Good morning and thank you all for coming.

This morning marks a very important milestone for Strathcona County.

Since the explosion occurred in the evening on November 6, our staff have gone above and beyond to continue to provide important services to our residents. Over the past 11 days, we have created temporary work arounds to enable over 600 displaced staff to continue to provide service to our community.

Safety has and continues to be the primary consideration going forward. We intend to keep our community informed of the progress we’re making toward transitioning back to the Community Centre.

I am pleased to announce that about 200 employees will be transitioning back to County Hall today. Moving back into County Hall represents a significant moment in our journey to recover County buildings and to return to normal operations. This situation was unique and upsetting, but we have turned the corner. 

While the resiliency of our community was never in question, I remain impressed with the enthusiasm and dedication with which everyone stepped up to support each other. I think we can all take comfort in the fact that our buildings, emergency systems, and responders performed admirably.