By Chris Brown

Premier in Brooks tonight for public safety town hall

Apr 5, 2023 | 12:31 PM

BROOKS, AB – Premier Danielle Smith and Public Safety and Emergency Services Minister Mike Ellis are in Brooks tonight for a town hall, one of a number happening around the province.

Smith says she’s interested in hearing the feedback from the Brooks community tonight and giving information about supports. She gained some insight about the at least one issue in Brooks during a previous visit.

“I have gone to the John Ware Youth Empowerment Centre and I know that one of the issues that they have faced ins that when kids particularly come from a war-torn environment there’s a lot of trauma associated with that and we want o make sure kids know that there’s access to mental health supports and a pathway for addiction treatment as well,” she said Wednesday morning.

“So I suspect that I might hear a little bit about that is how do we make sure that young people are protected from getting introduced to drugs and also protected from the gangs that prey on them.”

WHAT'S ON

Here is what's on this weekend in Medicine Hat and area: Dec. 13-15

11h ago

IN THE COMMUNITY

Medicine Hat's Mustard Seed adding new shelter spaces at Alberta government's request

Dec 12, 2024

HOLIDAYS

Medicine Hat Kiwanis hosting Christmas dinner, applications due Friday

Dec 12, 2024

Tonight’s town hall takes place at 6 p.m. at the JBS Canada Centre. Registration is required and can be done through the provincial government website.

Smith says the intent of the town halls is to address what they’re seeing as a growing crisis in public safety and mental health addictions, which she says is an essential component of the health system.

She says government is taking a two-pronged approach to the connected issues hiring more law enforcement and supporting them through Police and Crisis Response Teams, and expanding capacity in mental health and addiction and building recovery communities.

Public disorder is creating danger, worry, and making people feel unsettled, Smith says. Prior to the COVID pandemic the government had concerns about disorder but it set in when people were spending more time at home.

“Now that people are moving back into their normal routines and going into their normal spaces and going into their downtowns they’re astonished at how much disorder there is, and how much vagrancy and how much violence,” she says.

The government has started adding more police officers in Calgary and Edmonton and is now looking at giving more directly to enhance municipal police services.

Smith is also set to make an announcement on Thursday in Brooks about adding surgical capacity in more than a dozen Alberta communities.

Campaigning in riding

Smith is also the MLA for Brooks-Medicine Hat. With the provincial election upcoming she’ll need to balance her role as UCP leader with campaigning in the riding.

She says she has and will continue weekly calls with her constituency offices where issues that need her attention are identified so they can be resolved immediately.

“I’ll be travelling the province as I usually do. I’ve been in the riding every couple of weeks, probably will continue with that pattern,” she says, adding riding visits include constituency meetings and meetings with community leaders, as well as visits to and tours of businesses.

Smith says it’s a balancing act all leaders have always faced and aims to spend as much time as she can in the riding.