh faces all around. “It has to be put out there, right from the beginning, we have to get along. If we don’t get along, according to the MGA (Municipal Government Act), these amendments coming forward, the Provincial Government is going to make us get along and we may not be happy with some of those results.”

Other issues important to Sawchuk are the IMCP (Inter-Municipal Corporation Partnership) Funds. The MGA is implementing “sharing” of funds from the larger municipalities to the smaller in the fall. These will be mandatory of the MD, who has already launched the program. Last year sharing over $5 million to help Glendon, Bonnyville and Cold Lake with essential programs and upgrades. The idea being that MD residents utilize the services and infrastructure of these communities and should contribute to the maintenance and upgrades to facilities and infrastructure. Sawchuk says the IMCP and what requirements the Alberta government puts on the MD will be one of his top priorities.

Public Safety was another issue Sawchuk brought up, saying he will work to ensure MD residents can feel safe. “Everyone has a story,” Sawchuk says he’s spoken with many MD residents who have been affected by crime. He plans to discover why the area is being targeted and how he, the MD, its peace officers, and the RCMP can work together to help reduce and eliminate crime. He’ll also work in better educating people in safe guarding their property.

Continued maintenance of MD roads is important to Sawchuk. He does believe a better system needs to be put in place to determine which roads will be invested on. He proposes a new system that uses usage rates, how many residents live on the road and the conditions of the roads to determine which roads would be repaired. Questioning why the road to Kinisoo Ridge Ski Resort is not in better shape, “that’s supposed to be the gem of the MD and the road going out there is terrible.” He notes that last he traveled the highway it was in rough shape, full of pot holes, ruts and mud.

“It comes down to personality,” Sawchuk says that with his williness to work with neighbouring communities, he can lead the MD in the direction it needs to be going. “The job requires somebody who is a spokesperson for the MD. [The Reeve] helps set the vision and guide the conversation and is the consensus building. Those are all really personality traits I can bring to the table.”