Opinion
I believe in Red Deer. I don’t want to lose this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Do you?

I believe in Red Deer, I really do.
My wife and I decided to raise our family in Red Deer nearly 40 years ago.
We originally moved to Oriole Park and our children attended French Immersion at Fairview School at the start. Then French Immersion relocated to Mountview School and we followed and moved south of the river.
For several decades we have lived in Sunnybrook. We, even at our age, can walk easily to 3 high schools, the museum, Red Deer College, Downtown Recreation Centre , Michener Aquatic Centre, Downtown Arena (Servus Arena), Centrium complex, Collicutt Recreation Centre, Pidherney Curling Centre, Kinex Arena, Kinsmen Community Arenas, Red Deer Curling Centre, and the under-construction Gary W. Harris Centre.
When we lived in Oriole Park we could only walk to the Dawe Centre and Bower Ponds.
It was an easy decision, for our family.
Today, not much has changed.
Looking at future plans for Red Deer, it appears not much will change for the north side. Last year 311 more families moved out of the neighbourhoods north of the river than moved in. 280 more families moved into Blackfalds than left during the same period. Some will say it was low housing prices; negating the costs of commuting, the newly built Abbey centre or the prospect of a new high school, in the very near future.
North Red Deer has no current prospect of a high school even though the population is almost 3 times the size of Blackfalds. All 6 of the high schools, 4 current and 2 planned will be south of the river with 5 being along 30 Ave.
North Red Deer has no current prospect of a new indoor pool while the downtown recreation centre will see a 100 million dollar plus renovation. They do have a conditional prospect of a new ice rink added to the Dawe Centre. Conditional that the 40 year old structure is sound enough, if not it will be built at the Collicutt Centre.
The North will get a Recreation Centre, no pool, no ice rink, but a rec. centre. Apparently that is good enough.
The North gets the developments that the south side does not want. Industrial parks, public works yards, social housing to name but a few. The last school that was to be built north of the river, was at Johnstone Park and it was built south of the river. You wonder why 311 families or 777 residents moved out of the north.
But it is not just the North that is declining. 79 more families moved out of the south side of Red Deer than moved in, too. A decline 198 residents south of the river. A total of 975 residents more moved out of Red Deer than moved in.
Our crime rate has garnered national attention ranking sometimes second highest per capita nationally. There was a report talking about intensifying efforts on youth at risk.
One third of our youth lives north of the river, with no high schools, and only the Dawe Centre for indoor swimming and skating. Do they have time to commute from high school on the other side of the city to go home, have dinner and then commute again, across the city for extra-curricular and sports activities then commute a third time, across the city to home, do their homework before bed times? Can the parents afford the time and costs of so many cross-city commutes, possibly, carrying younger siblings to boot? Might be tough.
Living in Sunnybrook, it took very little time to commute. The kids could walk, roller blade, bike, skateboard, but then they very seldom had to cross the river. It was the right decision to move south.
It need not be anymore. We just have to get city council and the school boards to stop treating the north as some type of second-class society.
Tell them, when you vote on October 16, that there is another option. Build the next Aquatic Centre in the North-west corner to compliment the successful south-east Collicutt Centre. Red Deer North has Hazlett Lake, a hundred acre lake, with 2 miles of shoreline and an average depth of 10 feet, highly visible from Hwy 2 and Hwy 11a just waiting to be utilized, by people with vision, courage and strength.
On October 16 I will be looking for candidates with those qualities.
The next high school to be built will be a public high school, slotted in for land by 67Street and 30 Avenue. Let the board candidates know that, this is unacceptable and should be changed. It could be built in Johnstone Park or on the 3,000 acres now up for development north of Hwy 11a.
The next aquatic centre is slated for downtown, replacing the recreation centre. It was supposed to cost 87 million if built in 2013, then that would mean 95.7 million in 2014, 105m in 2015, 116m in 2016, 127m in 2017, 140 million dollars in 2018 not including the costs of demolition, improving transportation routes and services.
Why not invest that approximately 150 million dollars and build the Aquatic Centre on Hazlett Lake to complement each other, highly visible and easily accessed from Hwy 2. I heard tourism is a big industry, highly profitable and a huge draw for new residents. Am I insane to even consider an Aquatic Centre with a lake? People could take transit, bike, walk or drive to the beach, swim in the pool, and not pay 10 dollars for parking. The Collicutt Centre was controversial, but since becoming the most utilized facility, does anyone suggest it was a mistake. It helped kick-start development in the south-east.
What am I thinking? Look at the Riverlands. The city has spent over 230 million dollars moving the public works yard, aligning roads, upgrading services, and burying cables, etc. to create a 23 acre riverfront downtown neighbourhood. Yet it would be insane to consider building an aquatic centre on Hazlett lake? Do not forget, they are also talking about a 21 million dollar footbridge, 100 million dollar plus upgrade to the downtown recreation centre, and a downtown concert hall, and do not forget, added to that is the new skating rink, now being built.
With all this on the books, the city’s population still declined by 975 residents last year. Why not consider other options without shrugging it off?
Anyone?
I believe in Red Deer, I just do not want to lose a golden opportunity. Do you?
Business
World Economic Forum Aims to Repair Relations with Schwab

