Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs (SACPA)

Secure, Assist, Guard and Engage (SAGE) Clan is a grassroots organization that specializes in engaging those who need it the most in our community. Founded by community member Mark Brave Rock, the SAGE Clan is based upon the successful community patrol based in Winnipeg, the BEAR Clan.  SAGE Clan patrols nightly on Mondays at 7 pm, and Wednesdays and Thursdays at 9 pm to provide snacks, lunches, water and most importantly, someone to talk to. SAGE participates in various community events and has helped addicts get help and find treatment, as well as, helping family members find their loved ones on the streets. SAGE is not a police force, nor are they addiction experts, but they seek to provide a sense of community and support to those in need.  Many of the patrollers have good relationships with the community members that are on the streets and suffering from addiction. SAGE Clan patrols year-round and is an essential part of the bigger fight against both homelessness and addiction. The speakers will illustra

Histories of vaccination often begin in the late 18th century, with Dr. Edward Jenner and a milkmaid.  But there was an earlier practice (variolation) in which samples of smallpox from (what were believed to be) less deadly outbreaks were used to protect patients against more severe versions of the disease.  It involved either scratching material from smallpox ‘pustules’ onto the skin or inhaling it.  The speaker will talk about the history of vaccination, the history of resistance to vaccination and the emergence of biological/ biochemical knowledge that has built powerful new tools for building vaccines.  Dr. Brown is particularly interested in the ebb and flow of vaccine mandates and quarantine laws often strengthened during outbreaks only to be overturned when the danger of the disease seems to have passed—and argues this history reveals a lot about human psychology, and especially the power of fear and the limits of rationality and trust. Speaker: Bryson Brown (Martin) Bryson Brown began life as a rollin

A tribute to a World War I Warrior. The presentation will provide an example of racism that was wrong then and continues to be wrong today …… high and unequivocal praise for Mike Mountain Horse, an inspiring and courageous Warrior who was buried for four days and wounded three times in World War I. After his service, he was elected a minor chief of his tribal Nation and elected a president of a Lethbridge railway union. Speaker: Tom Sindlinger Moderator: Bob Campbell Tom Sindlinger spent twenty-three years with his sociological grandfather Mike Mountain Horse, and his biological grandmother Mary Mountain Horse, in the displaced persons’ neighborhood of Lethbridge, to teepees just inside the Calgary Stampede main gate, to the Sun Dance at Belly Flats. He served as a Select Committee Member of the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund and was the only Member of the Alberta Legislative Assembly to vocally support the patriation of the Canadian Constitution and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. He is an Internati

In January 2023, I presented the State of The City at the Chamber of Commerce breakfast. At the upcoming SACPA meeting I would like to provide you updates on many of the key topics we identified. There have been great strides forward in some areas, work to be done in others. Topics highlighted will range from homelessness to green bins. We will touch on issues like community safety, the electoral system, third bridge, physician recruitment, taxes, addictions, the intergovernmental health table and much more. Speaker: Mayor Blaine Hyggen Moderator: Violet Meekma Blaine Hyggen was first elected to City Council in 2013 and was elected Mayor in 2021. He has owned and operated various businesses throughout the community for the past 28 years. He studied Business Law and Accounting at Lethbridge Community College. Some of Blaine’s past and current volunteer experience includes: School Councils, Lethbridge Figure Skating Club, Lethbridge Volleyball Association, Lethbridge Oldtimers Sports Association and The Lethbri

Following the 2019 provincial election win by the United Conservative Party (UCP), leader Jason Kenney, became Premier of Alberta. Since then, the province has arguably been in some kind of crisis mode ranging from financial woes to COVID 19 controversy (“Best Summer Ever”) to fights with doctors, nurses and Ottawa to name a few. Adding fuel to the fire, Alberta went through a leadership change in October 2022, when Danielle Smith won the race to replace Kenney as Premier. Alberta is now on the verge of yet another very important election featuring an even more to the right-populist UCP led by Premier Danielle Smith, versus Rachel Notley’s New Democratic Party (NDP). The speakers will relate to the book they helped write, Anger and Angst: Jason Kenney’s Legacy and Alberta’s Right, which examines the chaos of the current UCP Alberta government leading up to the likely May 29, 2023 election date. This talk should leave the audience with a better understanding of current politics, ideology, and the “Take Back Al

In February 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in Carter v. Canada that parts of the Criminal Code would need to change to satisfy the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The parts that prohibited medical assistance in dying would no longer be valid. The Supreme Court gave the government until June 6, 2016, to create a new law. In June 2016, the Parliament of Canada passed federal legislation, known as Bill C-14, that allows eligible Canadian adults to request medical assistance in dying. On March 17, 2021, changes to Canada’s MAiD law came into force with Bill C-7. The new law responds to feedback from over 300,000 Canadians, experts, practitioners, stakeholders, indigenous groups and provinces and territories. These changes to the criminal code now allow MAID for eligible persons who wish to pursue a medically assisted death whether their natural death is foreseeable or not. It also introduced a new two-track approach to procedural safeguards based on whether or not a person’s natural death is rea

