Red Deer Minute: Apprenticeship Seats, Airport Expansion, and Transit Strike Averted

Red Deer Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of Red Deer politics

This Week In Red Deer:

• On Tuesday, there will be a City Council meeting at 10:30 am. Council will discuss the purchase, installation, and partial completion of the connection of electrical services for the Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) Compressor system at the Emergency Services Training Grounds. Also on the agenda are amendments to the Council Recognition Policy that would increase the value of the gift outgoing elected officials receive from $250 to $500, and decrease the value of the gift for incoming elected officials from roughly $2,400 to $500.
  
  
• Also on Tuesday, at 5:00 pm, the Red Deer & District Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) Board will meet. The Board will review a report from the Program Specialist which indicates that three “Capacity Building Grants” have been awarded - one for the Mustard Seed for Suicide Intervention Training in the amount of $3,640, one for a Staff Mental Health and Resiliency Program at the Turning Point Society in the amount of $8,200, and another for the Professional Development of Staff and Board at the African Caribbean Centre of Central Alberta in the amount of $2,000. The Board will finish the meeting in a closed session to discuss financial reports and an Indigenous Funding Request Letter.
  
  
• On Wednesday, the Red Deer Recovery Summit will take place. This event will gather community leaders, experts, and concerned citizens to engage in meaningful dialogue about recovery efforts following significant events or challenges.The aim is to demonstrate the community's commitment to become a recovery focused city. Ticket sales have ended, but if you’re going, we’d love to hear what you took away from the event.

Last Week In Red Deer:

• The Red Deer Regional Airport has officially advanced to Phase 2 of its expansion project, which includes the construction of a new passenger service terminal. At an informal open house, Red Deerians learned about the airport's commitment to enhancing its facilities and services for travelers in the region. The expansion project is a promising sign of growth and progress for our community, and hopefully will attract a low cost passenger airline in the near future. This phase should be complete in one year.
  
  
• The Province announced $800,000 in funding for Red Deer Polytechnic to add 138 apprenticeship seats. In June, the institution received $1.3 million from the Province as part of the Apprenticeship Learning Grant, which added 222 seats. RDP says it is the third largest educator of apprenticeship programming in Alberta, and has trained more than 2,000 apprentices this year.
  
  
• A transit strike has been averted after members of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) voted to accept binding arbitration in a dispute with their employer (the City of Red Deer). The ATU represents about 130 transit workers (mostly bus drivers), and after members initially voted in favour of a potential strike and performed a practice picket, they ultimately decided on allowing an arbitrator to come to a decision. The ATU said they were particularly moved by a plea from the Red Deer Polytechnic students’ association to resolve the dispute before a strike caused serious disruption to their ability to get to class, and that they wanted to achieve a fair deal with the City without burdening those who depend on them for transportation.

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