Barnes booted from UCP caucus
Poll
Do you agree with the UCP caucus, which elected to remove Cypress-MH MLA Drew Barnes on Thursday?
Yes
Cypress-Medicine Hat MLA Drew Barnes has been removed from the United Conservative caucus after the disgruntled official had been repeatedly and vocally opposing Premier Jason Kenney s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. NEWS FILE PHOTO
Local political observers say the UCP government is in trouble as the divisions in the party came to a head with the party’s MLA from the Peace Country and caucus chair penned a scathing letter released Thursday.
Todd Loewen blamed the caucus dysfunction on Albertans’ perception the government is out of touch and arrogant.
Donation helps MHPS implement use of mental health app
Poll
Yes
The Brandon Niwa Legacy Fund – the Beej Project, has donated $23,000 toward a partnership with the Medicine Hat Police Service to cover the cost of technology needed to launch a new mental health app for officers to use in the field, while also creating opportunities for research at Medicine Hat College.
MHPS will be among the first police services in Alberta to use the HealthIM app, a digital, subscription-based system connecting emergency responders with information on people suffering from unmanaged mental health challenges and substance abuse issues.
“The information that is within the app itself will be used by officers to respond to people who are in crisis and of course, that information can help them in their tactics or their approach to how to deal with those situations,” said MHPS police chief Mike Worden. “… It’s a way to put all the information – whether it’s health data, or information c
Post-secondary about more than job training, says advocacy group
Poll
Yes, this is enough
The provincial government introduced Alberta 2030: Building Skills for Job Initiatives on Thursday – a strategy for post-secondary education which includes a focus on students developing skills for jobs and work-integrated learning. However, not everyone sees Alberta 2030 in a positive light.
“We and our coalition partners believe that it’s really setting the stage for the privatization and increased corporate influence on our post-secondary education system from universities, to colleges and polytechnics,” said Brad Lafortune, executive director for Public Interest Alberta.
“Our perspective is that it’s not a bad thing for students to have on the job training or applied training as part of their education, however we do believe that the UCP government, and this minister and premier, have demonstrated that they just fundamentally misunderstand the value of post-secondary educati
Rotary Club of MH, city police team up for bike initiative
Poll
Yes
A program to provide cycling opportunities to Hatters is rolling forward after being launched last fall.
The joint venture between the Rotary Club of Medicine Hat and city police is designed to utilize recovered bicycles that would usually go to auction and instead refurbish and provide them to individuals in need of inexpensive transportation.
Rotary Club member Peter Mueller says the project has been successful so far in providing rides from the initial 50 bicycles they had to work with. The Salvation Army, Big Brothers and Sisters, McCoy High School and the Medicine Hat College have all received rides for clients and students.
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