Community
Strathcona’s Richards Block designated a “historic resource”

October 8, 2019
City Council formally designated the Richards Block, a three-storey red brick commercial building in the Old Strathcona area, as a historic resource.
Richards Block, located at 104 Street and 82 Avenue, was built between 1909 and 1910 by A.H. Richards Co, one of the oldest commercial firms in the neighbourhood of Strathcona on 82 (Whyte) Avenue.
Strathcona is one of Edmonton’s oldest neighbourhoods and was a separate Town until its amalgamation with Edmonton in 1912. Richards Block is significant for the important role it played in the early economic, social and cultural development of Strathcona. It was one of a number of brick commercial buildings built on Whyte Avenue during the economic boom prior to the First World War.
“Richards Block is special because it’s a rather grand looking building for the early 1900s, and it was an important player in the growth of the former City of Strathcona,” said Scott Ashe, Heritage Planner. “Building more substantial Edwardian commercial blocks like this was a sign that business people believed in the future of the area.”
Richards Block was a commercial and social centre. The main floor was Richards general store and other businesses, while the upper floors accommodated a dance hall and meeting space for fraternal organizations such as the Freemasons and Odd Fellows.
The building scale, design and materials represented a shift away from the modest wood-frame Boomtown Style buildings typical in the west prior to this time. The heritage value of Richards Block is also expressed in the building’s architectural features, including its red brick facade with corbelled parapet and central pediment, cornices above the storefront and at the roofline and hand-painted advertising signs (ghost signs) on the sides and rear of the building.
The owners will receive $367,955 from the City’s Heritage Resources Reserve Fund to help with rehabilitation of the building.
The City’s Historic Resource Management Plan outlines the City’s mission to identify, protect and promote the preservation and use of historic resources. The Plan contains 24 policies and 88 action items that direct how Edmonton’s heritage should be preserved and celebrated. Since the plan was initiated in 1985, 157 properties have been designated, with more designations planned in the future.
Alberta
Red Deer Recovery Community will offer hope for residents from Central Alberta and around the world

Central Albertans won’t be the only ones paying close attention to the official opening of the Red Deer Recovery Community next month. According to Marshall Smith, Chief of Staff to Premier Danielle Smith, jurisdictions from across North America will be looking to the Red Deer Recovery Community for potential answers to their own issues. Red Deer Recovery Community will be the first of 11 the province is opening over the coming months.
Cities across North America and beyond have been battling an addictions crisis, and losing. As the number of homeless people and the number of fatal overdoses continues to rise, cities are looking for new solutions. After years of slipping further behind, Alberta has decided on a new approach to recovery and Marshall Smith has been leading the charge.
Smith is a recovering addict himself. A political organizer from BC, he once worked for former Premier Gordon Campbell. His own crisis started with alcohol, then moved to cocaine dependency before he eventually succumbed to methamphetamine use. The successful political operative found himself without work and living on the street for over four years. Eventually he benefited from a 35 day stay in a publicly funded recovery centre in BC.
Former Alberta Premier Jason Kenney brought Smith to Alberta to head up the UCP’s addictions and recovery file. His personal experiences and incredible comeback story are at the heart of Alberta’s new approach.
While the success of recovery programs vary, Marshall Smith and Dr. Christina Basedow of the Edgewood Health Network (operators of Red Deer Recovery Community) say with the right treatment and the right amount of time, they expect a very high rate of successful recoveries. Smith says the province won’t give up on patients, even if some have to go through more than once.
The Recovery Community is central to this new approach, but patients who will be able to stay for up to a year, will need somewhere to go when they leave. This week the province also announced the Bridge Healing Transitional Accommodation Program in Edmonton. This “second stage” housing will ensure former addicts have a place to stay upon leaving addiction treatment centres. This will be their home in the critical days following treatment when they need to reestablish their lives by finding work or educational opportunities.
Red Deer Mayor Ken Johnston feels the 75 bed Recovery Community will be transformation for Central Alberta. Mayor Johnston says all Central Albertans will play an important role in helping former addicts when they leave the Recovery Community.
Construction of the Red Deer Recovery Community is all but complete.
Thursday, municipal and provincial politicians toured the facility and were introduced to the operators of the new facility. Dr Christina Basedow, Western VP of Edgewood Health Network teamed up with Nicholas Milliken, Alberta’s Mental Health and Addiction Minister, to take questions about operations.

Red Deer South MLA Jason Stephan, Red Deer Mayor Ken Johnston, Dr. Christina Basedow, Minister Nicholas Milliken, Red Deer North MLA Adriana LaGrange
Premier Danielle Smith made the trip to Central Alberta to offer support for the project and see the facility first hand.
Red Deer Mayor Ken Johnston and Premier Danielle Smith listen to Chief of Staff Marshall Smith

In the days leading up to an official opening expected in February, Edgewood Health Network is finalizing the admission process which will see the first batch of up to 75 people suffering addictions moving into single and double occupied rooms.

Typical double occupancy room at Red Deer Recovery Community
The new 75-bed facility, will begin accepting residents battling addictions in February. Those residents will stay for up to a full year accessing medications, programming and developing life skills.
In the meantime the province expects a recovery industry will be developing in Red Deer including second stage housing opportunities and counselling.
Community
Ottawa paramedic leader says drug supply getting more toxic amid overdose crisis

Ottawa paramedic leader Darryl Wilton says not a day went by in 2022 that didn’t include an overdose-related call.
He says that although overdose numbers in the Ottawa area have remained steady, the drug supply has become more toxic and antidotes such as Naloxone are becoming less effective.
Wilton, the president of the Professional Paramedic Association of Ottawa, says his team is increasingly seeing benzodiazepines such as valium being used with narcotics, a mix that can require intensive care in the hospital.
The Renfrew County and District Health Unit, which serves communities just west of the city, put out an overdose alert Monday warning residents about “life-threatening” drugs circulating in the area.
The county’s acting medical officer of health says that last week, paramedics responded to four overdose calls, which is alarming for the area.
Some safe consumption sites in Ottawa say they are looking to expand their hours of operation, but they are already struggling to meet the demand for their services.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 4, 2023.
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