“We are an industry town. We are proud of the fact that we are an industry town but there’s much more to our story,” said Zahara, noting Edson is recognized as a provincial leader in waste management and is hoping to spearhead a network of electric vehicle charging stations among several other green initiatives. “You see a lot of the oil and gas companies that have taken very strict environmental policies, over and above government regulations. Solar panels at lease sites are now a common practice and sharing of roadways between oil and gas and forestry companies is becoming standard.” Fearmongering over oil spills is something that comes up now and again, mostly by outsiders opposed to the Trans Mountain expansion. But Zahara will often remind people the original Trans Mountain pipeline has been operating safely without a significant incident in the region for almost 70 years. Bannister GM’s Brown also shakes his head at the misinformation. “We are an industry town. We are proud of the fact that we are an industry town but there’s much more to our story,”
“I can guarantee you that there is no develop- ment anywhere in the world that even comes close to the environmental standards that have been put on these projects,” he said. REMOTE WORKERS FITTING IN WITH RESI- DENTS, BUSINESSES Perhaps the biggest thing Zahara talks about to his colleagues across Canada not as experi- enced working with industry is how much oil and gas workers become part of the community. “Many remote workers did their Christmas shopping in Edson because they live here six out of seven days of the week with very little down time,” said Zahara. “They go to the Junior A hockey games. They support legion events and all sorts of different things. It has been a huge benefit to have them here.” Some even come and work at local businesses like Urban Image Spa, said owner Lise Pavich, who is training a hydrovac truck worker on the pipelines to become an esthetician. The increase in industrial activity in recent years has benefitted the spa with more demand for services in non-traditional times such as late
evenings and weekends, noting some appoint- ments as late as 10 p.m. Pavich, who has been in Edson since her school years, said the best thing about living in the area is the region’s many natural spaces, something she recognizes industry strives hard to protect. She’s heard stories of projects shutting down for a full day because somebody found a frog, sala- mander or bird’s nest on a site. “We joke about these things because never in my life would I think that they’d shut down a full day of a project because of a frog. But when I hear these things it’s impressive.” COMPANIES GIVING BACK TO COMMUNITY What also constantly impresses Mayor Zahara is how much companies give back. “They know their reputations are reflective of what they do in the community,” he said. For example, he points to one oil and gas company that filled sheds throughout Edson’s green spaces with equipment for kids to play with like frisbees and basketballs.
“They didn’t want any recognition of it. When I said, ‘Let me just do a thank you,’ they said ‘Absolutely not. We want to do this quietly and we just want to make sure that it’s okay that we do this,’” Zahara said. “They live here, they understand our communi- ty and it’s very, very beneficial. They’re the first to help out whenever we need help,” he said, noting a $10,000 corporate cheque that arrived the day after the town’s food bank was broken into. These are the stories and anecdotes Zahara says are important to his colleagues across the country to know, who may be hesitant about a natural resources project or pipeline. Because without the economic growth these projects provide, the long-term existence of many rural Canada communities will be threat- ened. “I am careful not to ram it down their throats, but I tell them to build the relationships with compa- nies, make an opinion for yourself, but speaking about our experience in our community it has been incredibly positive.”
“You see a lot of the oil and gas companies that have taken very strict environmen- tal policies, over and above government regulations.”
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JULY/AUGUST 2022 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • JULY/AUGUST 2022
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