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Highlights from Lacombe Council

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HIGHLIGHTS OF THE REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING JANUARY 11, 2018

POLICY AD(20) SUDIVISION & ROAD NAMING

Council approved Policy AD(20) Subdivision and Road Naming. The policy has been amended to remove the ability to name newly created internal subdivision roads and to reinforce the usage of rural addressing as the primary location.

SYLVAN LAKE INTERMUNICIPAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN

A resolution that Lacombe County host an application to Municipal Affairs for an Alberta Community Partnership Program grant that is being requested to develop the Sylvan Lake Intermunicipal Development Plan (IDP) received Council approval.

The grant will provide for the development of an IDP in partnership with the municipalities around Sylvan Lake, which include Red Deer County, the Town of Sylvan Lake, and the Summer Villages of Birchcliff, Halfmoon Bay, Jarvis Bay, Norglenwold and Sunbreaker Cove.

BYLAW NO. 1266/18

Bylaw No. 1266/18, a bylaw of Lacombe County to amend the Lacombe County Land Use Bylaw No.1237/17 to rezone approximately 64 hectares (160 acres) on the SW 07-41-26 W4M from Agricultural ‘A’ to Recreation ‘PR’ District received first reading. A public hearing regarding Bylaw No. 1266/18 will be held on February 22, 2018 commencing at 7:00 p.m.

BYLAW NO. 1267/18

Bylaw No. 1267/18, a bylaw of Lacombe County to amend the Lacombe County Land Use Bylaw No.1237/17 to rezone approximately 64.47 hectares (159.31 acres) on the Pt. NW 14-41-28 W4M from Agricultural ‘A’ to Recreation ‘PR’ District, Residential Conservation Cluster “R-RCC” District, and High Density Residential “R-HDR” District received first reading. A public hearing regarding Bylaw No. 1267/18 will be held on February 8, 2018 commencing at 9:00 a.m.

WEST SIDE COUNTRY ESTATES GATE INSTALLATION

As per a Notice of Motion from the December 14, 2017 meeting, Council approved a resolution to reconsider resolution #C/837/17 concerning the investigation of allowing gates to block off road allowances; and further, consider a pilot project with the gate at the entrance of the lakeshore residential area of Westside Country Estates that was defeated at the November 23, 2017 meeting. Resolution #C/837/17 did not receive Council approval.

A resolution authorizing the County Manager to develop guidelines and enter into an agreement with the residents of Westside Country Estates for a two-year pilot project to allow for gating of the community received Council approval.

ALIX FIRE DEPARTMENT LIFEPAK AED

Council approved a contribution of $ 5,000 towards the cost of the Alix Fire Department Lifepak AED for use in the department’s Medical First Response (MFR) service; and further, this contribution will be funded from the Protective Services Reserve.

SYLVAN LAKE REGIONAL WASTEWATER COMMISSION (SLRWC)

Council was presented with Lacombe County’s comments provided to the SLRWC regarding their 2018 Business Plan. The County has concluded that given the significant divergence of views with respect to the Plan that consideration be given to engaging an independent third party to assist in mediation to settle the member municipalities’ differences and find common ground. The presentation was received for information by Council.

COMMUNITY CRIME PREVENTION INFORMATION FAIR

A resolution that Lacombe County co-sponsor the January 25, 2018 Community Crime Prevention Information Fair at the Eckville Community Hall with the Town of Eckville received the approval of Council.

EAST 4-H BEEF CLUB FUNDING REQUEST

Council approved $ 300 in funding to the East Lacombe Beef 4-H Club for their 2018 bonspiel; and further, this contribution will be funded through the 2018 Agricultural Operations budget.

AGRICULTURE PLASTICS RECYLING PROGRAM

By resolution of Council, the County Manager was directed to research the implementation of an Agricultural Plastics Recycling Program in Lacombe County and provide those findings to Council at a future meeting.

ASPELUND INDUSTRIAL PARK UTILITY RATES

Council moved first, second and third readings of Bylaw No. 1272/18, a bylaw of Lacombe County respecting the 2018 utility rates for the Aspelund Industrial Park.

SYLVAN LAKE QUIET ENJOYMENT INITIATIVE

Kent Lyle, Chairman, Sylvan Lake Watershed Stewardship Society spoke to the request from the Society for $ 2,000 in funding for the Sylvan Lake Quiet Enjoyment Initiative and a resolution from Council stating their support for this initiative.

The request from the Sylvan Lake Watershed Stewardship Society regarding their Quiet Enjoyment Initiative was received for information; and further, it was referred back to the County Manager for the preparation of a report regarding this matter to be presented at a future Council meeting.

MEETING THE RCMP COMMANDING OFFICER OF “K” DIVISION

Council will meet with the RCMP Commanding Officer of “K” at the upcoming AAMDC Spring Convention. Council agreed that the following issues will be discussed:

• Best utilization of Lacombe County resources for the RCMP (i.e. What is the most beneficial way for County dollars to assist the RCMP organization?)

• How does the RCMP see their policing mandate
• Communication Apps – more effective communication with the RCMP is needed

LAND DONATION

By resolution of Council, the County Manager was authorized to enter into a donation agreement for the acquisition of land within the NE 18-41-22 W4M.

2017 ASSESSMENT YEAR MODIFIERS (AYMs)

By resolution of Council, a letter will be forwarded to the Minister of Municipal Affairs regarding the 2017 Assessment Year Modifiers. The AYMs differ from those proposed earlier in the fall of 2017 and will affect the County’s 2018 final budget.

