Red Deer Minute: Hiring Blitz, Pride Murals, and Addiction Treatment Options

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

This Week In Red Deer:

• There are no Council or Committee meetings scheduled at City Hall this week.
  
  
• Pope Francis is in Alberta and many Red Deerians are intending to travel to the open-air Papal Mass in Edmonton. The Pope is expected to make an apology for the role of the Catholic Church in the residential school system, as well as make several other stops.
  
  
• The City of Red Deer is looking to recruit new talent, with some 21 positions currently advertised on the City's website. The City says the hiring blitz is needed to "catch up" after two years of very little hiring due to COVID-19. No word yet on whether taxpayers will be given a chance to "catch up" after two years of skyrocketing costs.

Last Week In Red Deer:

• The Province announced that police in Red Deer now have the option to offer immediate addictions treatment to those in their custody. Red Deer joins Edmonton, Calgary, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, and some rural municipalities in providing a combination of counselling and medication to address opioid addiction through the Virtual Opioid Dependency Program. The program has been considered a success across Alberta, with more than 400 people who were arrested choosing to participate.
  
  
• Downtown Red Deer became a whole lot more colourful with a series of murals celebrating the city's LGBTQ2+ community was unveiled last Saturday. Located just outside of Junktiques Home Decor and Pride Shop, the murals were funded 20% by the City and 80% by the Provincial government.
  
  
• The City of Red Deer invited private property owners interested in selling their property for the purposes of a permanent shelter location to provide their information through an online form. Council recently approved a site selection matrix, which is available online so that property owners can see if their land fits the bill.

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