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20/20 Hindsight from Red Deer South MLA Jason Stephan

Published

4 years ago

5 minute read

From Red Deer South MLA Jason Stephan

2020 YEAR END REPORT ON LOCAL PRIORITIES

Dear Friends,

I am grateful for the opportunity to serve, and try to do so in accountable ways. Notwithstanding COVID, there is some encouraging, good news to report on pressing, local priorities for our community in 2020.

During the last election, two prominent needs consistently shared by members of our community were firstly, a lack of funding for the Red Deer Regional Hospital and secondly, harms to families and businesses relating to crime and homelessness, particularly with a hollowing out of our downtown. I am pleased to report significant progress on both of those needs.

  1. Red Deer Regional Hospital

In Budget 2020, the Government announced a $100 million investment in our Hospital. The Premier said this was Phase I. This has been a long-standing need in our community and it is exciting to see our government lead and provide real and substantial commitment to our Hospital.

So, what is the current status? Currently, the Business Plan for this investment is being developed. Working in partnership with frontline professionals in our Hospital and other key stakeholders, the Plan is prioritizing needs and seeking innovative, cost effective solutions with a focus in maximizing positive health outcomes for Central Albertans. Minister LaGrange and I, along with our municipal leaders, meet monthly with AHS Zone leadership to receive accountability update reports.

A focus of the Plan is on developing additional capacities outside of our Hospital for less complex health care needs so there is growing capacities in our Hospital for more complex needs. As that capacity is developed, there is an opportunity to add services to our Hospital in order of our most pressing needs.

While COVID did cause a delay, the Plan will be completed in the new year and construction commenced.

  1. Supports for Addictions and Homelessness

This Government is focused on supporting individuals seeking to improve their lives, including freedom from addictions, while respecting families and businesses in our community.

This year a new “Recovery Community”, where individuals will receive treatment and support to become free from addictions was announced for Central Alberta. In addition, drug court services were also announced allowing individuals committing drug related property crimes an alternate path of restitution, community service and addiction treatment. These services will begin in the new year.

Budget 2020 also announced an integrated homeless shelter for Red Deer. We are in on-going meetings with service providers and community stakeholders as this service is in development. This new shelter service must facilitate a course correction and culture change – supporting individuals working to become free of addictions and destructive lifestyles to themselves and to our community as a whole.

This shelter should be a place of hope where individuals receive support and opportunities to work towards moving out of shelter and towards self-reliance. This shelter needs to be an accountable service, not only to the individuals it serves, but also as a good neighbor to families and businesses in our community.

  1. Looking Ahead into 2021

COVID and its destructive tide of lockdowns, orders and restrictions will recede in the New Year. 2021 will see the work on these local priorities progress which will bless our community in the years to come.

Ending on a personal note, as the father of two young adult sons and a teenage daughter, I have a great desire to see improved opportunities for the rising generation.

An intentional education, whether formal or informal, on the job or in the class, allows our children to move towards self-reliance.

A strong economy allows our children to apply their effort and unique talent, augmented by their own intentional education, to provide goods and services for the public benefit, while blessing themselves and their own families with increased opportunities to seek happiness as they individually see fit.

As social gathering restrictions abate in the New Year, I look forward to meeting and to serving together, including with our children and young adults where I once was, in our local primary schools and at Red Deer College.

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Alberta Independence Seekers Take First Step: Citizen Initiative Application Approved, Notice of Initiative Petition Issued

Published on June 30, 2025

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Alberta’s Chief Electoral Officer, Gordon McClure, has issued a Notice of Initiative Petition.

This confirms a Citizen Initiative application has been received and the Chief Electoral Officer has determined the requirements of section 2(3) of the Citizen Initiative Act have been met.

Approved Initiative Petition Information

The approved citizen initiative application is for a policy proposal with the following proposed question:

Do you agree that Alberta should remain in Canada?

The Notice of Initiative Petition, application, and statement provided by the proponent are available on Elections Alberta’s website on the Current Initiatives Petition page.

As the application was received and approved prior to coming into force of Bill 54: Election Statutes Amendment Act, the Citizen Initiative process will follow requirements set out in the Citizen Initiative Act as of June 30, 2025.

