Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs (SACPA)

Lethbridge’s existing Land Use Bylaw has served our community since 1986. During this time, several amendments have been undertaken to this Bylaw to address market demands and resident aspirations. However, since its creation almost 40 years ago it has not undergone a comprehensive renewal. The Land Use Bylaw sets out the rules for what kind of building or activity can take place on private property and outlines the process for issuing Development Permits that give approval for new buildings and activities. In July 2023, the City of Lethbridge initiated a project to comprehensively renew its Land Use Bylaw to address current issues faced by the community. This is a three-year project with an anticipated completion in 2026. Phase 1 of this project focuses on addressing Land Use Bylaw regulations related to various social uses such as housing with social support and social services. This presentation will provide a full overview of this project and questions will be encouraged following the presentation. Projec

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Take Back Alberta supporters in the United Conservative Party arguably want to take Albertans out of the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and substitute an “Alberta Pension Plan” (APP). Given its possible long-term effect on the lives of Albertans, this should have been one of the more important issues in the recent election campaign. Instead, the Premier refused to discuss it at all, and now the provincial government is spending more than 7.5 million dollars promoting the plan. This means that Albertans don’t have meaningful information about the proposed new plan. The benefit structure is likely to be similar to the CPP (although probably not identical), but the risks are many … Join us to hear Brad Lafortune discuss the specifics about how the CPP works. He will also discuss what civil society, businesses, seniors, and many Albertans are doing to come together to make sure CPP is there for all Albertans – and all Canadians – for generations to come. Speaker: Brad Lafortune, Publ

Arguably, Alberta’s hydrocarbons are not ethical, at least no more so than what is produced in most other oil and gas producing jurisdictions. The speaker will contend that both UCP and NDP governments have subscribed to some version of “ethical oil,” which holds that Alberta’s are some of the most environmentally responsible hydrocarbons in the world, bolstered by democratic institutions and a “world class” regulatory regime. In fact, “ethical oil” is a facade to hide the truth: that oil companies, the provincial government, and Alberta’s various energy regulators have long conspired to put profits above the public interest, with the province now potentially on the hook for hundreds of billions of dollars to clean up abandoned wells and leaking tailings ponds. Speaker: Markham Hislop Markham Hislop is an energy journalist and publisher of Energi News (formerly North American Energy News). Hislop uses a technology adoption model of his own design to analyze and report upon all the facets of the energy industr

In October 2022, the Town and MD of Pincher Creek collaborated with the Piikani Nation land department to begin developing a Climate Resiliency and Adaptation plan. This process was enabled due to funding provided by the Municipal Climate Change Action Center. The plan development focused on a stakeholder-driven methodology to identify key climate risks in the region and develop plans to adapt to those risks within a changing environment. The project was led by a team consisting of members from the Town, MD, regional emergency management organization, and Piikani Nation. The outputs included full climate models for the MD of Pincher Creek to identify what may change based on a 3-degree global warming level, an economic analysis of the cost of not adapting to climate change, and finally a risk assessment and adaptation plan. This presentation will describe the key outcomes, the process for developing them, and lessons learned that can be leveraged by other organizations looking to undertake similar processes.

Each year the Government of Alberta acknowledges October as Child Abuse Prevention Month. Recently the Chinook Sexual Assault Centre renovated space in downtown Lethbridge to accommodate the needs of the Chinook Child and Youth Advocacy Centre – a program that provides coordinated, multidisciplinary approach in a safe, comfortable environment to address the needs of abused children, youth and their families. The talk will explore the prevalence of child sexual abuse, long standing implications of abuse when left unaddressed, and why it is important, as a community, to take action. Speaker: Kristine Cassie Kristine has worked in the human services sector for more than 39 years with substantial experience and advocacy efforts in the areas of youth empowerment, housing, domestic and sexual violence. Skilled at the development of programs, policy development, and risk management, Kristine has been instrumental in a number of community networks including: the Sexual Violence Action Committee; Domestic Violence Act

