Redcliff council voted to send regional approach letter to Kenney

By Justin Seward

Commentator/Courier
Redcliff town council agreed to get on board with sending a letter to Premier Jason Kenney on considering a regional approach for opening up the economy in the region with the low COVID cases at their Feb. 8 meeting.
“We did consensually agree that we would go in unison with Cypress County and Medicine Hat in trying to encourage the province to at least look at a more regional approach because the numbers on this side of Alberta are very low,” said Redcliff Mayor Dwight Kilpatrick.
“I realize as a South zone, our numbers still might be up there, but the Southeast zone has very few. I believe Cypress County is sitting at (one case as of Feb. 13), County of Forty Mile has none and Medicine Hat has less than 15 (13 currently).”
Council briefs
RCMP report
Council was presented with Quarter 4 crime stats from 2016 to 2020
Person crimes are down 47 per cent over the five years and 65 per cent from 2019.
Spousal abuse is up 18 per cent over the five-year span and has held steady at zero per cent change for the current quarter from the previous year.
Property crime is down 47 per cent in this quarter and down 47 per cent from 2019.
Fail to comply charges/ breach charges are up 50 per cent over the quarter and down 57 per cent since 2019.
Criminal codes are up 22 per cent and saw a decrease of 48 percent over the last two years.
Mental Health Act calls saw an increase of 38 per cent and a decrease of 15 per cent since 2019.
Rec-Tangle Arena
The province announced on Feb. 6 that children’s sports and performance activities can resume in a group of 10 starting Feb. 8. Coaches and trainers must wear masks at all times.
Lessons, practices and physical conditioning activities are allowed for indoor and outdoor minor sports/activities and school athletics.
Players must be 18 and under.
“School teams can use the arena again and small groups can use the arena,” said Kilpatrick.
“That helps everybody. It’s not like the arena is a money maker anyway. But at least now, they can book some ice time and it makes keeping the ice in a lot more palatable. In times like this— we’re not going to break even— it’s still good for the community to get out and be able to do some things. I’m glad they made that announcement—that did kind of come as a surprise—but again it’s something hopefully people don’t abuse, so it can continue.”

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