ATHABASCA – A highway rescue service that runs from Atmore to Mariana Lake is expected to stay on Athabasca County’s books, despite lobbying efforts from the county and the area's MLA, Glenn van Dijken.
During the Jan. 30 council meeting, van Dijken joined councillors to talk about the future of the road rescue service, which is currently jointly funded by the province and Athabasca County until April 2026.
“We need to have ongoing annual funding to continue to ensure traveller safety,” said Reeve Tracy Holland.
The program, which was introduced in 2011, has been funded through short-term agreements between the two institutions. When it was most recently up for renewal in April 2024, the county was left waiting until the last minute before it heard the project would be funded again.
“When it became a concern that it was going to be a program that was no longer available Municipal Affairs did step up and commit to funding for an additional two years, with the understanding that there was hopefully going to be collaboration between the three municipalities that are impacted by that section of road: Athabasca County, Lac La Biche, and Wood Buffalo,” said van Dijken.
van Dijken encouraged council to continue to lobby Municipal Affairs on the topic, but said he had been consistently hearing that the department considered the project to be a subset of emergency response, which is a municipal responsibility in Alberta.
For its part, the county has contested the classification, pointing to the isolated nature of the road and its importance for the economy as reasons it should be a provincial job.
“From my perspective, it’s important that the government understands that this is not a municipal responsibility; this is a piece of road unlike almost any other road in the province,” said Coun. Brian Hall. “It’s the single thread connecting (Fort McMurray) and unlike other highways, there isn’t a community every 30 km to help out.”
Athabasca County has long argued that it’s unfair that it bears the brunt the responsibility for the roadway, which is the only way in and out of Fort McMurray, at least for the time being. Despite that, van Dijken said the province views it the same as any other road, and is worried other municipalities would ask for a similar service if it funded the one in Athabasca.
“I understand the concern about the highway being essentially different from most highways in the province, but I also hear from other municipalities about their concerns with the same statements about stretches of road between northern communities,” said van Dijken.
The MLA’s arguments about fairness didn’t appear to sway councillors. Coun. Gary Cromwell, who was elected in Division 6 which includes Wandering River, pointed out service inequalities across the northern section of the province.
“We could talk about fair treatment and what the north doesn’t get that what most of the more urban municipalities do get,” said Cromwell.
“Just in the lines of internet, power affordability, cellular coverage. There are many things that could be considered fair that aren’t fair to the North and sometimes you have to give up one to take another.”
The last point brought up by the table was safety — as Coun. Ashtin Anderson pointed out, the rescue program fills a gap in the emergency response in the area, which can save lives.
“I encourage you to use that strategy of response in your discussions with neighbouring municipalities as a critical part of building that case,” said van Dijken.
