What’s ahead in 2020?
By COLLIN GALLANT on January 18, 2020.
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant If you’re still signing cheques “2019” you’re really behind the times. And, not only because it’s 2020, but mostly because almost nobody writes cheques anymore. Apparently you can just touch phones now and that’s that. But, we’re looking at a new year and new decade, and it seems we are just getting a grip on what’s happened last year. Is anyone willing to stick they’re neck out to make a prediction for the year ahead? While elections are “so 2019” in Canada and Alberta, there’s a pretty big one on the horizon in the Untied States. The cannabis sector was a blazing growth opportunity in the first year of legalization last year, but has certainly mellowed out more lately. Are there any big movies on the way? I couldn’t tell you. Albertans will be treated to a second provincial budget in a four-month span later this winter, but again, people are still digesting the first without time to provide a guess about the second. We’ll see a federal budget and a leadership contest for the official opposition before summer, but is either really burning up the telephone wire? Locally, Medicine Hat is sort of status quo, according to several officials when queried about the outlook for the city. Perhaps it’s frigid weather, or Christmas credit card bills, that’s causing the current funk. Curling clubs Two curling clubs in southwest Saskatchewan are in the news for different reasons this week. The Leader curling club launched a fundraising calendar titled “Between the Sheets” (featuring partially clad club members) with funds going toward the facility that was rebuilt in the new G3 Iceplex in the town. Meanwhile the Richmound Curling Club is being advertised for sale by tender by the village after there was no qualified interest in operating it this year. Speaking of zeitgeist… A Japanese billionaire is now seeking a girlfriend to travel with him to the moon … literally. Yusaku Maezawa, is offering a seat for that new special someone, when the 44-year-old entrepreneur boards Space X private space voyage in 2023. The cherry on top: The search for love is being turned into a reality show to be streamed on the web. Ah, romance! The year ahead Lost in most of the look-aheads early this year is the fact that Medicine Hat will host up to 4,500 delegates to a Jehovah Witness convention in June. In the region, Vauxhall is planning its centennial celebration to take place on the weekend of June 19 to 21. A look ahead City council convenes on Monday night with a very light agenda, while the Tri-Area development agreement with the city, Redcliff and Cypress County reappears at Medicine Hat planning commission on Wednesday. The State of the City luncheon takes place June 28. 100 years ago Getting fair value and finding new markets for a key Alberta resource – coal – would be a key priority for Premier Charles Steward in 1920, the News reported 100 years ago this week. A “coal commission” might be struck to arrange development and to supervise the coal industry to quell labour disruptions and compete on a grander stage. “Just this week a well-known business man has spoken to me about shipping to the Orient,” Stewart told reporters. The article went on to state: “No industrial problem in the province has been so difficult as that of finding a market for the output of coal mines. During the war it had been impossible to sell in Winnipeg because the United States market could be drawn to meet consumer needs. Soon after the war, the American mines began extending supplies west because of the high cost of Alberta production.” In Calgary, 1,200 delegates to the United Farmers of Alberta convention endorsed the Canadian Wheat Board scheme as “national marketing” was considered a fair response to “national buying” that had started in Europe as a matter or reconstruction efforts. Locally, the Medicine hat Public Library was considering adding a juvenile section and ladies reading room. Potential sites for irrigation reservoirs had been located on the Ross and Seven Persons creeks, according to the Medicine Hat Board of Trade. Collin Gallant covers city politics and a variety of topics for the News. Reach him at 403-528-5664 or via email at cgallant@medicinehatnews.com 35-34
