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Civic politicians in Williston want the camp gone and have voted to give all camp operators within the boundaries of the city notice that they will need to clean up and leave this July. The deadline is an attempt to turn the city’s transient workers, who fly in and out on work shifts, into permanent, property-tax paying residents.

It has also put the local government in the middle of a fight between the energy industry, which has threatened legal action if they are kicked out, and real-estate developers that are keen to sell or rent their apartments and condos to oilfield workers currently in camps.

Across the border, officials in Canadian cities are, like their southern counterparts south, also trying to figure out the best way to move oilfield workers from camps into permanent housing.

“What we would like to see (companies) do is have workers live in the community and not promote the work camps,” said Craig Copeland, mayor of the heavy oil hub of Cold Lake, Alta.

Allan Vinni, deputy mayor of Wood Buffalo, a large municipality that includes Fort McMurray, notes, “We’ve got tons of condo buildings that are standing empty.”

Vinni introduced a motion in Fort McMurray last week obligating council to find ways to encourage oil companies to move more of their employees into town. A meeting is scheduled with those companies for April 19, and the work-camp situation is the only item on the agenda.

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Vinni said he’s not looking to pick a fight like the one that has broken out in North Dakota, but said Fort McMurray is in the middle of a very difficult economic downturn that could be helped by more permanent residents. “It’s very respectful, but, for us on council, it’s our job to stick up for our town,” he said.