Alberta Town To Be Wiped Off The Map Due To Local Economic Crisis

The Grande Cache town came alive when miners started mining coal from the pits. Currently, the government is thinking of closing the town due to the financial tumble it’s been facing, most especially with the economy crisis, and the need for renovating the town’s buildings. Mayor Herb Castle has taken it upon himself to get a review of the viability of the town.

The mayor wants the town to be dissolved and finally, have the town removed from the map of Canada. This will also render him jobless. It seems that the town’s economic system is not faring well. It just may be a call for it to be finally closed down and follow the dissolution of other villages and towns who plan to do the same because of their financial predicaments. Only six towns finalized their process while the others couldn’t go through.

Grande Cache has high taxation compared to other provinces and looking at the way things are going, for now, funds are lacking for any infrastructural development. Thus, it seems preferable to continue with the dissolution although the town is not facing bankruptcy as at now. Most of the employees were sacked from the coal mine while others got laid off this past Christmas after the underground mines got closed. Most businesses are closing down, the areas look empty, and the cost of a house there along with the population of residents is decreasing rapidly. Gary

Gary Taje who is a local union leader said the people have not been benefiting from the mines, therefore it’s impossible for them to continue. Although the current situation is not one to smile at, there is no other way than to have the council go ahead with their choice of disbanding.

The town’s municipal governance is undergoing review by the Premier Rachel Notley’s government, as a new law that will require provinces to give a portion of their industrial capital with others towns, will be endorsed in the next few months. The review will have an inner look on the town’s financial trades, debts, liabilities; it will mostly involve a thorough check, leaving nothing out. So far the Grande Cache is the largest to undergo this procedure. The main employers that are left in the town are found in Edmonton in the form of a lumber mill that is situated near a government prison. It’s been a tough one for the industry as they haven’t got a renewal of their lease, which is about to expire soon.

Dale Gervais who is the reeve of a nearby town; the Municipal District of Greenview said that “It’s almost a perfect economic storm. There just isn’t enough industry there to support a town of that size.”

If the dissolution is endorsed by the provinces, the town will become a settlement which will be handled by Mr. Gervais. It is better to have the county absorbed since it’s not surprising this was the end of it due to the economic turmoil, said Mr. Gervais. According to him those in the working class will be given jobs by the county in their administrative office in the Grande Cache.