The City of Medicine Hat may opt out of the rural renewal stream if council approves a staff recommendation on Tuesday. File Photo/CHAT News

By Eli J. Ridder

CITY HALL

Medicine Hat city council: Rural renewal, transformers and Mustard Seed update

Feb 18, 2025 | 6:20 PM

Medicine Hat city council will tonight consider a staff proposal to pause a rural immigration program, vote on asking staff for more information on transformers and receive an update on The Mustard Seed.

It’s one of the shortest agendas of the year so far with only three items categorized as new business.

Rural renewal

The federal government has cut Alberta’s allocation of immigrant worker pathway streams by about half and the province has a backlog of 4,560 applications.

That means a maximum of 315 of those in the expression of interest pool will be given an opportunity to apply in 2025, a drastic drop.

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Tracy Tawiah, the city’s rural renewal coordinator, writes in a council report that “recent federal immigration policy shifts, influenced by growing anti-immigration sentiment, have led to cuts in immigration targets.”

The Alberta government is now allowing each community to decide if they wish to continue or pause participation in the Rural Renewal stream — one of eight by which immigrants arrive in the province.

Eleven out of 36 designated communities in the province are now on pause.

The Town of Taber announced earlier this week it was one of those to suspend the program. Medicine Hat could soon join it if council grants approval.

Transformers

Coun. Andy McGrogan wants answers around the costs related to transformers.

His motion directs staff to report “on the logic, clarity, and fairness of the current transformer replacement process and obligations” by the end of the second quarter.

The motion adds council wants a comparison between Medicine Hat’s approach and those of other providers “in clearly and fairly allocating costs and responsibilities.”

McGrogan first brought up the request in a notice of motion at an earlier council meeting.

Mustard Seed

Coun. Shila Sharps has included a written inquiry about the Mustard Seed in Tuesday’s agenda.

It includes a frequently asked questions document that outlines information that has already been reported.

It does reveal any new information but does give some insight into what the city plans to do for those impacted by The Mustard Seed’s daytime services ending.

“The City is sympathetic to the concerns of residents who have been affected by the facility’s operation,” the memo reads.

“The City must adhere to the standard enforcement process in order to remain consistent, fair, equitable, and in compliance with provincial legislation when it engages in the enforcement of non-compliance with the Land Use Bylaw.”