Interfaith Food Bank is on the front lines of addressing food security issues in our community, and is an organization that has had to grow and adapt to the ever-evolving food security crisis in order to meet community needs. Food banks in Alberta experienced a 73% increase from 2019 – 2022 and in just the last year, local need has increased again by 30%. This presentation will discuss the rise in food insecurity and how community members can lend support by offering food, funds or free time to food security initiatives. Speaker: Danielle McIntyre Moderator: Terry Shillington Danielle McIntyre has been involved with the non-profit, charitable sector for over 20 years, and has worked as Executive Director with Interfaith Food Bank since 2006. A graduate of Winston Churchill High School in Lethbridge, Danielle holds a degree in Recreation Administration, with a special focus on leisure and community development from the University of Alberta. Grateful to have the opportunity to work for a cause she believes in,

While many have heard of donating blood, donating plasma is still a relatively next concept. Some people still believe that donating blood and plasma are one and the same, and while both have you sitting in a chair hooked up to a machine, they are different processes with different purposes. When people think of blood donation, they are typically thinking of whole blood donation. Whole blood donations include all four blood components–red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, and plasma and are used to treat blood loss, typically due to injury or surgery. In contrast, when donating plasma, the straw-colored part of your blood, only that one part is collected with the other three parts of your blood returned to the donor. Plasma is used to create different therapies to help replace missing, deficient, or malfunctioning proteins in individuals with serious, often life-threatening diseases, such as hemophilia and primary immunodeficiency. The speaker will explain further and make clear that right now, there

For more than 130,000 years, bison roamed the ecosystems of western Canada and US and while doing so, influenced the lives of Indigenous Peoples and every other species they shared space and time with, before they were hunted to near extinction in the late 1800s. The speaker will talk about his journey to the Bob Creek Wildlands in Alberta’s foothills and finding evidence of past bison existence there, which led a group of hikers to start investigating the possibility of returning bison to this part of the Eastern slopes. Reintroducing bison populations to some areas of their former range can arguably help re-establish relationships to that land and other species while improving ecological diversity. Speaker: Mike Judd Mike was born and raised on the East slope of the Alberta Rockies in the Foothills west of Pincher Creek. His education includes book learning and accompanying old Mountain men on their travels. For much of his life, Mike has been a guide and outfitter involved in hunting, trail riding along th

Alberta has a lot of history, but no one has pulled it together. Some say we struggled against an unfriendly land, others say we struggled against eccentric governments, and others against an always evil East. Some say we are just misplaced Americans? But are these just old comfortable sawhorses. What are the alternatives? The speaker will offer one. Speaker: Frits Pannekoek Frits Pannekoek has been Director of Historic Sites for Alberta, for 25 years and involved in over a dozen of Alberta’s heritage centers. Today he is Professor of History at Athabasca University. He has published widely on Alberta’s heritage and on Alberta’s Indigenous history. He was awarded an Honorary doctorate from the University of South Africa and an Alberta Order of Excellence for his work in heritage preservation and online learning.

Back in 2004, in a London, England Park, a global fitness and well-being activity, named Parkrun, was born. Parkrun is a network of free and computer timed 5-kilometer runs and walks held every Saturday morning at 9am local time at over 2200 locations in 26 countries around the world. There are over 5 million Parkrunners registered worldwide. Parkruns are community-based events that encourage physical fitness, health and wellness, and socialization for people of all ages and abilities. Parkrun’s mission statement is to help create a “healthier and happier planet’’! The Henderson Lake Parkrun in Lethbridge is one of 43 Parkruns in Canada. It provides Lethbridge residents and tourists, an opportunity to participate as a runner, walker or volunteer in a free, outdoor activity on a weekly basis. The speaker will describe the many benefits of Parkrun participation, and will review the history of Parkrun and the process for participating in the weekly event. Speaker: Jim Carter Jim Carter is the Event Director for

