Chuck Turner hopes to address crime, as well as urgent care, should he be elected to city council.--SUBMITTED PHOTO
Charles Chuck Turner wants a seat on city council with the hope he can help turn around rising crime numbers in Medicine Hat.
Turner graduated from Medicine Hat High School in 1995. He went on to take electronic engineering in Moose Jaw and graduated from the police program at Medicine Hat College in 2001. Turner currently works as an electrician, and he and his wife will welcome their first baby in February.
Turner says he wants to determine if there is anything city council can do to help the police decrease petty crimes and thefts.
“I know that is a huge concern for the majority of our city, almost everybody is getting affected by that,” said Turner. “So I’m thinking anything we can do to assist the police in providing them with a bylaw that they need, or whatever. I’d be all for helping them out with that to try to make our city a little bit safer and less crime.
“The numbers are rising exponentially, and we’re being told to just lock everything up and take everything inside. Well, whatever happened to our small-town environment?
“We’re a city with a small-town environment and I want to get back to that.”
Turner wants an urgent care centre built in the city, something he says city council denied from Alberta Health Services sometime between 2013 and 2017.
“I’m thinking an urgent care centre would be a fantastic thing to have here, so I would look to maybe asking AHS if they’re interested in putting an urgent care centre here,” said Turner. “Lots of people have been through our hospital; walk-in is closed after 6 or 8 (p.m.), and the emergency is always filled to the brim. Let’s take some of the load off the emergency.”
Turner says his experiences will help bring new insight to the city council.
“I’m not a government paid employee and my paycheque is not always secure. When the economy goes down, I don’t have a paycheque,” said Turner. “So I can offer a different perspective on council.”
