Medicine Hat Minute: Remembrance Day, Theatre Plans, and Natural Gas Hikes

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

This Week In Medicine Hat:

• The new Council and Mayor are set to get down to business with three meetings scheduled for this week. The first is a Public Services Committee Meeting today at 8:00 am. Then, at 3:30 pm, Council will conduct a Special Meeting in-camera (in secret) to discuss Invest Medicine Hat and related land matters. Finally, on Friday, there will be a meeting of the Administrative and Legislative Review Committee at 1:00 pm, but no agenda has yet been published.
  
  
• After campaigning heavily on improving transparency at City Hall, Mayor Linnsie Clark appears to have shifted some of the City’s practices already. Council meeting agendas now disclose clear reasons why any particular item is being discussed in-camera (in secret), rather than simply saying that they have to. At first glance, this seems like a significant improvement, but we’ll keep an eye on how it works in practice and report back.
  
  
• This Thursday is November 11th, Remembrance Day. It’s a day to remember and reflect on those who fought and died for our freedoms. We encourage all our readers to take time to reflect and honour all those men and women and thank them for their service. Apparently, despite being poorly advertised, the Veterans Parade and 11:00 am observance will be going ahead.

Last Week In Medicine Hat:

• On Monday, Medicine Hat’s first female Mayor and first female-majority Council were officially sworn in. Monday's swearing-in and organizational meeting began with a new opening statement acknowledging the treaty and specific groups comprising Medicine Hat’s geographic and social community, a change that replaces a more generic statement used previously.
  
  
• Ratepayers should be prepared when they get their gas bill in the coming months. Natural gas is expected to top the $5 per gigajoule mark for home and small business utility customers in Medicine Hat this month, a rate seen only a few times in the last decade.
  
  
• Monsignor McCoy is the only high school in Medicine Hat without a theatre, but local efforts are now underway to change that. “The Sisters of Charity of St.Louis Centre” is a joint project between the Catholic Board of Education and the Friends of McCoy Society and aims to construct a 280-seat theatre, along with a number of ancillary spaces. The project is currently in its planning and development phase with fundraising efforts set to begin shortly.

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