A Special Meeting with MLA Martin Long was held on Monday, March 9, 2020, that focused on local industry and services for residents, including healthcare, emergency services, tourism, and linear assessments.
This meeting was open to the public and was attended by the media and various members of the public. The Special Meeting was an opportunity for Yellowhead County Council and the MLA to talk about various topics regarding the province and the county.
MLA Long gave a financial overview of the province where he stated that Alberta has $70 billion in debt and that revenues are down, resulting in a 2.8% decrease in spending.
Long admitted that communication has not been good and that he aims to communicate better with his constituents on behalf of the Province of Alberta.
The items that were brought forward as areas of concern by the Mayor and Council on behalf of Yellowhead County and discussed by MLA Martin Long were:

• Pine Beetle Control Funding & Plans
• Hinton Visitor Centre Loss of Funding
• Campground Loss of Funding in Yellowhead County
• FCSS Loss of Provincial Funding for Social Services Programs provided by the County
• Assessment Review for Linear Taxes for the County & Downloading of Services by the Province
• Health Care Model and Funding Cuts and How they will Affect Health Services in the County
• Highway Conditions and Lack of Accountability by Contractors for Damaged Vehicles
• Volunteer Firefighting Training Funding Being Cut
• Wildfire Initial-Attack Cutbacks
• RCMP Policing Coverage and Property and Safety Concerns
• Health Cutbacks and Dealing with Pandemics such as Covid-19

MLA Long noted that he would work to get answers from his government for these issues brought forward by the Mayor and Council; and that residents should contact his office with any issues that they have such as cc’ing the MLA’s office for claims with the local highway contractors for vehicles damaged by poor conditions of the provincial highways.