Opinion
Report suggests our Downtown lives or dies at whim of the provincial economy. 100 million wasted?

Did we and are we going to waste a couple of hundred million dollars revitalizing the downtown? According to the city’s report, the rise and fall of our downtown rides on the provincial economy.
So did we waste hundreds of millions, on bus terminal, trails, traffic re-alignment, services, patios, arena, Riverlands and are we wasting money if we build the aquatic centre, foot bridge and a new concert hall? Why if everything rides on decisions made in Edmonton?
Other factors cited like high lease costs, suggests that property owners were gaining from our tax-payers’ largesse than the residents and businesses. High maintenance, and social issues including prostitution and drug use increased in spite of all the money spent downtown and going to be spent downtown.
Council heard about ideas like business incubators. Check my columns and letter-to-the-editor going back decades and count how many times I suggested these very things, but was ignored by the powers that be.
Please explain to us, why Red Deer is faring worse than our neighbouring communities. Why is Penhold and Blackfalds growing in this same provincial economy while Red Deer is shrinking? Why are businesses in Penhold and Blackfalds, like grocery stores expanding? Same provincial economy.
Why would an accounting firm move out of downtown into gasoline alley? I do not think they needed easier access to truck routes.
The downtown is necessary, so I am reminded, but so are other areas, not on the city’s radar. Tourism, especially sports tourism, has great potential, but only addressed in a half hearted manner. The unequal distribution of high schools and recreational facilities affect 10s of thousands of people almost daily, and not a thought given. Agriculture was a big part of our city, but lost ground to the energy sector. Government services, once a main stay in Red Deer, are losing ground to expanding satellite services in smaller communities. Big box stores and fast food are finding traction in smaller communities.
Perhaps it is time to realize that a couple hundred million of our hard earn tax dollars did not protect the downtown from a provincial downturn, while Penhold and Blackfalds grew. Then perhaps it is time to try something different.
Downsize the downtown, invest in the whole city, address the ideas of diversification, tourism, (staycation might be an idea) and perhaps make the whole city attractive to investors, visitors, and the residents.
The downtown will grow at the whim of the provincial economy and our taxes will not make any difference, so says the report.
2025 Federal Election
Liberal MP Paul Chiang Resigns Without Naming the Real Threat—The CCP

Dan Knight
After parroting a Chinese bounty on a Canadian citizen, Chiang exits the race without once mentioning the regime behind it—opting instead to blame “distractions” and Donald Trump.
So Paul Chiang is gone. Stepped aside. Out of the race. And if you’re expecting a moment of reflection, an ounce of honesty, or even the basic decency to acknowledge what this was really about—forget it.
In his carefully scripted resignation statement, Chiang didn’t even mention the Chinese Communist Party. Not once. He echoed a foreign bounty placed on a Canadian citizen—Joe Tay—and he couldn’t even bring himself to name the regime responsible.
Instead, he talked about… Donald Trump. That’s right. He dragged Trump into a resignation about repeating CCP bounty threats. The guy who effectively told Canadians, “If you deliver a Conservative to the Chinese consulate, you can collect a reward,” now wants us to believe the real threat is Trump?
I haven’t seen Donald Trump put bounties on Canadian citizens. But Beijing has. And Chiang parroted it like a good little foot soldier—and then blamed someone who lives 2,000 miles away.
But here’s the part you can’t miss: Mark Carney let him stay.
Let’s not forget, Carney called Chiang’s comments “deeply offensive” and a “lapse in judgment”—and then said he was staying on as the candidate. It wasn’t until the outrage hit boiling point, the headlines stacked up, and groups like Hong Kong Watch got the RCMP involved, that Chiang bailed. Not because Carney made a decision—because the optics got too toxic.
And where is Carney now? Still refusing to disclose his financial assets. Still dodging questions about that $250 million loan from the Bank of China to the firm he chaired. Still giving sanctimonious speeches about “protecting democracy” while his own caucus parrots authoritarian propaganda.
If you think Chiang’s resignation fixes the problem, you’re missing the real issue. Because Chiang was just the symptom.
Carney is the disease.
He covered for it. He excused it. He enabled it. And now he wants to pose as the man who will stand up to foreign interference?
He can’t even stand up to it in his own party.
So no, we’re not letting this go. Chiang may be gone—but the stench is still in the room. And it’s wearing a tailored suit, smiling for the cameras, and calling itself “leader of the Liberal Party.”
2025 Federal Election
PM Carney’s Candidate Paul Chiang Steps Down After RCMP Confirms Probe Into “Bounty” Comments

Sam Cooper
Just after midnight Monday, Liberal MP Paul Chiang announced he is stepping down as the Liberal candidate in Markham–Unionville — hours after Canada’s federal police confirmed it was “looking into” allegations that he endorsed handing a political rival to a foreign government in exchange for a bounty.
“This is a uniquely important election with so much at stake for Canadians,” Chiang wrote in a late-night statement. “I do not want there to be distractions in this critical moment. That’s why I’m standing aside as our 2025 candidate.”
The announcement followed a day of escalating controversy, triggered by The Bureau’s Friday report and a series of breaking developments over the weekend and Monday, detailing Chiang’s remarks at a January meeting with Chinese-language media.
At a January news conference with Chinese-language media, Chiang suggested that Joe Tay’s criminal charge in Hong Kong would create a “great controversy” if he were elected to Parliament, according to the Ming Pao newspaper. He then reportedly crossed into territory that Hong Kong rights groups have asked the RCMP to investigate — potentially amounting to counselling kidnapping and violating Canada’s foreign interference laws — by suggesting that Tay, a Canadian citizen wanted under Hong Kong’s National Security Law, could be “taken” to the Chinese Consulate in Toronto to claim a HK$1 million bounty.
The UK-based human rights NGO Hong Kong Watch filed a formal letter to RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme on Monday morning, requesting a criminal investigation. The letter alleged Chiang’s comments may amount to “counselling to commit kidnapping” under Canada’s Criminal Code, and potentially violate the new Foreign Interference and Security of Information Act.
By late evening, the RCMP confirmed it was “looking into the matter,” citing the serious and growing threat of foreign interference and transnational repression. While no criminal charges have been laid, and no details about potential protective measures have been released, the federal police said it is working closely with intelligence and law enforcement partners.
Chiang did not reference the controversy directly in his resignation statement, instead framing his decision as a step to protect the broader interests of the Liberal campaign. He expressed pride in his record and gratitude to his community.
“For the past three-and-a-half years, it has been the greatest honour of my life to serve the people of Markham–Unionville as their Member of Parliament,” he wrote. “Every single day, I served with integrity and worked to deliver results.”
The move comes after mounting calls for Chiang’s removal, including from more than 40 Hong Kong diaspora groups and international human rights advocates who said his remarks endorsed Beijing’s tactics of transnational repression. Joe Tay, the Conservative candidate targeted in the remarks, revealed Monday that he had contacted the RCMP for personal protection even before the comments were made public.
Chiang had previously apologized for what he called a “terrible lapse in judgment,” but had retained the backing of Prime Minister Mark Carney — until Monday night.
More to come on this breaking story.
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