The Galt Museum & Archives | Akaisamitohkanao’pa, in partnership with Lethbridge College, Reconciliation Lethbridge, Lethbridge Historical Society and the City of Lethbridge Indigenous Relations Office, are embarking on a project that will focus on and highlight Niitsitapi knowledge and perspectives of the event. We believe this project will continue efforts toward reconciliation and relationship building by informing residents of the impact the battle had on the development of the Lethbridge. In order to focus on the Niitsitapi voices that have been ignored in the past, the Galt has engaged with Elders and Knowledge Keepers from the Blackfoot communities about this specific event. Speaker: Camina Weasel Moccasin and Kris Hodgson-Bright Moderator: Marni Hope Camina Weasel Moccasin is a member of the Kainai nation and part of the Many Children clan. She is currently one of the curators at the Galt Museum and Archives | Akaisamitohkanao’pa and has been in her role for the past year. In addition to her museu

Concerns have been raised about the fragmentation of the management of Alberta’s fish and wildlife resources to separate departments and non-government agencies. Questions will be raised on how effective fish and wildlife management and conservation will happen, in such a fractured way. Risks to an important resource, a provincial treasure, will be explored. What is happening, how might these changes influence a public resource like fish and wildlife, and why should you care? Speaker: Lorne Fitch, P. Biol. Moderator: Mark Goettel Lorne has been a biologist for over 50 years and is a certified professional biologist, a retired provincial Fish and Wildlife biologist, was one of the co-founders of the stewardship initiative Cows and Fish, and a former Adjunct Professor with the University of Calgary. Lethbridge is home, where he pens articles and essays on issues related to Alberta’s landscape and critters. This includes a recent book, Streams of Consequence- Dispatches from the Conservation World.

Social prescribing is a means for health-care providers to connect patients to a range of non-clinical services in the community, in order to improve their health and well-being. As opposed to simply treating symptoms, social prescribing may help to address the underlying causes of patients’ health and well-being challenges. Ideally, social prescribing is a more holistic approach to health care, which promotes community-based integrated care, and helps to de-medicalize health service provision. Seniors Community Services Partnership (SCSP) is a partnership between four local service organizations that support seniors 60+ to navigate health care and social resources, access financial benefits and housing, and provide emotional support for those with various psychosocial needs. The needs of older adults are assessed by an intake worker, who then assigns individuals to a Senior System Navigator (SSN) who builds a trust-based relationship and creates a collaborative service plan targeting improved outcomes inclus

Most of the global population recognizes we are in an accelerating transition to sustainable societies and environments. But what will that look like? Will life be more challenging; more comfortable; perhaps a combination? Dr. Byrne will discuss the society of the future. What do we have to do with energy and sustainability to achieve reasonably stable regional and global environments. Speaker: James Byrne James Byrne is Professor Emeritus, University of Lethbridge. He continues an active research program in climate, change solutions, renewable energy, transitions, and society scale sustainability.

An on-reserve police service presents with many challenges, including funding, staffing, and retention. The First Nation members themselves face particular challenges as well as non-challenges. Non-First Nation officers have their own unique challenges, as well as the “culture shock” that accompanies policing a First Nation area. Our presenters will touch on all of these issues based on their own policing experience. Speakers: Police Chief Grant Buckskin and Inspector Rayan Najjar Grant Buckskin is Interim Chief of Police with the Blood Tribe Police Service, a position he has held since September, 2022. He is a member of the Blood Tribe and started his career with the Police Service in 1990. After 7 1/2 years, he left to serve with other police services in Central and Northern Alberta as well as Manitoba, before returning to the Blood Reserve in 2007 where he has since remained. Over the course of this extensive policing career, Chief Buckskin has served in many positions in the Community Policing Division an

A NDP majority was elected in 2015, and then in 2019 enough people voted for the UCP to give them a majority. Elections in different jurisdictions have shown that after each opposite direction election, many voters are left hanging with no home. Recent polls have shown that the UCP is having a hard time keeping voters, but not all are ready to vote NDP, so where do they go? The speaker will contend that at some point, Albertans may become tired of the instability of this back-and-forth undoing what the previous government did, only to have that repeat in the following election. The Alberta Party arguably occupies the center of Alberta politics, which is not far from the sentiment of most Albertans. Speaker: Barry Morishita, leader of the Alberta Party A long serving councilor and Mayor in the City of Brooks, Barry Morishita is well known in municipal government across the province having spent 7 years on the Board and Executive of the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association becoming the association’s longest

