Veiner Centre fee structure is not fair

By Medicine Hat News Opinon on August 3, 2018.

The province has recognized the value of seniors and the importance of helping them stay active while Medicine Hat has determined the fees to use exercise equipment at Strathcona Centre should not reflect preferential treatment for seniors.

Along with new hunting regulations, the province announced Wednesday that a senior’s hunting licence that previously cost $44.02 would now be just $8.25. That’s a decrease of more than 80 per cent.

“This year, our government is proud to offer …. and support seniors living on fixed incomes by reducing the cost of hunting licences,” said Shannon Phillips, minister of environment and parks.

In contrast, the memberships fees to belong to the newly renovated Veiner Centre were increased by 150 per cent, going from $40 to $100. If you want the use of the exercise equipment, which prior to the 2013 flood were in the Veiner Centre and included in the regular membership, the increase skyrockets 650 per cent from $40 in 2013 to $300 now.

This astronomical fee increase is ironic when you consider that the seniors themselves, not the city, originally purchased the exercise equipment that was used in the Veiner Centre and they have done so again. When Strathcona Centre re-opens after renovations, the exercise equipment used will have been bought by the seniors.

So the exercise equipment that will be located in Strathcona Centre, not the Veiner Centre, was not purchased by the city, and is not in the building that the city has generously spent $12 million to renovate beautifully.

There are other physical activities available in Strathcona Centre such as table tennis but the $300 membership curiously applies only to those using the “exercise” equipment.

There are some obvious questions about why the city considered it necessary to include all new billiard tables and shuffleboards in the new Veiner Centre and nobody using those is required to pay the $300 membership, only the $100 membership.

Those using the exercise equipment do have a right to feel they are being singled out for different treatment.

In the three- or four-year debate about whether to build a new seniors’ centre in a new location or refurbish the Veiner Centre, the exercise component was a hot potato and even after some council members asked for the Veiner Centre refurbishment to include an exercise room this was not done.

The city has mentioned the additional cost of a staff member being on site while people are exercising. The News has been informed that this is not an insurance requirement but rather one of “best practices.”

Mayor Ted Clugston has also said the fees reflect what is charged at other facilities in town and that seniors will no longer be given any preferential treatment in this regard.

While it is true some seniors are financially comfortable, $300 a year is not feasible for many others. Pleading poverty to get help to afford the cost will feel demeaning to many.

We would all do well to consider that the city also subsidizes the Esplanade and that the vast majority of volunteers across the city are seniors who give of their time and energy freely — that means no charge.

Perhaps there should be a dollar value attached to those hours and that amount deducted from the fees.

(Gillian Slade is a News reporter. To comment on this and other editorials, go to https://www.medicinehatnews.com/opinions, email her at gslade@medicinehatnews.com or call her at 403-528-8635.)

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