2. In your opinion, what are the main issues facing economic development in Red Deer and what suggestions do you bring to help kickstart a new era of development and economic growth?

Mayoral Candidates

Buck Buchanan

Ken Johnston

When I launched my campaign and throughout my campaign I have been speaking of a mayors advisory group for business. We have excellent entrepreneurial skill in our city and the mayor needs to be an ambassador for economic development. This will certainly be a priority of mine and a new approach in promoting the city and winning business. This latest energy downturn has really spurred research and development into alternate fuels, carbon capture, high speed rail, renewable energy, agribusiness etc. Oil and gas servicing companies are more optimistic with the rise in prices. We have tremendous opportunity for partnership with our Red Deer Polytechnic. Our major events strategy is designed to attract sporting and cultural events on a broad scale. Investors and investment capital need to know Red Deer is ideally positioned in the Province. We have a tremendous natural environment, all the amenities that any city could offer, an incredible trail system and a quality of life designed to retain and attract a skilled workforce. Economic development is a community effort and requires all stakeholders to share vision, best practices, resources to maximize success. The city will be a working partner with the Mayor  as its ambassador

Council Candidates

Bruce Buruma

• Reputation matters and when it comes to doing  business in Red Deer, we have work to do. We need to be Open For Business where we want business to succeed by being responsive, competitive and service oriented. I have heard far too many examples where significant impediments by the City have created frustration and lost opportunities. The evidence is clear, business will go where it makes the most sense. How do we overcome this–we ask, listen and respond to the list of concerns and shift our culture at City Hall, driven by City Council. These have been long standing issues, and little has been done to change this. We need to create confidence to invest in Red Deer and its future. We have a strong entrepreneurial spirit, we need to let it thrive because strong economies create strong communities. We also need to take a long term perspective on economic development and diversification given some of the fundamental shifts in our local and provincial economy. Red Deer needs to be positioned as a key player in province wide economic diversification given our strategic location. I also believe that Red Deer Polytechnic, with a refreshed mandate, needs to play a key role in providing programming that is responsive to new and existing opportunities that can thrive in Red Deer.

Brenda Campbell

We need to retain current and attract new business in order for much needed growth and economic development in Red Deer. Red Deer has a reputation of being difficult to deal with in the business community. Land use bylaws and zoning need to be addressed so red tape doesn’t hold up projects. Tax rates have to be reduced as lower taxes are better than no tax revenue at all .We have the supply but need to make it more in demand. Red Deer is centrally located and that alone should be a big draw. However, too many blunders have occurred and we’re losing, instead of gaining, population and possibilities. Relationship building and promotion of Red Deer as well as tax incentives are some ways of kickstarting a new era of development and economic growth. Let’s learn from the county and other areas that are flourishing so we can do the same.

Craig Curtis

One of the major issues is competition with the County, which has lower commercial tax rates.  There is a long history regarding Gasoline Alley and the reasons it did not become part of the city. The city’s tax rate for commercial and industrial is very comparable with that in other cities. However, there are significantly lower tax rates in the County and other smaller communities. The main reason is that these communities do not have to pay for a full range of services. In particular, police and fire services comprise well over half of the municipal budget and the tax rate. Setting the above aside, we must face reality and negotiations with the County could see a greater contribution by the County to facilities like the Westerner, which serve the region as a whole. In addition, some movement on the tax rate could be considered on a phased basis. I used this model in Owen Sound, Ontario by reducing the ratio between residential and commercial properties. This resulted in the city being congratulated by the CFIB for the progress we had made.

As far as the Downtown is concerned, the social and economic issues need to be worked on together. There are inadequate facilities for the homeless and there is spillover into the adjacent downtown area. Closing the temporary shelter is not a solution. That would only make matters worse. The answer is to build the new emergency shelter with wraparound services. This and other economic development ideas which would solve problems and support development are included in my platform (craigcurtisrd.com)

