AB - Enoch Cree & Paragon Gaming
Enoch band rejects contract for Parkland ambulances
Joel Kom, The Edmonton Journal, Friday, December 22, 2006
EDMONTON - The Enoch Cree Nation will lose its ambulance service next month after negotiations for a service agreement were scuttled by the reserve’s band council.
The Parkland Ambulance Authority, which has provided ambulance service without charging the reserve for the past 20 years, served notice Thursday it would stop sending its ambulances for the reserve’s approximately 900 residents beginning Jan. 20.
The move comes after about six months of serious negotiations for a service contract between Parkland and the reserve were dealt a heavy blow by the reserve’s band council last week.
Legal counsel for Parkland, the reserve and Paragon Gaming, which runs the two-month-old River Cree Resort and Casino, had settled on a deal that would see the reserve and casino pay for ambulance service.
But the deal was rejected at a band council meeting last week. That was followed by the notice Parkland delivered Thursday, though it is now in separate negotiations with River Cree management for a new agreement and will keep providing service there.
David Warhaft, Parkland’s chief administrative officer, said demand at the reserve had spiked in recent years because of the economic boom. That led to the need for a flat fee, he said.
He wouldn’t disclose the amount the reserve would have been charged, though he said it was in line with what Parkland charges to other rural areas.
Warhaft said he didn’t know why the deal was rejected, but Parkland would be willing to re-open negotiations. Enoch Cree Nation officials could not be reached for comment.
jkom@thejournal.canwest.com
© The Edmonton Journal 2006
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