Medicine Hat Stampede ‘hopeful’ city will work with it on funding despite delaying decision

“We feel hopeful — with their proposal scenario suggestions that they have — that they were willing to work with us and we can hopefully come up with a decision together,” Stampede president Lori Siedlecki said Tuesday.

While councillors said they were prepared to start deliberations on supplying a mixture of grants and loans to the Stampede — at the cost of $23 millionfor the most expensive option — they largely voted to defer based on a staff recommendation.

The basis for the city’s public services head Joseph Hutter to ask council to delay a decision on if and how it will give the Stampede cash for its revitalization effort was based on Alberta’s choice on pitching in or not.

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READ: Council defers funding decision for now

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“It is recommended that such a decision be postponed until the Province has made a decision on future funding for MHES following the Province’s sustainability assessment on provincial agricultural societies,” Hutter wrote in a report to council.

The Alberta government hired the Deloitte firm to carry out a “sustainability assessment” that intends to assist in the understanding of “challenges and opportunities to better position our agriculture sector and rural communities for success.”

While the assessment’s findings have been provided to the seven regional societies, it’s not been made publicly available.

Hutter wrote the Alberta government’s decision on how to proceed with the findings is expected in the first quarter of 2025 — by March.

At that time, council will have more clarity on the province’s contribution to Stampede and what to do next. A spokesperson for Alberta’s agriculture ministry did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

Several councillors were reluctant to wait at Monday’s council meeting.

Coun. Robert Dumanowski event voted against the deferral in what he said was a matter of principle.

“We have a incredible organization who has been part of our heritage for a hundred-plus years,” he told reporters after Monday’s council meeting.

“I firmly believe that there’s not a citizen in this community who doesn’t, in some way, appreciate some touch point with the Exhibition and Stampede and all their facilities, and the entertainment value that they bring to this community.”

While the Stampede is known for its summertime flagship festival, it holds hundreds of smaller events throughout the year.

Its impact to the Alberta economy in 2023 ranged from an estimated $13.7 million to $17.3 million, according to a report from Serecon, Inc.

Medicine Hat-based political consultant Jim Groom said Tuesday that council’s decision to defer was a good choice amid economic uncertainty.

“There are so many things in the air right now that I think putting it on pause is probably one of the best decisions that the council could have made,” he told CHAT News in an interview.

“It’s just so many tenuous issues right now that make it almost impossible to make a solid decision one way or the other.”

One of the challenges highlighted by Groom is a looming Alberta budget that could see impacts from low oil prices and potential U.S. tariffs on Canadian energy.

Coun. Andy McGrogan, who represents the city on the Stampede’s board, said Tuesday the organization is “not being picked on” as it faces tough questions from council over the cash it wants from the city.

“It’s probably the largest ask I’ve ever heard of in our community, it’s a very serious thing,” McGrogan said on CHAT News at Noon.

Siedlecki warned of a ticking clock on the broken north grandstand.

The Stampede’s General Manager Ron Edwards and President Lori Siedlecki held a news conference Tuesday at the exhibition grounds. Eli J. Ridder/CHAT News

“We only have about…another year after the summer and it will have to be re-evaluated,” she said.

“At that point, it will probably eventually have to come down,” she added. The Stampede recently invested $200,000 into the grandstand to keep it going for longer.

— With files from Jayk Sterkenburg and Dan Reynish

by Eli J. Ridder

Medicine Hat Stampede ‘hopeful’ city will work with it on funding despite delaying decision

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