Medicine Hat Minute: Issue 251

Medicine Hat Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of Medicine Hat politics

📅 This Week In Medicine Hat: 📅

• We're hosting a Pints & Politics event in Medicine Hat, in conjunction with our friends at the Alberta Institute! We're going to keep things simple and just have some casual drinks, with no formal agenda, as an opportunity for everyone to get together with like-minded people, meet some of the team, and chat about politics. There's a lot going on, so there will be plenty of conversation topics. The event takes place on Tuesday, May 19th. It’s free, but you’ll need to RSVP here.
  
  
• On Tuesday, at 3:45 pm, there will be a City Council meeting. As usual, the meeting begins with an in-camera session. Away from the public eye, Council will discuss Urban Hens, the Desert Blume and Heron Crossing Multi-Use Trail Budget Amendment, the 2026 Community Vibrancy Grants, Requests to Address Council, a Business Proposal Update, and the Third Street North Riverside Corridor.
  
  
• When the meeting opens up to the public, at 6:30 pm, Council will once again discuss urban hens. Administration recommends developing a comprehensive bylaw to allow small-scale backyard hens, based on best practices and public input, with a report detailing costs and staff resources to be presented in Q2 2026. Implementation would involve multiple departments, public engagement, licensing, inspections, and adherence to provincial Premises Identification requirements for traceability and biosecurity. Council can choose to proceed with full engagement and structured licensing, expedite approval without engagement, deregulate hens entirely, or rescind the initiative. 
  
  
• Council will also discuss its professionalized approach to public engagement that included implementation of a formal Public Participation Framework. The City moved away from the previous ad-hoc, project-specific practices. Since hiring a Public Participation Specialist in 2024, the City has adopted a structured six-step process that includes planning, communications through the Shape Your City platform, participant connection, and standardized reporting with “What We Heard” and “What We Decided” templates. Pilot projects such as the Saamis Tepee Dancefloor Resurfacing, Harlow & Noble Parks Restoration, and Facilities for the Future demonstrate the framework’s ability to meaningfully involve residents, from consultation to empowerment, according to the City. Key learnings emphasize the need for longer engagement timelines and more proactive planning. Future initiatives include expanded staff training, performance assessment tools, and public-facing resources to make engagement processes more accessible to residents and consultants.
  
  
• Council is considering a 6.1% municipal property tax increase for 2026. The City faces a budget gap of over $10 million due to reduced provincial funding, inflation, fluctuating energy revenues, and past decisions like the two-year COVID-era property tax freeze, which cost $7.5 million in revenue. Rising costs for goods, services, construction materials, and utilities are further straining the budget, while past high energy revenues are normalizing, reducing predictable income for operations and infrastructure. City staff presented six property tax scenarios to Council. Council will consider the increase on April 20th.

🚨 This Week’s Action Item: 🚨

🪙 This Week’s Sponsor: 🪙

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Having said that, if you are a local business and are interested in being a sponsor, send us an email and we'll talk!