Morinville needs more industrial land and it should annex part of Sturgeon County to get it, says a candidate for town council.
Rob Ladouceur entered the race for Morinville town councillor last week. The 31-year-old power engineer with Enbridge Pipeline has lived in town for about six years and has been a frequent sight in council chambers in recent months.
“I want to help shape the future of Morinville,” Ladouceur said, “and I want to make sure Morinville is run in a financially-responsible way.”
Although he has never run for office, Ladouceur says he’s been working in political campaigns for people such as former MLA and Fort McMurray mayor Guy Boutillier since he was 12. He stepped down as a member of the Wildrose Party’s executive last November.
“Provincially, there’s always the party line which you have to toe,” Ladouceur said, when asked why he chose not to run provincially. “I felt I could make more of a difference here municipally.”
Ladouceur currently volunteers with the Kinsmen Club of St. Albert and was a volunteer director for this year’s Rainmaker Rodeo. He also coaches basketball with the Morinville Roadrunners.
If elected, Ladouceur said he’d want council to make a solid plan to fund the construction of a new recreation centre.
“We’ve talked a lot about the fact that we want one,” he said, and now’s the time for the town to figure out what tax money it wants to put into it and what it needs from its regional partners.
“I still think we’re four to five years away from starting construction,” he continued, but it’s important to start this work today and not just research it. (Council is set to work on a multi-use recreation facility strategy later this year, he acknowledged.)
In addition to seeing downtown storefronts spruced up under the Coeur de Morinville plan, Ladouceur called for the creation of more senior and youth programs in town, both of which would be helped by the construction of a recreation facility.
But the town will need more industrial development to fund such a centre, he continued, lest the tax burden fall entirely on the residential sector. Pools and rec-centres are very expensive, as shown by St. Albert’s Servus Credit Union Place, and the town would see big tax hikes without industrial growth.
Ladouceur called for the expansion of industrial land in Morinville, “which may require some annexation from (Sturgeon) County.”
The town’s industrial zones are full, he said, but its population is still growing, and will soon hit 10,000 residents. The town has to explore all possible means of getting more industrial land, including annexation, he said.
When it was pointed out that the county might not be too keen to discuss annexation (given its recent battles with St. Albert over it), Ladouceur joked that, “The good news is that I know (county Mayor Don Rigney) and I hope he won’t shoot me if he sees me coming!”
Ladouceur said he would bring a fresh set of eyes to council if elected, as well as a background in project management.
“I’ve experienced tremendous growth in Fort McMurray,” he said. “I’ve seen what worked and what didn’t.”
Photo radar and leadership will likely be big issues in this campaign, he predicted.
“I think we have some really strong people in council, and I think I’d be a good addition to those people.”
The Gazette will profile other candidates as they come forward.
