Red Deer Minute: Canada Day, Hospital Expansion, and an Annual Policing Plan

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

This Week In Red Deer:

• There will be a City Council Special Meeting today at 2:30 pm. At this meeting, Council will discuss the criteria for the permanent shelter location and create a decision matrix to guide the selection process.
  
  
• On Tuesday, there will be a meeting of the Housing and Homelessness Integration Committee at 5:00 pm. The Committee will discuss the 2021/22 Financial Summary Report in-camera, followed by public reports from the Housing Asset Development Sub-Committee and the Housing and Homelessness Supports Section.
  
  
• Happy Canada Day Red Deer! This year is extra special. After a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19, entertainment and activities will once again return to Bower Ponds. Following a day of fun, there will be a fireworks grand finale.

Last Week In Red Deer:

• Premier Jason Kenney said he’s hopeful that locals will get a look at the total build plan for the Red Deer Hospital expansion project in the coming months. Deputy Mayor Victor Doerksen said the City is grateful for the $1.8 billion in funding, but finds it frustrating that plans have not yet been shared. Kenney blamed the delay in revealing plans on the scale and complexity of the project, as well as the need to move patients and retrofit older spaces.
  
  
• Red Deer’s 2022-2024 Annual Policing Plan, which outlines policing priorities for the coming years, has been adopted by Council. The City and RCMP worked together to develop the Plan and took into account the feedback heard from public consultations. The three main issues to be addressed are response and visibility, crime reduction, and engaging community members. Each main area has specific goals, some of which include an enhanced response to mental health, the development of a diversity and inclusion strategy, and increasing diversion of youth from the justice system.
  
  
• A decision on a permanent shelter location has been pushed back to the end of August at the earliest. Originally, the site selection was to take place based on the findings of a three-Councillor, ad-hoc committee. However, all Councillors wanted to be part of the process, so a decision-making matrix is being developed to evaluate the proposed sites. Also contributing to the delay is the two-week summer shut-down of the commercial realty company involved in exploring sites.

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