As a City Councillor I would: ·
 Work to immediately address a temporary shelter solution as well as increased support services that address housing needs and addictions.
 Advocate that Red Deer leverage its central location to attract people “working from home”. Red Deer offers an affordable better quality of life in a smaller community.
 Support the city using its outstanding recreation, culture and sport facilities to attract events and ignite prosperity for businesses of all sizes. The 2019 Canada Winter Games left a legacy of facilities that can be used to host provincial national and even international events. The Games alone had an economic impact of over $100 million of economic benefit for the community.
 Seek to address the disparity between City and County commercial tax rates. Although the city’s tax rates compare favourably with other cities, businesses in Gasoline Alley have a distinct tax advantage.
 Recommend a stronger partnership with the Downtown Business Association to make development more affordable so the downtown can reclaim its position as the economic and cultural heart of the city.
 Propose that the city play an active role in ensuring there is a Red Deer stop on any future high- speed rail connection between Edmonton and Calgary and that this is integrated with our transit system.

Michael Dawe

The basic answer to this question is economics. Red Deer has to have very careful budget controls – spending on the “need to haves” – and not merely the “nice to haves”.  Out of this, there has to be very tight controls on taxes and fees to make the cost of living in Red Deer and doing business in Red Deer more competitive with the nearby communities. This budget, tax and fee control is particularly essential in the current economic times.

There needs to be more flexibility on rules and regulations as well as eliminating red tape. A good example of this came up with the issue of the old Deer Park Fire Hall. City Council initially declined a rezoning, thinking that by doing so, the proposed developer/business owner would be forced to go downtown or perhaps another commercially zoned area. Instead, he decided to relocate to Gasoline Alley, until, fortunately, City Council reversed its decision and a business was “saved” for Red Deer.

Finally, another part of economics is ensuring that basic standards and requirements are maintained – proper roads, sewers and infrastructure, emergency services, recreational facilities and our wonderful parks system, particularly our trails systems. These are incentives to ensuring people want to live and do business in Red Deer.

Victor Doerksen

Economic development starts with strong basic infrastructure … you need water and wastewater systems, power, transportation corridors, and recreational infrastructure. Add to that a predictable, competitive tax and regulatory regime and you have the environment that will attract investment. After that get out of the way and let developers and investors do what they do best. We need to have a hard look at the extent to which the city is in the land development business, especially speed to market. Taxpayers are on the hook for the land development in Timberstone, Capstone, Queens Business Park and Eco Industrial Park. Let’s not strand our investments.

Sarah Harksen

I honestly believe that the main issues is the lack of support and options the City has given our Businesses. We need to start offering initiatives in a form of grants, lower start up fee, lower taxes, promoting and re zoning.  We also need to show others that we support local and we need to start giving back to our community.  We have many empty warehouses, and shops that its losing revenue in our City. Let’s start filling them up. I also know that rezoning in Red deer is not the best. We need to revamp our zoning so that more businesses can move around or spread throughout the community.  I am all for development but it’s hard to fill places if businesses have to pay huge overhead costs for starting up. I will also state that building clientele is a process.

Vesna Higham

Given skyrocketing Federal/Provincial debt and rising inflation, pandemic hardships on our business community are ongoing and exponential. Now more than ever, we need prudent spending and a simplified regulatory environment at City Hall as we continue to navigate residual Covid impacts to our economy. Here are some suggestions to help “kickstart” a new era of development and growth:

First, it’s critical that we foster a more streamline, business friendly environment at City Hall: things like reducing administrative red tape and the time it takes to get permits pulled or applications approved, as well as taking a more generous approach to interpreting our pivotal City planning documents and the Land Use Bylaw itself. Given the challenging economic times and the pressure of competing development opportunities (like Gasoline Alley), we can no longer afford to lag behind the best practices of other communities who incentivize development with low taxes, simplified regulatory procedures, and a flexible approach to working with the business community.

Second, we need pro-active strategies including things like: appropriate tax breaks and economic incentives, as well as other regulatory levers to support business and families dealing with ongoing Covid impacts.

Third, we have to get a better handle on the crime and social disorder impacts in our community (as noted in the previous question).

And finally, Council itself needs to be flexible and business oriented. The clearest example of how a rigid approach by Council can drive business out of our boundaries is the inordinate struggles Council had around the old Deerpark firehall approval. At first denied due to concerns raised by a handful of local residents, the long-time downtown business owner came “this close” to moving his entire operation to the county. Within a week or so, Council revisited the decision on a motion to reconsider, and two councillors switched their votes to approve the development application. There must be a conscious, resolute mindset on the part of this new Council to be flexible to forthcoming development/business applications, as reasonably appropriate of course.

