Medicine Hat Minute: Public Art, Choose Campaign, and College Restrictions Dropped

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

This Week In Medicine Hat:

• There are four meetings scheduled this week, starting with a City Council Meeting on Tuesday at 6:30 pm. The meeting actually begins earlier, but the first portion will be held in-camera. When the meeting does open to the public, Council will hear reports from several committee meetings and discuss amendments to several bylaws, including the Council Code of Conduct Bylaw and the Procedure Bylaw.
  
  
• There are two meetings scheduled for Wednesday. A Council Employee Committee meeting begins at 1:30 pm. The Committee will spend much of the meeting in-camera and discuss the design of the upcoming 2022 Employee Engagement Survey. Afterwards, at 2:30 pm, there will be a meeting of the Municipal Planning Commission, where Council will discuss the 2021 Annual Development Statistics. On Thursday, there will be a meeting of the Corporate Services Committee at 11:00 am. No agenda has been posted for this event.
  
  
• The Canadian government, and police across the country, continue to have extremely broad new powers this week. This is thanks to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in a massive act of government overreach, invoking the Emergencies Act in order to deal with border blockades and a demonstration against COVID-19 mandates in downtown Ottawa. While the protest has certainly disrupted the lives of those who reside in downtown Ottawa, the Emergencies Act is an extreme response. This marks the first time in history the Act has been invoked. Its predecessor, the War Measures Act, was used by Pierre Elliott Trudeau to deal with the FLQ crisis after over 200 bombs had been set off and the Deputy Premier of Quebec had been kidnapped and murdered.

Last Week In Medicine Hat:

• On Thursday, Medicine Hat College confirmed reports that it had been given a directive from the Ministry of Advanced Education to drop all public health orders regarding COVID-19 as of March 1st. School administration said they would be following the directive, but assured students that masks and sanitizer would remain available.
  
  
• A long list of municipal construction projects completed to stimulate the local economy during the COVID-19 pandemic means the City will have to contribute $175,000 to a fund set aside for public art projects. Last month, Council’s Public Services Committee heard the funds would move forward for work in 2023, but that a new model for art projects is needed. Administrators also told the Public Art Advisory Committee that they would be bringing both a budget amendment and recommending changes to how public art projects are considered.
  
  
• The City of Medicine Hat has launched its newest campaign, the ‘Choose’ campaign, which asks Hatters to share ways they chose positivity during difficult times on a virtual forum. It’s always great for the City to reach out to residents, but shouldn’t the City be ‘choosing’ better ways to spend your money than asking residents about positivity? Maybe they could ask Hatters what they think about Council increasingly choosing to hold meetings in secret?

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