Through economic boom and wildfire: Fort McMurray region's longest serving mayor leaves office

Melissa Blake might be leaving the mayor's chair in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo,but she's adamant she's not leaving Fort McMurray.

As she ends 19 years of public service in Canada's second largest municipality by size, she wants toextinguish rumoursthat she's packing up and moving to Calgary afterher replacement is elected on Monday.

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In an interview with CBC News, Blake confirmed she's not joining any exodus of residents, including one municipal councillor not seeking re-election, who have left or will be packing up after the May 2016 wildfire which decimated parts of the community.

"The one thing that has got under my skin is the folks that think I called somewhere else home," Blake said, leaning on the granite countertop in the kitchen of her homein the Fort McMurray subdivision of Timberlea.

"I never left the community," she said. "And people have this robust rumour that I live somewhere else, and it is just insane that people would not only believe that but continue to perpetuate that. So if you are one of those people that don't think I live here, stop it. It's just not right."

Wood Buffalo mayor still itchin' for a fight

7 years ago

Duration 1:12

Four-term mayor Melissa Blake reflects on her tenure and the enduring rumours over where she lives.

Blake announced last August she would not seek re-election, making way for the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo's firstnew mayor in more than a decade.

Blake, who began her political career as a councillor in 1998 and then rose to mayor in 2004, gave one of her final interviewsThursday as a municipal politician. She is retiring as the regional municipality's longest-serving mayor.

The 47-year-old spoke about two events that catapulted the region and her into the international spotlight the oilsands capital's economic boom and 2016's destructive wildfire.

Successes and a regret

The four-term mayor said one of her achievements was steering the region through its explosive boom times, which began in the late O.A.S. and ended in 2014 when the price of oil crashed.

During the boom the region saw billions of dollars in investment, a ballooning population and municipal resources struggling to keep up with growth.

Blake, who described the boom times as like drinking from a fire hose, led the municipality and worked with the government of Alberta as subdivisions were built, roads and bridges opened and Highway 63 was twinned.

The expansion of MacDonald Island Park, a recreational facility which bills itself as Canada's largest community recreation, leisure and social centre, was one of her proudest achievements.

"I had such absolute resistance from people," Blake said, adding that the opposition was forgotten once the $278million facility opened and became the hub of the community.

The project that fills the mayor with regret is the redevelopment of Fort McMurray's downtown.

"We had this downtown that was looking tired," Blake said. "And the downtown is ripe for development."

The municipality had plans to build a downtown arena, a walking bridge to MacDonald Island Park, and redevelop the city's waterfront. But falling oil prices, the project's projected cost and a lack of support from councilput the plans on hold.

Survivor's guilt

During an interview before Christmas last year, Blake admitted she suffered from survivor's guilt following the Fort McMurray wildfire.

She said the weight of speaking to people who lost everything and who could not be in their homes for Christmas was so overwhelming she could not bring herself to put up a Christmas tree.

• Survivor's guilt weighs heavily on Fort McMurray mayor on first Christmas after wildfire

The wildfire caused Canada's costliest insured disaster destroying 1,958 structures.

RAW: Christmas guilt hits Fort McMurray Mayor

8 years ago

Duration 2:04

In a year-end interview with CBC Fort McMurray correspondent David Thurton, Mayor Melissa Blake speaks candidly about her own mental well being after Mays wildfire.

But the mayor said the burden of guilt was lifted on May 3, the fire's one-year anniversary. In the midst of a busy day of events, hosting Premier Rachel Notley and provincial and national media, one moment stood out.

She saw a family pushing a baby in a stroller and writing a message on a card and attaching it to signs in Snye Point Park,where the main events were happening.

Blake read the message.

"And they were happy and excited and grateful," she said. "And for me it was that show of resilience and that honest-to-God character that keeps me so proud of my citizens."

Blake added: "As I say, when I woke up [the day after the wildfire anniversary]that day was over, and the rest of our life was ready to go."

No job or political prospects

Blake said once the mayor and council is sworn in she will be unemployed. She said she has no job or political prospects lined up.

However, the soon-to-be former mayor is looking forward to being a homemaker. Blake said she wants to focus on her boys, ages 8 and 13, her husband,Peter Jurak, and their pug, Louie.

She also plans to tackle the mess in her basement, which she said, makes her look like a hoarder.

"Day oneof the new Melissa it's a lot of house cleaning," she said. "I've got this large house that has 20 years of neglect for all the years I was in the office. I didn't have time to deal with this, that or the other thing."

Follow David Thurton, CBC'sFort McMurraycorrespondent, onFacebook,Twitteror contact him viaemail.