City Notebook: Clocks fall back but is everyone OK with that?
By COLLIN GALLANT on November 2, 2019.
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant Clocks go back this weekend, but are Albertans ready to agree with B.C. on something? When a journalist uses a question mark to end a sentence, the answer is usually “no.” But, the legislature in Victoria is considering ending the observance of Daylight Saving Time, and the endless confusion about gaining or losing an hour. It’s unpopular with parents, whose kids wake up at screwy times, but Albertans were enraged by the suggestion it be done away with or even studied by legislative committee several years ago at the behest of a backbench member of the New Democrats. The general opinion was “don’t they have anything better to do?” That’s despite linking up our clocks with Saskatchewan having been a minor policy point at several right-of-centre party conventions over the years. The problem is mostly geographic and a matter of human behaviour – that behaviour being the critically important question of when we watch sports on television. Map-wise, Peace River is on the same latitude as Los Angles though if we were to align ourselves with Saskatchewan we’d be on the same time as Chicago for half the year. There’s no good answer to that. Speaking of… TV from another time zone, the Spokane city council elections will be held this month and include a run for mayor by former KXLY anchor Nadine Woodward. She resigned earlier this year to challenge council member Ben Stuckart. Monday, by the way, marks one year from the next U.S. presidential election. Our elections Conservative candidates scored huge portions of the vote in rural Alberta during last week’s federal election, but a returning MP who has ties to Medicine Hat scored the biggest win in the country in terms of actual votes. Mike Lake, whose mother Bonnie is a Hat native, won his fourth election in the riding of Edmonton-Wetaskiwin with 72 per cent of the vote. The difference in actual vote numbers between him and the next closest challenger was 52,544, a number believed to be the biggest bubble in 338 risings across Canada. Another candidate who claims parents hailing from and extended family in the Hat is former Liberal Cabinet Minister Kent Hehr. He was defeated in Calgary-Centre, collecting a little less than half the votes of the Conservative victor. Former Hatter Eleanor Olszewski placed third in Edmonton-Strathcona for the Liberals as they attempted to win the riding that all parties saw as up in the air. The NDP’s Heather McPherson was elected by a 6,000-vote margin in central Edmonton, preventing a clean sweep of the province by the Conservatives. Fast money The “Chase the Ace” Jackpot in Fox Valley is up to $321 after the eight of diamonds was selected at last week’s Hometown Hero’s Night fundraiser in the community across the line. Closer to home a similar progressive 50-50 contest at the Robertson Legion, dubbed “chase the president,” is now offering a $4,000 payout. A look ahead Council meets Monday to discuss regular business and hear a presentation from the Medicine Hat Women’s Shelter, which is observing Domestic Violence prevention month in November. 100 years ago A new enticement in the 1919 Victory Loan Drive bolstered enthusiasm in Medicine Hat for the bond drive that had transformed into a program to secure the country’s accumulated debt, the News reported in November 1919. Organizers offered the prize of a captured German artillery gun to the community in Alberta that increased its per-capita subscriptions by the highest amount. The drive, which sought “$300 millions” from sales of gold-backed 5- and 15-year bonds, promised an interest rate of 5.5 per cent. Returned soldiers who registered at the University of Saskatchewan brawled with upper classmen who attempted “initiation” haircuts on the freshmen. In one case, a senior was thrown through a window and another was hit over the head with a pipe. In Medicine Hat, Ald. Jimmy Hole was elected president of the local branch of the Dominion Labour Party. Lumber merchant Thomas White, an original Hatter who came with the railway after serving in the British Army’s expedition down the Nile in 1884, died at his home on Dundee Street. The local Board of Trade hoped to form a “Real Estate Board” in light of the success of a similar organization in Calgary. 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 33-32
