Red Deer Minute: Budget Debates, Sleigh Rides, and Multiple Social Challenges

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

This Week In Red Deer:

• Council is set to get down to business this week starting with the big Multi-Year Budget Review meeting scheduled for today at 10:00 am. During the meeting, Council will provide a budget update, and reaffirm their commitment to a 0% tax increase in 2022. Council will also give first, second, and third readings to a Utility Bylaw Amendment, and an Electric Utility Bylaw Amendment.
  
  
• After the budget meeting, there will be a City Council Special Meeting to deal with two reports — one regarding a Permanent Shelter and the other about the Emergency Housing Crisis. At this meeting, a motion for the City to purchase a site to build a homeless shelter will be put forward. City Administration is recommending a vote against the motion so that an alternative solution can be considered. That proposed alternative solution would only be temporary as it involves the continued operation of the Cannery Row site for another two years until a permanent solution is found.
  
  
• If you need to take a break from the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, Red Deer’s annual Holiday Light Sleigh Ride is back, so bundle up and enjoy a horse-drawn sleigh ride through 40,000 plus dazzling lights!

Last Week In Red Deer:

• The ongoing Opioid crisis continues to grip our community, causing 30 overdoses in Red Deer last week alone. How to tackle the problem has been a contentious issue, with some in the city, including a manager at the Overdose Prevention Site, advocating for a permanent supervised consumption site. However, residents and business owners are concerned about the impacts of such a site.
  
  
• One project intended to combat the issue, the construction of a 75-bed recovery community in Red Deer is already underway, but Red Deer is now also home to a drug treatment court that will offer an alternative to prison for those facing sentences of less than 5 years.
  
  
• Finally, nearly 80 women gathered last week at the Red Deer Golf and Country Club for the 100+ Women Who Care meeting. The event marks the first time the organization has been able to meet in person in nearly a year and supported two local charities this year — Meal on Wheels and Glendale Sciences and Technology Parent Association.

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