Next Steps

  1. The proponent must appoint a chief financial officer within 30 days (by July 30, 2025).
  2. Once the 30-day publication period is complete and a chief financial officer has been appointed, Elections Alberta will:
  1. issue the citizen initiative petition,
  2. publish a notice on the Current Initiatives Petition page of our website indicating the petition has been issued, specifying the signing period dates, and the number of signatures required for a successful petition, and
  3. issue the citizen initiative petition signature sheets and witness affidavits. Signatures collected on other forms will not be accepted.

More information on the process, the status of the citizen initiative petition, financing rules, third party advertising rules, and frequently asked questions may be found on the Elections Alberta website.

Elections Alberta is an independent, non-partisan office of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta responsible for administering provincial elections, by-elections, and referendums.

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Alberta

So Alberta, what’s next?

Published on June 29, 2025

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Albertans, not Ottawa, should shape Alberta’s future. The Alberta Next Panel is hitting the road to engage directly with Albertans and chart a path forward for the province.

Albertans are frustrated after 10 years of punitive policies, enacted by the federal government, attacking Alberta’s economy and targeting its core industries.

Chaired by Premier Danielle Smith, the Alberta Next panel will bring together a broad mix of leaders, experts, and community voices to gather input, discuss solutions, and provide feedback to government on how Alberta can better protect its interests, defend its economy, and assert its place in Confederation.

The panel will consult across the province over the summer and early fall to ensure that those living, working, doing business and raising families are the ones to drive Alberta’s future forward. The work will include identifying solutions advanced by Albertans on how to make Alberta stronger and more sovereign within a united Canada that respects and empowers the province to achieve its full potential. It will also include making recommendations to the government on potential referendum questions for Albertans to vote on in 2026.

It will consider and hear from Albertans on the risks and benefits of ideas like a establishing an Alberta Pension Plan, using an Alberta Provincial Police Service rather than the RCMP for community policing, whether Albertans should consider pursuing constitutional changes, which (if any) changes to federal transfer payments and equalization Albertans should demand of the federal government, potential immigration reform that would give the provincial government more oversight into who comes to the province, and changes to how Alberta collects personal income tax. Albertans will also have the opportunity to put forward their own ideas for discussion.

“This isn’t just about talk. It’s about action. The Alberta Next Panel is giving everyday Albertans a direct say in the direction of our province. It’s time to stand up to Ottawa’s overreach and make sure decisions about Alberta’s future are made here, by the people who live and work here.”

Danielle Smith, Premier

“Right now, there is a need to restore fairness and functionality in the country. Years of problematic policy and decisions from Ottawa have hurt Albertan and Canadian prosperity. I am honoured to be asked by Premier Smith to participate in the Alberta Next Panel. This panel is about listening to Albertans on how we build a stronger Alberta within a united Canada, to which I, and the Business Council of Alberta, are firmly committed.”

Adam Legge, president of the Business Council of Alberta

Chaired by Premier Danielle Smith, the panel includes 13 additional members, including elected officials, academics, business leaders and community advocates:

  • Honourable Rebecca Schulz, Minister of Environment and Protected Areas of Alberta
  • Brandon Lunty, MLA for Leduc-Beaumont
  • Glenn van Dijken, MLA for Athabasca-Barrhead-Westlock
  • Tara Sawyer, MLA-elect for Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills
  • Bruce McDonald, former justice, Court of Appeal of Alberta
  • Trevor Tombe, director of fiscal and economic policy, the University of Calgary School of Public Policy
  • Adam Legge, president, Business Council of Alberta
  • Andrew Judson, vice chairman (prairies), Fraser Institute
  • Sumita Anand, vice president, Above and Beyond Care Services
  • Melody Garner-Skiba, business and agricultural advocate
  • Grant Fagerheim, president and CEO, Whitecap Resources Inc.
  • Dr. Akin Osakuade, physician and section chief, Didsbury Hospital
  • Dr. Benny Xu, community health expert
  • Michael Binnion, president, Questerre Energy

Albertans have a choice: let Ottawa continue calling the shots—or come together to chart our own course. What’s next? You decide.

Key facts:

  • Town hall dates and sites, along with other opportunities to participate in this engagement, are available online at Alberta.ca/Next. Exact locations will be posted in the weeks ahead of the event, and Albertans will be asked to RSVP online.
  • The panel’s recommendations will be submitted to government by Dec. 31, 2025.
  • It is anticipated that the panel will add additional members in the coming weeks.

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