Next Regular Council Meeting is Thursday, January 25, 2018 – 9:00 a.m.

Next Committee of the Whole Meeting is

Tuesday, February 2, 2018 – 9:00 a.m.

Lacombe County Administration Building

RR 3, Lacombe, AB T4L 2N3 (Tel) 403.782.6601 (Fax) 403.782.3820 www.lacombecounty.com

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Community

SPARC Red Deer – Caring Adult Nominations open now!

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Red Deer community let’s give a round of applause to the incredible adults shaping the future of our kids. Whether they’re a coach, neighbour, teacher, mentor, instructor, or someone special, we want to know about them!

Tell us the inspiring story of how your nominee is helping kids grow up great. We will honour the first 100 local nominees for their outstanding contributions to youth development. It’s time to highlight those who consistently go above and beyond!

To nominate, visit Events (sparcreddeer.ca)

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Addictions

‘Harm Reduction’ is killing B.C.’s addicts. There’s got to be a better way

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From the Frontier Centre for Public Policy

By Susan Martinuk 

B.C. recently decriminalized the possession of small amounts of illicit drugs. The resulting explosion of addicts using drugs in public spaces, including parks and playgrounds, recently led the province’s NDP government to attempt to backtrack on this policy

Since 2016, more than 40,000 Canadians have died from opioid drug overdoses — almost as many as died during the Second World War.
Governments, health care professionals and addiction experts all acknowledge that widespread use of opioids has created a public health crisis in Canada. Yet they agree on virtually nothing else about this crisis, including its causes, possible remedies and whether addicts should be regarded as passive victims or accountable moral agents.

Fuelled by the deadly manufactured opioid fentanyl, Canada’s national drug overdose rate stood at 19.3 people per 100,000 in 2022, a shockingly high number when compared to the European Union’s rate of just 1.8. But national statistics hide considerable geographic variation. British Columbia and Alberta together account for only a quarter of Canada’s population yet nearly half of all opioid deaths. B.C.’s 2022 death rate of 45.2/100,000 is more than double the national average, with Alberta close behind at 33.3/100,00.

In response to the drug crisis, Canada’s two western-most provinces have taken markedly divergent approaches, and in doing so have created a natural experiment with national implications.

B.C. has emphasized harm reduction, which seeks to eliminate the damaging effects of illicit drugs without actually removing them from the equation. The strategy focuses on creating access to clean drugs and includes such measures as “safe” injection sites, needle exchange programs, crack-pipe giveaways and even drug-dispensing vending machines. The approach goes so far as to distribute drugs like heroin and cocaine free of charge in the hope addicts will no longer be tempted by potentially tainted street drugs and may eventually seek help.

But safe-supply policies create many unexpected consequences. A National Post investigation found, for example, that government-supplied hydromorphone pills handed out to addicts in Vancouver are often re-sold on the street to other addicts. The sellers then use the money to purchase a street drug that provides a better high — namely, fentanyl.

Doubling down on safe supply, B.C. recently decriminalized the possession of small amounts of illicit drugs. The resulting explosion of addicts using drugs in public spaces, including parks and playgrounds, recently led the province’s NDP government to attempt to backtrack on this policy — though for now that effort has been stymied by the courts.

According to Vancouver city councillor Brian Montague, “The stats tell us that harm reduction isn’t working.” In an interview, he calls decriminalization “a disaster” and proposes a policy shift that recognizes the connection between mental illness and addiction. The province, he says, needs “massive numbers of beds in treatment facilities that deal with both addictions and long-term mental health problems (plus) access to free counselling and housing.”

In fact, Montague’s wish is coming true — one province east, in Alberta. Since the United Conservative Party was elected in 2019, Alberta has been transforming its drug addiction policy away from harm reduction and towards publicly-funded treatment and recovery efforts.

Instead of offering safe-injection sites and free drugs, Alberta is building a network of 10 therapeutic communities across the province where patients can stay for up to a year, receiving therapy and medical treatment and developing skills that will enable them to build a life outside the drug culture. All for free. The province’s first two new recovery centres opened last year in Lethbridge and Red Deer. There are currently over 29,000 addiction treatment spaces in the province.

This treatment-based strategy is in large part the work of Marshall Smith, current chief of staff to Alberta’s premier and a former addict himself, whose life story is a testament to the importance of treatment and recovery.

The sharply contrasting policies of B.C. and Alberta allow a comparison of what works and what doesn’t. A first, tentative report card on this natural experiment was produced last year in a study from Stanford University’s network on addiction policy (SNAP). Noting “a lack of policy innovation in B.C.,” where harm reduction has become the dominant policy approach, the report argues that in fact “Alberta is currently experiencing a reduction in key addiction-related harms.” But it concludes that “Canada overall, and B.C. in particular, is not yet showing the progress that the public and those impacted by drug addiction deserve.”

The report is admittedly an early analysis of these two contrasting approaches. Most of Alberta’s recovery homes are still under construction, and B.C.’s decriminalization policy is only a year old. And since the report was published, opioid death rates have inched higher in both provinces.

Still, the early returns do seem to favour Alberta’s approach. That should be regarded as good news. Society certainly has an obligation to try to help drug users. But that duty must involve more than offering addicts free drugs. Addicted people need treatment so they can kick their potentially deadly habit and go on to live healthy, meaningful lives. Dignity comes from a life of purpose and self-control, not a government-funded fix.

Susan Martinuk is a senior fellow at the Frontier Centre for Public Policy and author of the 2021 book Patients at Risk: Exposing Canada’s Health Care Crisis. A longer version of this article recently appeared at C2CJournal.ca.

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