Lethbridge Minute: Issue 263

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

📅 This Week In Lethbridge: 📅

• The Community Issues Committee meets on Thursday at 1:30 pm. On the agenda is a Community Safety Strategy Update. The update notes that Lethbridge has transitioned its Downtown Clean & Safe Strategy into a broader citywide Community Safety Action Plan, guided by the newly formed Community Safety Strategy Committee (CSSC). The plan links strategic direction to measurable community outcomes, focusing on four pillars: Prevention, Intervention, Education, and Enforcement. Input from stakeholders - including Lethbridge Police Service, Fire and Emergency Services, Regulatory Services, social development, downtown business owners, and researchers - will help shape initiatives. Local surveys show residents are highly concerned about substance use, homelessness, and social disorder, while most are satisfied with LPS’s policing. The plan suggests that visible social disorder is a symptom of deeper issues like addiction, poverty, and housing insecurity, and that effective safety requires addressing root causes alongside enforcement.
  
  
• The Committee will also receive an update on the Building Safer Communities (BSC) project, a federally funded initiative to prevent gang and gun violence among at-risk youth. Launched in 2023 through the Building Safer Communities Fund, the program addresses gaps in youth services, focusing on early intervention, case management for justice-involved youth, and prevention initiatives for the broader youth population. The program was developed using a Youth Needs Assessment, which highlighted rising youth crime, limited school-based engagement, and service gaps in mental health, recreation, and culturally responsive programming. The program offers case management, school-based online safety curricula, recreational initiatives, and educator services for parents, caregivers, and frontline staff. 
  
  
• An Encampment Strategy update is also on the agenda. It highlights a milestone - the October 2025 Point-in-Time (PiT) Count identified 504 individuals experiencing homelessness, representing a 3% decrease - the first recorded decline since 2014. Data indicates a 27% increase in individuals using transitional housing and a 252% surge in those accessing treatment facilities. However, operational challenges remain as the number of Tier 3 encampments (large, high-risk sites) has grown, requiring more intensive police and cleanup resources. 
  
  
• City Council voted 7-2 to replace its Special Policy Committees (SPCs) with a Community Issues Committee (CIC), aiming to improve transparency and engagement. During a transition period from February 19th to April 30th, 2026, meetings will continue on alternating Thursdays before switching to alternating Tuesdays starting May 5th. Unlike SPCs, CIC meetings will cover a wide range of topics, allowing all Council members to hear the same information directly rather than relying on reports from a smaller group. Supporters, including Mayor Blaine Hyggen, emphasized that the new format will provide more frequent meetings and greater efficiency. Dissenting Councillors raised concerns about reduced public engagement.
  
  
• Council voted 6-2 to cancel the 18 Street Functional Planning & Design Study, halting plans for a north-south bike boulevard. The proposed corridor would have connected schools, parks, the Sugar Bowl, Chinook Regional Hospital, and nearby residential and commercial areas. Public engagement showed “overwhelmingly negative” feedback, with 75% of 191 respondents opposing the project, citing rising costs, limited usage of existing bike lanes, and frustration with City consultations. Only 10% supported the boulevard, noting potential safety, community connectivity, and long-term health benefits. Councillor Belinda Crowson, while voting to cancel, suggested a broader discussion involving impacted groups is needed. 

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