The whistleblower has always been anonymous, and it remains very suspicious that the very organization he created would turn on him after receiving an anonymous letter that they admitted may not have been credible.
World Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwab stepped down from his chairman position at the organization on April 20, 2025, amid accusations of fraud. Our computer had forecast that the WEF would enter a declining trend with the 2024 ECM turning point. This staged coup happened about 37 years after the first Davos meeting (8.6 x 4.3). From our model’s perspective, this was right on time. Now, Schwab and the WEF are working to repair ties.
An anonymous whistleblower claimed that Klaus Schwab and his wife collaborated with USAID to steal tens of millions in funding. The whistleblower has always been anonymous, and it remains very suspicious that the very organization he created would turn on him after receiving an anonymous letter that they admitted may not have been credible. Something like this would never be acceptable in any court of law, especially if it’s anonymous. It would be the worst or the worst hearsay, where you cannot even point to who made the allegation.
Back in April, the WEF said its board unanimously supported the decision to initiate an independent investigation “following a whistleblower letter containing allegations against former Chairman Klaus Schwab. This decision was made after consultation with external legal counsel.”
Now, the WEF is attempting to repair its relationship with its founder ahead of the next Davos meeting. Bloomberg reported that the WEF would like to “normalize their relationship [with Klaus Schwab] in order to safeguard the forum and the legacy of the founder.”
Peter Brabeck-Letmathe has replaced Schwab for the time being, but is less of a commanding force. Schwab’s sudden departure has caused instability in the organization and its ongoing mission. Board members are concerned that support for the organization will begin to decline as this situation remains unresolved.
The World Economic Forum’s annual revenue in 2024 was 440 million francs ($543 million), with the majority of proceeds coming from member companies and fees. Yet, the number of people registered to attend the 2025 Davos event is on par if not slightly exceeding the number of participants from the year prior.
Schwab’s departure has damaged the Davos brand. There is a possibility that the organization is attempted to rebrand after Agenda 2030 failed. The WEF attempted to move away from its zero tolerance stance on ESG initiatives after they became widely unpopular among the big industry players and shifting governments. The brand has attempted to integrate the importance of digital transformation and AI to remain relevant as the tech gurus grow in power and popularity. Those who are familiar with Klaus Schwab know the phrase, “You will own nothing and be happy.” These words have been widely unpopular and caused a type of sinister chaos to surround the brand that was once respected as the high-brow institution of globalist elites.
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde was slated to replace Schwab in 2027 when her term ends, and all reports claimed that he was prepared to remain in the chairman role for an additional two years to ensure Lagarde could take his place. What changed seemingly overnight that would cause the organization to discard Schwab before he was due to retire?
Schwab denies any misconduct and filed lawsuits against the whistleblowers, calling the accusations “calumnious” and “unfounded.” He believes “character assassination” was the premise of the claims.
I am no fan of Klaus Schwab, as everyone knows. I disagree with his theories from start to finish. Nevertheless, something doesn’t smell right here. This appears to be an internal coup, perhaps to distract attention from the question of alleged funds for the WEF from USAID, or to try to salvage the failed Agenda 2030. Perhaps they will claim that no misconduct had occurred since DOGE did not raise concerns or there is a possibility that those behind the internal coup are concerned that Schwab’s counter lawsuit could uncover new corruption. The investigation into Schwab has not concluded, but after only three months, the WEF would like to wrap it up. It appears that the WEF does not want to welcome Schwab back; rather, they would like to ensure an amicable resolution to maintain both the brand’s reputation as well as the founder’s.
Business
A new federal bureaucracy will not deliver the affordable housing Canadians need

Governments are not real estate developers, and Canada should take note of the failure of New Zealand’s cancelled program, highlights a new MEI publication.
“The prospect of new homes is great, but execution is what matters,” says Renaud Brossard, vice president of Communications at the MEI and contributor to the report. “New Zealand’s government also thought more government intervention was the solution, but after seven years, its project had little to show for it.”
During the federal election, Prime Minister Mark Carney promised to establish a new Crown corporation, Build Canada Homes, to act as a developer of affordable housing. His plan includes $25 billion to finance prefabricated homes and an additional $10 billion in low-cost financing for developers building affordable homes.
This idea is not novel. In 2018, the New Zealand government launched the KiwiBuild program to address a lack of affordable housing. Starting with a budget of $1.7 billion, the project aimed to build 100,000 affordable homes by 2028.
In its first year, KiwiBuild successfully completed 49 units, a far cry from the 1,000-home target for that year. Experts estimated that at its initial rate, it would take the government 436 years to reach the 100,000-home target.
By the end of 2024, just 2,389 homes had been built. The program, which was abandoned in October 2024, has achieved barely 3 per cent of its goal, when including units still under construction.
One obstacle for KiwiBuild was how its target was set. The 100,000-home objective was developed with no rigorous process and no consideration for the availability of construction labour, leading to an overestimation of the program’s capabilities.
“What New Zealand’s government-backed home-building program shows is that building homes simply isn’t the government’s expertise,” said Mr. Brossard. “Once again, the source of the problem isn’t too little government intervention; it’s too much.”
According to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Canada needs an additional 4.8 million homes to restore affordability levels. This would entail building between 430,000 to 480,000 new units annually. Figures on Canada’s housing starts show that we are currently not on track to meet this goal.
The MEI points to high development charges and long permitting delays as key impediments to accelerating the pace of construction.
Between 2020 and 2022 alone, development charges rose by 33 per cent across Canada. In Toronto, these charges now account for more than 25 per cent of the total cost of a home.
Canada also ranks well behind most OECD countries on the time it takes to obtain a construction permit.
“KiwiBuild shows us the limitations of a government-led approach,” said Mr. Brossard. “Instead of creating a whole new bureaucracy, the government should focus on creating a regulatory environment that allows developers to build the housing Canadians need.”
The MEI viewpoint is available here.
* * *
The MEI is an independent public policy think tank with offices in Montreal, Ottawa, and Calgary. Through its publications, media appearances, and advisory services to policymakers, the MEI stimulates public policy debate and reforms based on sound economics and entrepreneurship.
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