A hundred bucks is better than (doing) nothing

By COLLIN GALLANT on September 11, 2021.

cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant

The idea of paying people to get the COVID-19 vaccine is such a hot-button topic that lava is often the result.

The province announced the payment plan a week ago, to either disbelief or derision.

But, smart money says there will be a decent number of people who show up at university campuses this fall looking for an extra $100.

(Insert joke here about starving college kids or weekend beer money.)

But, it’s not likely that the majority has been driving some sort of hard bargain before doing what most consider the right thing and getting the shot.

It’s not a huge secret that some college-age kids can be kind of oblivious; so expect a bump in the numbers, and some sort of “told you so” from the province.

The problem however, is eventually the government will have to publish the cost of the program. You don’t have to be a college graduate to divide by 100.

It will either have had too little effect for some critics’ liking, or cost too much for something that should be common sense.

A study this week pegs the average cost of a COVID-related stay in hospital at $29,000 in Alberta (Up to $50,000 or more in ICU), so $100 might seem like a bargain.

Three million Albertans could argue they’ve saved the government tens of thousands of dollars each, and what’s in it for them?

One progressive sort in town quipped they’d settle for having their pension left alone.

Speaking of…

Far away from the fray this week, the province backed away from previously entrenched positions of changing how the teachers pension is governed and demanding a pay cut for nurses.

That’s a total of maybe three non-COVID issues – including coal policy – that the government has budged on in about 30 months.

New campaigner

Pictures of a municipal election lawn sign tangled in the antlers of a deer were circulating around Medicine Hat this week.

With so many of each in the city, it was only a matter of time.

The candidate in question expressed no lack of sympathy for the animal, but also noted their popularity among urban deer.

We’re not too sure about the current status, but the relatively flimsy sign has likely been shed by now.

Wasn’t it Harry Truman who said, “The Buck stops here!”

No?

How about something with a vote-for-a-change vibe, like, “Don’t get stuck in a rut!”

Correction

This week the News revealed the province is looking for a new leaseholder and operator of the Hidden Valley Ski Resort in Cypress Hills, and that included some background taken from bid documents about historical beginnings of the ski hill near Elkwater.

A shareholder of the original company was quick to correct the News that the hill’s origins stem from a group of local investors led by Leonard McGee in the 1960s, and not the Alberta parks department as stated.

A look ahead

It’s the final week of a federal election campaign that seems to have gone by as quickly as August did. Early voting got underway Friday. Election day is Monday, Sept. 20 – the same day municipal and local nominations are due for the Oct. 18 vote.

100 years ago

Jewelry stores would no longer be permitted to issue marriage licences, the News reported Sept 10, 1921, after an order in council from the recently elected United Farmers government.

The province’s vital statistics offices would now elusively handle the matter, and as well require affidavits from from brides on the issue of their age.

Previously, grooms were allowed to swear for both parties.

Also in feminine news, about 1.2 million women would be eligible to vote in the expected federal election, the first national vote that would allow all women to cast ballots if they were enfranchised under provincial rules. This included enfranchised women with heritage of former enemy nations, but excluded several races in British Columbia, reserve Indians and the Chinese in Saskatchewan.

Medicine Hat’s fire department should operate on a single platoon system with a maximum combined salary of $13,000 for 10 men, council’s fire committee determined. The city would also consider the creation of a publicly owned cold storage facility.

The multi-year effort to construct the Gordon Memorial church in Redcliff could be complete by Oct. 1.

Japan could become a world leading economic power if she abandoned an imperialistic stance, argued newspaper editorials ahead of a trade conference with China, Korea and Formosa.

Collin Gallant covers city politics and just about everything else for the News. Reach him at 403-528-5664 or vi email at cgallant@medicinehatnews.com

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