Cindy Jefferies

Ryan Laloge

We have a business property tax approach which is punitive to location in the City that motivates relocation to the County. The City needs to do what it does well and not be all things to all people. Businesses do not locate here or expand here to be in mini Calgary or Edmonton.

Lawrence Lee

We need to look at our downtown in a different way – setting up business incubators will be imperative to jump start our business landscape. Working with Red Deer Polytechnic will also assist where we have always shone, by providing a source of highly skilled labour. Diversification will also play a role as Red Deer capitalizes on its geographical location and on the success it has had in attracting national events – Canada Winter Games, Canadian Finals Rodeo, Gretzky Hilinka tournament, World Juniors, Canadian National Pickleball and the list goes on.

Janisse Somer

I believe our hope is in our downtown. Every relocation decision, be it a family or a business, is made with an image of ‘place’ in mind. That image is powerful and physical … a picture of buildings, streets, cafes AND the feelings and social life that are associated with those places. Whether good or bad, that image is hard to shake! And, with rare exception, that image is downtown. Every city’s reputation is largely based on the downtown. If the downtown doesn’t look good, the city doesn’t look good. People won’t want to move here, and it will be that much harder for citizens to feel good about the place they have chosen to live. If we focus on increased business and activity in our downtown, people will feel positive about our downtown and therefore, positive about our city. If people feel safe in our downtown, therefore, they will feel safe in our city. I want our downtown to be a unique shopping destination that attracts both tourists and Red Deerians. Add some tourist
attractions and you have a recipe for kickstarting our economic growth! A beautiful and vibrant downtown can be the rising tide that lifts all ships.

Dianne Wyntjes 

These days, there is much economic competitiveness among all Alberta municipalities to attract businesses to their municipality; Red Deer is no different.

In the next Council term, I’d like to bring together Red Deer community leaders as we work together on the “Red Deer Plan” with a delegation to go to Edmonton, meet with Provincial leaders, so Red Deer is on their mind as a future site for any suitable future major sector development that may come to Alberta. Our city is on a major corridor and consideration must be given to our City and region, rather than the Province often looking to the two major cities. It’s also important to ensure that vision and planning continues so that Red Deer is recognized and plans will be in place for any future stop for high speed rail between Edmonton and Calgary.

Outreach and engagement to gather community business wisdom and working with entrepreneurs. What are the niches/segments where we can expand in Red Deer? Ensuring we have the research, data and information about gaps in industry and business, and identifying opportunities to fill them.

Meeting with small, medium, large business and industry, what regulatory hoops have not been addressed these past years or need to be considered for ease of doing business with the City? Along with zoning and bylaws review. What’s working? What’s not working? What City incentives might be possible that will bring return on investment for our tax base?

Recognizing new ways such as working from home and what does that mean for office spaces and utilization of these spaces, specifically in the downtown?

What’s possible for adding to the arts and culture and tourism niches in Red Deer and how can we advance the arts and culture vibe in Red Deer?

Continuing to ensure there is adequate serviced land supply – residential, commercial and industrial. For developments such as Capstone, do we need to revisit the development plan? What else does the City need to do to generate interest that will add to the tax base and quality of life for Red Deer? Reviewing all current marketing initiatives to promote Red Deer as a city of choice and a preferred central Alberta location. What can we do better? Using our strengths compared to our competition municipality weaknesses.

There’s a statistic that 80% of growth comes from current and local/regional businesses and 20% from new business that come to the city/region. Reviewing and looking to ways to support local business.

Looking to the future, ensuring Red Deer has available, skilled and qualified employees/workforce. It’s important we focus on what we can do to prevent “brain drain” so Red Deer and Alberta retains youth and experienced employees.

Last, liveability and quality of life in a city are investment attractions when someone or a business chooses Red Deer. This includes having high quality health care, education and post secondary education, recreation, vibrant arts and culture and a welcoming community for Red Deer to be a community of choice for newcomers and business retention, attraction and investment.