Lethbridge Minute: Frustration Mounts, Restrictions Eased, and Doctor Shortage Continues

Lethbridge Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of Lethbridge politics

This Week In Lethbridge:

• Council is set to get down to business with three meetings scheduled this week, beginning with a meeting of City Council on Tuesday at 12:30 pm, though the first hour will be an in-camera session. At this meeting, Council will receive a presentation regarding the relationship between the City of Lethbridge, its urban Indigenous community, and the Kainai/Blood Tribe. Council will also give second and third reading to Bylaw 6347, which is an Amendment to Bylaw 5798 - The West Lethbridge Area Structure Plan. If passed, it will amend the West Lethbridge Employment Centre Area Structure Plan so that a greater amount of land at 270 University Drive West can be utilized for interim use than is allowed under current policies.
  
  
• On Wednesday, there will be a meeting of the Audit Committee at 1:30 pm. At this meeting, the Committee is set to receive a confidential report, listed as “2021 Unaudited Report.” This is likely to be the City's unaudited 2021 financial report, but we can't know for sure, on account of it being confidential.
  
  
• On Thursday, there will be a meeting of the Community Safety Standing Policy Committee at 1:30 pm. At this meeting, the Committee will receive an administrative update from the Community Wellbeing and Safety Strategy manager and discuss repealing a redundant smoking bylaw. There will also be a discussion regarding a confidential report on contract negotiations.

Last Week In Lethbridge:

• Trying to find a family doctor in Lethbridge is near impossible, if not literally impossible these days. Hopefully, more help is on the horizon. A recent announcement from Alberta's Minister of Health, Jason Copping, said $90 million will be invested by the provincial government with the goal of addressing the doctor shortage in Lethbridge and Southern Alberta. Throwing money at the problem might be a good short-term solution, however both the provincial and municipal governments really need to figure out why so many doctors are leaving Lethbridge to begin with.
  
  
• As of March 1st, the City of Lethbridge opted to ease all COVID-19 restrictions for staff. The decision falls in step with the Province's earlier announcement that lifted all public health measures related to COVID-19. With the restrictions gone, do you intend to ditch the mask?
  
  
• Students have grown increasingly frustrated with the ongoing University of Lethbridge faculty strike. There seems to be no end in sight and the strike is in its third consecutive week. We sympathize with Lethbridge’s student population, who have paid for a full semester of tuition and fees, all for those much-needed resources to go down the drain. It’s a high cost burden for students to bear just because the faculty and administration can't get their ducks in a row. Faculty is crying foul over not being treated fairly, but it’s really the students at U of L who will ultimately pay the price.

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