City Notebook: Give it to me straight, please

By COLLIN GALLANT on November 13, 2021.

cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant

You may not know it to look at him, but the senior statesman of the local municipal political scene is Redcliff’s Dwight Kilpatrick.

The now two-term mayor has 32 years on that town’s council under his belt – 50% more than his nearest challenger in the Hat or county. Especially after enough “change” in the last three elections to make a slot machine jealous.

Kilpatrick’s manner is casual, it hardly screams power-broker, and the same goes for his speaking style.

That provided a refreshing pause for thought at this week’s online Leadership Lunch forum with the area’s elected leaders.

Just as a round of “Kum Ba Yah” was about to break out on thoughts of regional co-operation to improve our collective outlook, a reporter asked the online forum, since this sort of thing is such a no-brainer, what’s been the impediment in the past?

“Well,” said Kilpatrick, noting he was going off on his own, “there are so many groups that do this, it’s hard to co-ordinate,” citing the Chamber of Commerce, the homebuilders, the college, three municipalities, several large companies and more business development groups.

“Everyone’s got a backyard … and we’re small,” continued Kilpatrick. “Even if you add Brooks to our population. I mean, Lethbridge has got a 100,000 inside city limits.”

Indeed, I can’t recall any economic development discussion ever mentioning the fact there are hurdles to overcome. Heaven’s no! It’s simply that maybe the rest of Alberta forgot about us.

But let’s not leave the impression that Kilpatrick is a pessimist.

His opinion of Medicine Hat’s new mayor Linnsie Clark: “She’s enthusiastic, and maybe some of that will rub off.”

Misspelled

Sorry, folks, but spelling truly does not matter on the internet.

A new study has found the most misspelled company names on the internet is “Hyundai” at an estimated 600,000 times each month.

No. 2 is Lamborghini, and seven of the top 20 are automobiles, including Volkswagen, which seems pretty straight forward.

No. 19 is Astra Zeneca, which has been in the news a lot lately.

Quick ones

– Hut 8’s stock price has risen three-fold over five months, putting the market cap of the cryptocurrency miner that has substantial operations in Medicine Hat above the $3-billion mark.

– Speaking of billions, Montana will receive US$2.8 billion for highway upgrades, in the recently passed, much debated, long promised infrastructure bill, along with $225 million for bridges (all figures US), $164 million for public transportation $144 million for airports,

A whopping $1 billion for water will be spread around the state of 1.1 million residents, including a $100-million renovation of the Milk River water works.

Nation-wide pots of cash will go to broadband and border security upgrades.

– If you thought that was big check out the newest edition to the world-record-holding chess board on First Street in Medicine Hat – a 19-foot king piece installed recently.

– The city’s Industrial Avenue berm is now complete, with vehicles ascending it as they rush to and from Highway 41A. The flood wall is the last piece of a plan envisioned in 2013. Perhaps bigger news in the grand scheme came from Edmonton this week when the province announced it had acquired all the land for the new Springbank reservoir. That will control high water on the Elbow River before it enters downtown Calgary, or be used to hold back water and offset high water on the Bow River. Similarly, the whole Bow trunk could be adjusted when the Oldman is running high.

After eight years it’s underway, but now all Albertans need is a clear picture of how dam operators propose to operate the system to avoid problems that compound as water moves downstream (i.e. to Medicine Hat).

– Speaking of dams, Harlow resident and band-master Bill Wahl (who lobbied hard on dam management in 2014) was missed as the bugler at this year’s Remembrance Day ceremony. He’s hung it up to concentrate on his health. Hang in there, Bill.

– The four-day work week is something that has been bandied about as workplaces stabilize after the pandemic, work at home orders lift and we reach maximum buzz discussing work-life balance.

Would workers be happy cramming five days worth of work into four … as happens now with stat holidays? Who knows. How about a 20% pay cut?

A look ahead

Medicine Hat’s recently elected city council will hold its first regular meeting on Monday.

Midnight Madness downtown shopping event will be held Friday.

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