The 2023 Alberta provincial election is history and the UCP won a majority government. However, their majority was reduced from 63-24 to 49-38, which included several cabinet ministers losing their seat. As expected, the UCP almost swept the rural vote where they have 37 out of 41 seats. The NDP dominated Edmonton and made strong inroads in Calgary to the point where a few thousand total votes in six ridings could have changed who formed government. As a result of the election, Danielle Smith’s UCP is likely to have more rural representation in cabinet than it did in the 2019-2023 term. The speaker will analyze the key elements and results of Alberta’s 2023 provincial election as well as give his thoughts on what another four years of UCP rule means for Albertans. Speaker: Dr. Duane Bratt Duane Bratt is a political science Professor in the Department of Economics, Justice, and Policy Studies at Mount Royal University (Calgary, Alberta). He teaches in the area of international relations and Canadian public pol

Our talk is meant to help people understand the Canadian Bail System better and to explain the newest changes to the system that the government is proposing. We also hope to provoke a discussion as to whether, when we tinker with these systems, we are really achieving the intended goals. Will the public really be safer? Are the proposed changes going to make a real difference in terms of public safety? Will there be other ramifications that might be unfortunate from a public policy perspective? Speaker: Ingrid Hess and James Rouleau Moderator: Violet Meekma Ingrid Hess is a Lethbridge lawyer. She grew up on a farm in the Sunnyside area, between Lethbridge and Coaldale. She is a first generation Canadian born to a mother from the Netherlands and a father from Germany. She left the area at 19 to study at UBC and later to go on adventures around the world, living in Germany, Japan, Toronto and Montreal during her twenties. Ingrid came home to Canada to study law at the University of Calgary with the dream of doi

Lethbridge & District Exhibition is a pillar in the Lethbridge community. As a not-for-profit corporation founded in 1897, it operates and maintains seventy-two acres of land on the east bank of Henderson Lake and exists to ensure that the people of Lethbridge and district have a community gathering place now and in the future at which to participate in events, conduct business, learn, and be entertained. The new 268,000 square foot Agri-food Hub & Trade Centre, one of the largest development projects in the history of Lethbridge, will serve as an economic driver of growth for Alberta’s agriculture, tourism and agri-food sectors. Once completed this Spring, the Agri-food Hub & Trade Centre is expected to contribute more than $90 million annually to the regional economy. Southern Alberta is uniquely situated in Canada’s agriculture community, with an abundance of producers, processors, commercial enterprises, and researchers in the region, which makes Lethbridge an ideal agri-tourism destination. T

Secure, Assist, Guard and Engage (SAGE) Clan is a grassroots organization that specializes in engaging those who need it the most in our community. Founded by community member Mark Brave Rock, the SAGE Clan is based upon the successful community patrol based in Winnipeg, the BEAR Clan.  SAGE Clan patrols nightly on Mondays at 7 pm, and Wednesdays and Thursdays at 9 pm to provide snacks, lunches, water and most importantly, someone to talk to. SAGE participates in various community events and has helped addicts get help and find treatment, as well as, helping family members find their loved ones on the streets. SAGE is not a police force, nor are they addiction experts, but they seek to provide a sense of community and support to those in need.  Many of the patrollers have good relationships with the community members that are on the streets and suffering from addiction. SAGE Clan patrols year-round and is an essential part of the bigger fight against both homelessness and addiction. The speakers will illustra

Histories of vaccination often begin in the late 18th century, with Dr. Edward Jenner and a milkmaid.  But there was an earlier practice (variolation) in which samples of smallpox from (what were believed to be) less deadly outbreaks were used to protect patients against more severe versions of the disease.  It involved either scratching material from smallpox ‘pustules’ onto the skin or inhaling it.  The speaker will talk about the history of vaccination, the history of resistance to vaccination and the emergence of biological/ biochemical knowledge that has built powerful new tools for building vaccines.  Dr. Brown is particularly interested in the ebb and flow of vaccine mandates and quarantine laws often strengthened during outbreaks only to be overturned when the danger of the disease seems to have passed—and argues this history reveals a lot about human psychology, and especially the power of fear and the limits of rationality and trust. Speaker: Bryson Brown (Martin) Bryson Brown began life as a rollin

