City’s first round of COVID relief officially in the books
By COLLIN GALLANT on August 22, 2020.
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant The first $500,000 is out the door in business grants offered by the city to business owners struggling with COVID restart costs. Mayor Ted Clugston announced that during a press conference this week, again outlining his belief that Medicine Hat is the most generous municipality in Canada when dealing with troubles faced by businesses. That block of cash is one of four half-million allotments that could be handed out in grants to help businesses adapt to the new reality. Successful applicants can get up to $15,000, though there’s no immediate information on qualifications for a second round of grants that’s being developed. The first had very few restrictions but requires local contractors be used. “You’d almost have to be crazy not to take us up on this,” Clugston told reporters. That first batch apparently includes the SHOPhere project to link local merchants and service providers with the eCommerce universe in partnership with Google Canada. Most other info is unknown aside from four profile pieces put together about recipients for the social media feed of the city’s newly restyled Invest Medicine Hat office. Those four are Mr. Lube, the Silver Buckle Inn, as well as a yoga studio and a consulting office. New money old money You could guess that when the province announced a “$10-billion” plan to support economic recovery in the spring it was going to be a long hot summer of cheque presentations. Much of it is recycled cash or money from Ottawa flowing though the province, or cash from an already tight 2020-21 provincial budget. But there’s bucks for highways and the most interesting facet is a boost of $500 million for municipal infrastructure projects. Medicine Hat is still awaiting word of a winner from the list of 10 or so local projects it forwarded to Municipal Affairs in May. As well, the province has been blowing out the good news about irrigation funding this month as part of its economic recovery plan. That’s welcome news for ag advocates in the area as the moratorium on new water leases on the South Saskatchewan approaches the end of its second decade. A note, though… most of the announcements actually involve funds that were outlined in the 2020-21 budget when it was presented. Those totals are actually less than previous budget projections for spending on irrigation canal rehab projects. Political machinations Voters in Havre will be able to cast their ballots my mail in the upcoming November election after the Hill County commission voted Thursday to reverse a 2-1 decision barring the practice last week. Neighbouring Liberty County (one half the Hi-Line district south of Southeastern Alberta) approved expanding the practice two weeks ago in light of the pandemic. North of the border, the chief electoral officer of Saskatchewan began advertising the process ahead of the province’s Nov. 5 general election. Also in Saskatchewan election news, the Wexit Party of Saskatchewan officially changed its name to the Saskatchewan Buffalo Party… an apparent nod to the Buffalo Declaration that calls for a united Sask-Alberta political unit. One of the architects of the movement is former Saskatchewan Party premier Brad Wall, so, yeah, your guess is as good as mine. A look ahead A report into operational models for the Veiner Centre will be presented Monday to council’s public services committee, and the proposed update to the long-range municipal development plan will be presented to the municipal planning commission on Wednesday. The first day of school for most students is Aug. 31… a week from Monday. 100 Years ago “Farmers will not follow Meighen or King,” the News reported in August 1920 referring to the new federal conservative and Liberal party leaders. They were presently barnstorming the west, but farm groups vowed to ramp up political action in the winter ahead of a national election in 1921. Sir Henry Burstall was named Inspector General of the Canadian Militia – the former Canadian Expeditionary Force commander succeeding Sir Arthur Currie. Financier Charles Ponzi, who a week earlier promised new investors an 800 per cent return over 30 days, could only produce assets at 50 cents on the dollar, a bankruptcy hearing in Boston heard. Earl Thompson of Prince Albert set a world record winning the 110-metre hurdles at the Olympic Games in Antwerp. Early harvest yields suggested an average of 18 bushels of wheat per acre across Alberta. 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 34-33
