Cypress County Mayor Hamilton says the year has gone pretty fair for the county

Hamilton said he is also proud of the work they have done to reduce red tape.

“Merging them MPC [Municipal Planning Commission] with our regular council meetings so we can be responsive and get progress approved faster than before,” Hamilton said.

The 2025 civic election was a vote of confidence for those re-elected to council.

“Everybody was brought back that ran, and we only had one change, and that’s due to one person resigning from council,” Hamilton said.

“Even though the people are behind this, it’s important that we stay responsive to their concerns, but that was a huge positive, I think, for everybody.”

The only change from the previous council was that former councillor Richard Oster did not seek re-election in Ward 7.

Garry Proctor won that seat to become the only new representative for Cypress County.

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READ: Cypress County councillor Oster won’t seek re-election (July 23, 2025)

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Hamilton said the county is also excited to participate in the 2026 Site Link Forum, which they will host in July to showcase the opportunities for economic development within the county.

“I think it’s only three or four places in Canada, and they showcase those places, and they have a bunch of people involved. So it could be all kinds of economic developments, anywhere from industrial to farming, to anything across the board,” Hamilton said.

“They come in, and we showcase the county, we’ll tour them around, we’ll give them all these people, a bunch of areas to look at for Cypress County,” he added.

“Then they’ll come back to us and say, we have these businesses that are interested in looking for this kind of land and this kind of stuff, but this will be the infrastructure you would need and what you have to do to bring these people in.”

Hamilton said this opportunity for development could also benefit the the Town of Redcliff, and the City of Medicine Hat.

“It gives everybody a chance to showcase this corner of Alberta,” Hamilton said.

“We have a gem here. We have the number one highway, the number three highway, the border is close, and we’ve got access to the north. The 36 is only an hour down the road, plus you’ve got the 41 going north,” he added.

“The opportunities in Cypress County are astronomical. We just haven’t tapped into them yet.”

Hamilton is happy to see the process being made on the twinning of Highway 3.

“I know it looks like it’s going slow, but really, when you look at how much time and effort and money it takes to twin a highway like that, it’s probably moving fairly quickly, actually,” Hamilton said.

The Alberta government had also previously announced that they would be widening Highway 41 in the area between the Trans-Canada Highway and Elkwater.

Hamilton received an update on this from the provincial Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen on Tuesday.

“They’re in the planning stage for the early part of 2026 for the first one. Three phases are coming out on that 41 south,” Hamilton said.

Hamilton says that the council wish everybody in Cypress County and the region a Merry Christmas, a healthy holiday, and a happy New Year.

by Jesse Gill

Cypress County Mayor Hamilton says the year has gone pretty fair for the county

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