A tribute to a World War I Warrior. The presentation will provide an example of racism that was wrong then and continues to be wrong today …… high and unequivocal praise for Mike Mountain Horse, an inspiring and courageous Warrior who was buried for four days and wounded three times in World War I. After his service, he was elected a minor chief of his tribal Nation and elected a president of a Lethbridge railway union. Speaker: Tom Sindlinger Moderator: Bob Campbell Tom Sindlinger spent twenty-three years with his sociological grandfather Mike Mountain Horse, and his biological grandmother Mary Mountain Horse, in the displaced persons’ neighborhood of Lethbridge, to teepees just inside the Calgary Stampede main gate, to the Sun Dance at Belly Flats. He served as a Select Committee Member of the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund and was the only Member of the Alberta Legislative Assembly to vocally support the patriation of the Canadian Constitution and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. He is an Internati

In January 2023, I presented the State of The City at the Chamber of Commerce breakfast. At the upcoming SACPA meeting I would like to provide you updates on many of the key topics we identified. There have been great strides forward in some areas, work to be done in others. Topics highlighted will range from homelessness to green bins. We will touch on issues like community safety, the electoral system, third bridge, physician recruitment, taxes, addictions, the intergovernmental health table and much more. Speaker: Mayor Blaine Hyggen Moderator: Violet Meekma Blaine Hyggen was first elected to City Council in 2013 and was elected Mayor in 2021. He has owned and operated various businesses throughout the community for the past 28 years. He studied Business Law and Accounting at Lethbridge Community College. Some of Blaine’s past and current volunteer experience includes: School Councils, Lethbridge Figure Skating Club, Lethbridge Volleyball Association, Lethbridge Oldtimers Sports Association and The Lethbri

Following the 2019 provincial election win by the United Conservative Party (UCP), leader Jason Kenney, became Premier of Alberta. Since then, the province has arguably been in some kind of crisis mode ranging from financial woes to COVID 19 controversy (“Best Summer Ever”) to fights with doctors, nurses and Ottawa to name a few. Adding fuel to the fire, Alberta went through a leadership change in October 2022, when Danielle Smith won the race to replace Kenney as Premier. Alberta is now on the verge of yet another very important election featuring an even more to the right-populist UCP led by Premier Danielle Smith, versus Rachel Notley’s New Democratic Party (NDP). The speakers will relate to the book they helped write, Anger and Angst: Jason Kenney’s Legacy and Alberta’s Right, which examines the chaos of the current UCP Alberta government leading up to the likely May 29, 2023 election date. This talk should leave the audience with a better understanding of current politics, ideology, and the “Take Back Al

In February 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in Carter v. Canada that parts of the Criminal Code would need to change to satisfy the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The parts that prohibited medical assistance in dying would no longer be valid. The Supreme Court gave the government until June 6, 2016, to create a new law. In June 2016, the Parliament of Canada passed federal legislation, known as Bill C-14, that allows eligible Canadian adults to request medical assistance in dying. On March 17, 2021, changes to Canada’s MAiD law came into force with Bill C-7. The new law responds to feedback from over 300,000 Canadians, experts, practitioners, stakeholders, indigenous groups and provinces and territories. These changes to the criminal code now allow MAID for eligible persons who wish to pursue a medically assisted death whether their natural death is foreseeable or not. It also introduced a new two-track approach to procedural safeguards based on whether or not a person’s natural death is rea

The Galt Museum & Archives | Akaisamitohkanao’pa, in partnership with Lethbridge College, Reconciliation Lethbridge, Lethbridge Historical Society and the City of Lethbridge Indigenous Relations Office, are embarking on a project that will focus on and highlight Niitsitapi knowledge and perspectives of the event. We believe this project will continue efforts toward reconciliation and relationship building by informing residents of the impact the battle had on the development of the Lethbridge. In order to focus on the Niitsitapi voices that have been ignored in the past, the Galt has engaged with Elders and Knowledge Keepers from the Blackfoot communities about this specific event. Speaker: Camina Weasel Moccasin and Kris Hodgson-Bright Moderator: Marni Hope Camina Weasel Moccasin is a member of the Kainai nation and part of the Many Children clan. She is currently one of the curators at the Galt Museum and Archives | Akaisamitohkanao’pa and has been in her role for the past year. In addition to her museu