Red Deer Minute: Housing Grants, Hospital Innovation, and a New Conduct Bylaw

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

This Week In Red Deer:

• On Tuesday, at 5:00 pm, the Housing and Homelessness Integration Committee will meet. The Committee will receive several reports, including one from the Lived Experience Council on Strategies to Combat Downtown Social Issues. They will also review the City’s submission to the Province’s Housing Needs Assessment. The Committee will end the meeting in a closed session to discuss program enrollment data and the funding cycle for 2024-27.
  
  
• The Red Deer Regional Hospital says the Traffic Lights tool, a colour-coded readiness summary used to determine how close or far a patient is from being discharged, is reducing emergency department stays from 52 hours to 28. The tool provides a visual indicator of a patient's progress and helps physicians understand barriers to discharge. Before the tool was implemented, estimated dates of discharge were being achieved between 30% and 35% of the time, but now that number is between 95% and 99% of the time.
  
  
• This weekend, the PREMIER Sports Card Convention will be taking place at the Parkland Pavilion at Westerner Park. The convention takes place Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and opening times vary depending on whether you purchase a VIP ticket or general admission. More information - and tickets - can be found online.

Last Week In Red Deer:

• Council has adopted a new Code of Conduct Bylaw, introducing a redesigned complaint and investigation process, appointing an independent Ethics Advisor/Integrity Commissioner, and providing clearer guidance on sanctions. The Ethics Advisor/Integrity Commissioner will offer guidance to Councillors seeking ethics advice and investigate formal code of conduct complaints. The bylaw also establishes timelines for complaint processing, a 90-day filing window, and a blackout period around municipal elections. A complainant’s name may now also be released publicly if the complaint proceeds to the investigative report stage. The updated Code of Conduct Bylaw will take effect on December 1st, 2023.
  
  
• In an effort to address affordable housing, Council approved a municipal “Permanent Supportive Housing Capital Grant Program” - which will only be funded if the City receives a grant from the federal government. Red Deer is trying to secure funding through the Province’s "Affordable Housing Partnership Program", and the City says the federal funding would help make their case for provincial funding. The City is seeking $6 million through the federal Housing Accelerator Fund, but Mayor Ken Johnston says Red Deer applications have not been successful in the past. If the City is unsuccessful this time around, he wants Ottawa to take the retroactive pay imposed on municipalities for the RCMP and reallocate it to permanent supportive housing. Sounds like throwing a snowball into a fire pit and hoping someone delivers ice cream back to you…
  
  
• Nearly 300 people attended the 1MillionMarch4Children rally, with the stated goal of organizers being to advocate “for the elimination of the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) curriculum, pronouns, gender ideology and mixed bathrooms in schools.” Red Deer South MLA Jason Stephan spoke at the rally, after which the NDP demanded he be removed from the United Conservative Party caucus. Premier Danielle Smith said the issue was a delicate one, but that MLAs are allowed to speak on behalf of their constituents and that the caucus supports "peaceful protest and open, grassroots debate."

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