Opinion

How bad does it have to be, before city-hall stops growing?

Published

8 years ago

4 minute read

Red Deer is shrinking. There are 1,000 fewer residents living in Red Deer now than there were a year ago. Jobless rate just went up a half a percentage point. The majority of Red Deer residents are having to do with less, but not our city hall. They are expanding again.
When times are tough, like they are now, people adjust, they multi-task, they adapt and they get it done.
In business, every crew, every department, every division, and every employee believes they are indispensable, they need a full or expanded team, and yet they survive cut-backs, lay-offs and down sizing. But not our city hall, it continues to grow.
An employer once told me he would not hire a former public service employee, because of the culture. A lawyer once told me that there is a certain culture down at city hall that defies logic and common sense. When I hear about how the bickering and internal conflict between employees has increased 1,275% in 6 years, down at city hall, I start to grasp the “culture”, reference. Do the employees, check reality at the door, when they go to work?
The city will be hiring another full time human resource staff. Councillors Tanya Handley, Lawrence Lee, Buck Buchanan and Mayor Veer voted against the hire. Interesting is the fact that our Mayor who spends the most time, of all elected officials, at city hall, and deals with more issues directly, voted against the hire.
Some of the rationale for voting in favour of the hire, seemed almost protectionist and counter to the reason for them being able to vote in the first place. The councillors were elected to protect the residents, needs and taxes, not to act as a union representative for the employees. It comes back to the idea of a culture, almost like a cult, within city hall.
“Familiarity breeds contempt” An odd expression, but appropriate. Perhaps the turnover of councillors is so low that the employees as a whole have contempt for the councillors? One on one, maybe less than obvious, but as a whole, the employees control the council.
Perhaps it is time to seek out councillors who had to be fiscally responsible, had to be accountable for profit and losses other than on a balance sheet. Councillors who have had to tighten their belts, make the tough decisions, and face shareholders and investors?
Perhaps on October 16 we should do a zero based audit on our incumbents and decide whether to renew their contracts. If there ever was need for a slate of fiscal-hawks, perhaps this election is the time?
If there ever was a time in recent history for a council with some backbone, it is now. If the conflict between workers is so high, then perhaps we should re-examine our hiring criteria and practices.
An oil company can lay off 25% of it’s staff, during tough times and still produce oil, I am sure our city can cut back and still run our city. After all there are fewer builds, fewer permits, fewer inspections……….

Related Topics:Budget City Hall Red Deer

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One dead, over 60 injured after Iranian missiles pierce Iron Dome

Published on June 14, 2025

Todayville

MxM News

Quick Hit:

Iran launched four waves of missile attacks Friday night, breaching Israel’s defenses and killing at least one person. Over 60 others were injured, with the IDF confirming direct strikes on civilian areas in Tel Aviv and central Israel.

Key Details:

The Israel Defense Forces reported four rounds of Iranian missile fire, with at least ten missiles making impact inside Israel.
One person was killed and 63 wounded, including several in critical condition, according to The Jerusalem Post.
The IDF said Iran deliberately targeted civilians, contrasting its own earlier strikes that focused on Iranian military assets.

⚠️RAW FOOTAGE: Iran launched multiple ballistic missiles toward Israel in the past hours.

The IDF cannot, and will not, allow Iran to attack our civilians. pic.twitter.com/IrDK05uErm

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) June 13, 2025

Diving Deeper:

Several Iranian missiles broke through Israel’s air defenses during Friday night’s attack, striking Tel Aviv and other civilian areas. According to The Jerusalem Post, at least 63 people were wounded and one person was killed after four waves of Iranian ballistic missile strikes hit cities across Israel.

The IDF reportedly said roughly 100 missiles were fired in total. While the Iron Dome intercepted many, multiple missiles made it through and exploded in densely populated areas. Dramatic video showed a missile striking near downtown Tel Aviv, sending fire and debris into the air as people ran for cover.

Army Radio confirmed that ten missiles landed inside Israel between the first two waves. By the time the third and fourth waves hit, injuries had climbed sharply, with several listed in critical condition. The one fatality was reported late Friday night.

The Israeli Home Front Command temporarily allowed civilians to exit shelters but quickly reversed that guidance, urging residents to stay near protected areas amid fears of further attacks.

The IDF emphasized the nature of the targets, calling out Iran for targeting civilians. The IDF also released maps showing where air raid sirens were triggered throughout the night. Though Israel’s Home Front Command briefly allowed civilians to exit shelters, it advised them to remain nearby in case of continued strikes. As of late Friday, Iranian officials claimed a fifth wave could follow.

With tensions still high, Israeli defense officials are preparing for potential further escalation—and weighing how to respond to a direct Iranian attack on civilians.

Fraser Institute

Long waits for health care hit Canadians in their pocketbooks

Published on June 13, 2025

Todayville

From the Fraser Institute

By Mackenzie Moir

Canadians continue to endure long wait times for health care. And while waiting for care can obviously be detrimental to your health and wellbeing, it can also hurt your pocketbook.

In 2024, the latest year of available data, the median wait—from referral by a family doctor to treatment by a specialist—was 30 weeks (including 15 weeks waiting for treatment after seeing a specialist). And last year, an estimated 1.5 million Canadians were waiting for care.

It’s no wonder Canadians are frustrated with the current state of health care.

Again, long waits for care adversely impact patients in many different ways including physical pain, psychological distress and worsened treatment outcomes as lengthy waits can make the treatment of some problems more difficult. There’s also a less-talked about consequence—the impact of health-care waits on the ability of patients to participate in day-to-day life, work and earn a living.

According to a recent study published by the Fraser Institute, wait times for non-emergency surgery cost Canadian patients $5.2 billion in lost wages in 2024. That’s about $3,300 for each of the 1.5 million patients waiting for care. Crucially, this estimate only considers time at work. After also accounting for free time outside of work, the cost increases to $15.9 billion or more than $10,200 per person.

Of course, some advocates of the health-care status quo argue that long waits for care remain a necessary trade-off to ensure all Canadians receive universal health-care coverage. But the experience of many high-income countries with universal health care shows the opposite.

Despite Canada ranking among the highest spenders (4th of 31 countries) on health care (as a percentage of its economy) among other developed countries with universal health care, we consistently rank among the bottom for the number of doctors, hospital beds, MRIs and CT scanners. Canada also has one of the worst records on access to timely health care.

So what do these other countries do differently than Canada? In short, they embrace the private sector as a partner in providing universal care.

Australia, for instance, spends less on health care (again, as a percentage of its economy) than Canada, yet the percentage of patients in Australia (33.1 per cent) who report waiting more than two months for non-emergency surgery was much higher in Canada (58.3 per cent). Unlike in Canada, Australian patients can choose to receive non-emergency surgery in either a private or public hospital. In 2021/22, 58.6 per cent of non-emergency surgeries in Australia were performed in private hospitals.

But we don’t need to look abroad for evidence that the private sector can help reduce wait times by delivering publicly-funded care. From 2010 to 2014, the Saskatchewan government, among other policies, contracted out publicly-funded surgeries to private clinics and lowered the province’s median wait time from one of the longest in the country (26.5 weeks in 2010) to one of the shortest (14.2 weeks in 2014). The initiative also reduced the average cost of procedures by 26 per cent.

Canadians are waiting longer than ever for health care, and the economic costs of these waits have never been higher. Until policymakers have the courage to enact genuine reform, based in part on more successful universal health-care systems, this status quo will continue to cost Canadian patients.