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Cuff report worth reading

Unless you've been hiding under a rock and avoiding print and broadcast media sources for the past week or so, you're probably well aware the Cuff report on the inspection of the City of Cold Lake showed up in Cold Lake on Wednesday evening.

Unless you've been hiding under a rock and avoiding print and broadcast media sources for the past week or so, you're probably well aware the Cuff report on the inspection of the City of Cold Lake showed up in Cold Lake on Wednesday evening.

It's also now posted on both the City of Cold Lake's website, as one might expect, and on the MD of Bonnyville's website, which may be a bit of surprise. After all, MD officials, including Reeve Ed Rondeau, have talked in the past about the report being a report on Cold Lake, and not much else. Cold Lake's viability wasn't deemed to be an MD issue.

Well, it certainly has been by Cuff.

While the veteran consultant and former Spruce Grove mayor has lots to say in his report about a lot of things that have nothing to do with Cold Lake's neighbours, he also spends a significant amount of time commenting on the city's relationship with the MD, and to a much lesser extent, the Town of Bonnyville and Village of Glendon.

That reality is encouraging. While Cuff is no shrinking violet by any means, the fact his report spends a lot of time on the relationships between the municipal players is a recognition that the province could believe there should be strong relationships among our local governments.

One passage in Cuff's report, in particular, seems to sum up his sentiments. It appears on page 198 of the document, and reads: “The viability of the City of Cold Lake is critical to the good of the region as a whole… The MD cannot be content to have ‘peace' with its neighbours in Glendon and Bonnyville and be saddled with a full load of grief and lost expectations with the city. Not solving the issues should not be considered a solution.”

While citizens of the Town of Bonnyville haven't appeared to have suffered much as a result of Cold Lake's tenuous relationship with the MD (some might argue it has actually benefited Bonnyville), Cuff's report clearly suggests there needs to be a strong focus on mending municipal fences in the region. One of the best ways to do that, it would seem, is to be aware of everyone's challenges.

That's why it's good to see both the city and the MD post Cuff's report on their websites. While media outlets can certainly provide the gist of the report to their readers and listeners, a website download is clearly the best way to distribute a controversial document with 200+ pages.

Doing so gives citizens of the region a chance to better understand the issues and challenges.

We encourage our readers to log on to www.md.bonnyville.ab.ca or www.coldlake.com for broader understanding on the Cold Lake/MD/region situation, and also to provide their council members with some feedback on the issue.




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