MESSAGE FROM THE REEVE

On behalf of my colleagues on MD Council, I'm excited to welcome you to Lesser Slave River's new website and information portal. One of our main responsibilities as administrators is to deliver information in a timely and consistent manner to everyone who lives and works within our communities. This website is going to help us to do just that. Our goal is to make md124.ca your first stop for municipal news, events and resources. We also want to hear from you about the new website and its ability to meet your various communications needs. Whether you friend us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or submit an article for our "This Just In" section, you'll find that we've made it easier than ever before for you to engage your municipality in a two-way conversation.

Some of the other new features of this website include the message you are now reading, and the Council Highlights link directly below it. These are both aimed at relaying Council viewpoints and decisions to you, practically as they happen. I am excited about our new website as a communications tool. In particular, I welcome the opportunity to engage residents and business owners in a more direct, immediate and transparent manner.

I am so very proud to serve as your Reeve and to be a resident of the Lesser Slave River region. Our collective community has been through a great deal in recent years. We've endured wildfires and flooding, and our families and neighbours have faced resulting hardship and losses. Despite these losses, however, we have displayed resiliency, strength, and a positive outlook for which we have become known. We are indeed a "rugged and real" people who have not only weathered the storm, but continue to thrive in our families, our businesses and our communities at large.

Secondary to its purpose as an information resource for those who live within our communities, this website is also designed to tell the Lesser Slave River story to our neighbours far and wide. It showcases the pristine beauty of our region, and it touches on the warmth and resilience of those who call it home. It talks about a robust local economy fed by thriving oil and gas, forestry and agriculture industries. It is the story of our collective past, present and future, and it is one that I am delighted to help tell the world.

Reeve Denny Garratt