Jehovah's Witnesses spokesman Bradley Pramberg at the Canalta Centre (Photo by Bob Schneider)

By Hayley Ferguson

$2.6M in Economic Activity

Medicine Hat to host Jehovah’s Witnesses convention with over 4,000 expected to attend

Sep 25, 2019 | 3:16 PM

Medicine Hat, AB –The City of Medicine Hat will be one of 54 cities across Canada to host a Jehovah’s Witnesses convention in the summer of 2020.

The three-day event will take place at the Canalta Centre from June 19-21, and it’s expected there will be between 4,000 and 5,000 people attending.

Jehovah’s Witnesses spokesman Bradley Pramberg says church members from across southern Alberta, southern B.C, and Saskatchewan will be attending along with the approximate 350 active Jehovah’s Witnesses that live in Medicine Hat.

“I hear nothing but excitement, and I know the local congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses are very excited to host. They are going to be doing a special campaign three weeks before to invite the entire community to the convention. They want the general public to come for sure. So they are very excited to host,” Pramberg said.

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With the convention, the Medicine Hat Sport and Event Council say they expect $2.6 million in economic activity in the city during the event.

“So many Jehovah’s Witnesses use the convention perhaps as the kick-off to their vacation or maybe the end of their vacation. Maybe they make sure they see some of the tourist spots around here,” Said Pramberg.

Pramberg says he expects them to need about eight hotels.

Mayor Ted Clugston says he is very proud of the work the Sport and Event Council put forward when approaching the Jehovah’s Witnesses about hosting a convention.

“We all know obviously the city has been hosting quite a few events lately. And we’ve seen what’s happened around town with people coming and hotels filling up.” He continued. “And it’s great for our restaurants. But it’s also good for community spirit and pride that we are attracting all these events. And that they’ve shown confidence in us that we can host this many people in this facility and in this community.”

This will be the largest convention ever held in Medicine Hat.

“It’s just you’re noticing a trend here I think that people are choosing Medicine Hat over and over and over again. And we’re very proud. You know, on my last term on city council there was a lot of criticism of all the recreational features we built. This one the event centre, the berms, everything that we did. But we said it was going to pay off and it is.” Clugston smiled.