City events cancelled through August including Canada Day fireworks

The annual Canada Day fireworks will not be going ahead as planned according to Brown, citing the province’s clear guidelines limiting groups of 15 people or more.

“We don’t feel confident within this process that we as a municipality and as a community as a whole can maintain that right across the city as the fireworks occur,” said Brown.

While Canada Day organizers had made the decision to cancel the adjoining festival, they were hopeful that the fireworks would have been able to proceed.

After receiving some clarification from Alberta Health over the weekend, Clugston said it became clear that the risk of mass gatherings became too high.

“Even if we closed off Kin Coulee [Park] and you weren’t even allowed to get in there, I think we all know that there’s a lot of backyards up on the hill that host fireworks parties where you can have 100 people in the backyard to watch the fireworks,” said Clugston. “It’s really just to take away the temptation to have a mass gathering.”

Though restrictions on outdoor activities are being eased at the provincial level, Brown confirmed that organized sports are not currently being permitted.

However, they are encouraging families and individuals living together to partake in informal recreation activities.

“This doesn’t mean that a family within a household can’t go and throw the baseball around, can’t go and throw that football around,” said Brown. “That’s not an organized sport and that’s not a team sport. So, I encourage all of our residents to educate themselves on some of these restrictions.”

Echo Dale remains open for usage for residents, however it appears as though the outdoor swimming area will remain dry for the foreseeable future.

The swimming area has been classified as a pool by Alberta Health and therefore will be part of the Stage 3 opening framework later this fall.

“You could make a fairly safe assumption that Stage 3 would be in September, which would mean that we could potentially not even be filling Echo Dale this year,” said Brown.

Since the province unveiled its plan to re-open Alberta’s economy, the City of Medicine Hat has been preparing for the first major opening phase on May 14.

“We will support [Alberta Health] in their decision to start opening up some of the businesses on May 14,” said Clugston. “Speaking personally, I’m excited. I like the sense of hope and optimism in the community.”

Police enforcement isn’t expected to see drastic changes when stores begin to re-open next week, with Clugston expecting local businesses to follow the guidelines in place.

“I trust the businesses to do the right things,” said Clugston. “If they are told 50 percent occupancy and two metres apart, I can pretty much guarantee that Medicine Hat businesses are going to do that. And, they’re going to try to comply as best they can as long as they know what the rules are.”

Clugston also touched on the $8.2 COVID-19 relief package that Medicine Hat city council unanimously approved on Monday night, which will support residents and businesses recovering from financial impacts as a result of the pandemic.

Residents and businesses will receive a 3.5 percent credit on their property taxes this year to bring them back to 2019 levels, while also providing tax deferrals and millions in community investment.

“We will be working with the business groups to try and get some sort of policy or framework as to how that money will be dispersed,” said Clugston. “Will it be loans? Will it be grants? Will it be a combination? We’re still working on that.”

Clugston added they’ve submitted a list of capital project requests to the province that are ‘shovel ready’ including an upgraded water treatment plant, campgrounds, and a walking bridge over the South Saskatchewan River.

However, he added it’s just a list of requests at this point and there has been no commitment from the province yet for any of the proposed projects.

by Scott Roblin

City events cancelled through August including Canada Day fireworks

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