Alberta tackling the oil sands crunch

The Alberta government is bowing to pressure to pump more money into housing, infrastructure and roads needed to handle the oil sands boom.

Energy Minister Greg Melchin said 1,000 acres of government land will be released for new housing, while the timetable for highway work has been cut in half to five years.

The multi-billion dollar program of oil sands expansion has generated a clamor from northeastern Alberta for greater government help.

Melchin said the latest announcements “are first steps to address some of the most immediate pressures.”

Following a two-day visit to the area by 30 government members of the Alberta legislature, he promised that the province will ensure that “long-term strategies support growth in the region.”

To help ease a severe shortage of affordable housing, 371 acres will be made available this summer and improvements to water and waste water treatment facilities will also proceed.

Transportation Minister Lyle Oberg said the push to make area roads safer and less congested will be fast-tracked following an injection of C$200 million in surplus dollars.

An original plan called for road works costing C$530 million over the next 10 days, but that schedule will be cut in half, with most of the major projects taking less than three years, he said.

In a separate development, the Fort McKay First Nation has teamed up with Edmonton-based Waiward Steel Fabricators to jointly own and operate a C$20 million, 250-acre industrial park north of Fort McMurray.

The facility will support oil sands-related work by offering facilities to manufacture, process and store mechanical, electrical and steel products for industrial use.

Fort McKay Chief Jim Boucher said the park could employ from 250 to 750 people and offer apprenticeship and other training programs.

—Gary Park