The City of Lethbridge and Blood Tribe Department of Health (BTDH) signed a Shelter lease agreement starting Jan 1, 2023 at the location of the former Lethbridge Shelter and Stabilization Centre on 2 Avenue North. The speaker will give some background info on how this agreement came to be, followed by an account of the current Shelter situation and the overall continuum of care plan and vision by BTDH on the issue of opioid addiction and recovery. Speaker: Taatsiikiipoyii, Charles (Charlie) Weaselhead Jr. Charles Weaselhead, former Blood Tribe Chief and Treaty 7 Grand Chief, was born on the Blood Indian Reserve in 1949. Since the early 1980’s, Charles Weaselhead has worked hard to advance many health initiatives to improve the health care outcomes for the People, as Director of the treatment Centre Napi Lodge and Poundmaker’s Lodge; Director of the Blood Indian Hospital in the early 90’s; and as Chief Executive Officer for the Blood Tribe Department of Health Inc., a post he held until his successful election

Some people may be under the impression that with the Paris Accord of 2015, and subsequent agreements made at a series of “Conference of the Parties” (COP) meetings, the problem of climate change is well on its way to being solved. Unfortunately, nothing could be farther from the truth. I will summarize some recent scientific findings that everyone needs to know about and discuss their implications for climate policy. Speaker: Kent Peacock Moderator: Mark Goettel Kent Peacock is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Lethbridge. He works on the philosophy of science, logic, and (most recently) sustainability and climate change.

Mr. Schow will give some insight into the provincial budget for 2023, and recap important provincial investments over the last 3 years. Speaker: HONOURABLE JOSEPH SCHOW, ECA Minister Without Portfolio, Government House Leader, United Conservative Caucus, MLA for Cardston-Siksika Moderator: Bev Muendel- Atherstone Joseph Schow was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, representing the constituency of Cardston-Siksika, on April 16, 2019. He was appointed Government House Leader on October 24, 2022. He previously served as Deputy Government House Leader and Deputy Government Whip. He also served on several committees of the Legislative Assembly, including as Chair for the Standing Committee on Legislative Offices and the Select Special Committees on Democratic Accountability and the Child and Youth Advocate Search. He was Deputy Chair for the Special Standing Committee on Members’ Services and the Standing Committees on Private Bills and Private Members’ Public Bills and Privileges and Elections, Stand

With an Alberta election on the way this spring, Rachel Notley and Alberta’s NDP are promising to be a stable, caring, and competent government, focused on addressing the issues that matter to Lethbridge like lowering the cost of living and rebuilding public health care. With Danielle Smith’s government in a state of chaos, MLA Shannon Phillips will provide an alternative vision for a stronger Lethbridge and what she would prefer to see for her constituents and fellow Albertans. Speaker: Shannon Phillips, MLA, Lethbridge West Moderator: Dylon Purcell Shannon Phillips was elected MLA for Lethbridge West as a member of Alberta’s New Democrats in 2015 and re-elected in 2019. She has been nominated by her party for the 2023 election again. MLA Phillips served as Minister of Environment and Parks from 2015-2019 and now chairs the Public Accounts Committee and serves as Opposition Critic for Treasury Board and Finance. She lives in Lethbridge with her two sons.

An account of what was learned about city finances and financial oversight during 8 years of service on Lethbridge City Council will be presented. Speaker: Chris Spearman, Former Mayor of Lethbridge Moderator: Mark Goettel Chris Spearman was a Lethbridge resident from 1981 to 2022. He had more than 40 years ofbusiness experience, including 33 years as Manager of Accounting and Administration at the Black Velvet Distilling Company in Lethbridge. Chris served for 18 years on the Holy Spirit School Board and 8 years as the mayor of Lethbridge.

Find out why the Village Stirling embarked on a journey to net zero with the deployment of community-owned solar microgeneration beginning in 2018. More importantly, learn about this southern Alberta community’s plans to continue its leadership in energy sustainability and financial responsibility. The Village of Stirling is one of just three communities in Canada designated as a National Historic Site and is the largest village in Alberta by population with 1,269 residents as of the 2019 municipal census. While Stirling is proud of its past, the community is also preparing for the future with high-speed fibre optic broadband internet service connected to more than 90% of households as well as solar arrays on public buildings to offset municipal power consumption needs resulting in Canada’s first electrically “net zero” Village for municipal purposes. The innovative community where families thrive continues to innovate with the start-up of a municipally controlled corporation in Ridge Utilities Ltd. to market

Christian churches faced several significant challenges in the Covid-19 pandemic to attend to the spiritual needs of our community, and their post-crisis recovery continues to be very rocky.  This discussion will explore the various obstacles faith communities have faced since 2020, how they navigated those obstacles, and new pressures they are now facing.  Speaker:    Reverend Taylor Croissant Moderator:  Terry Shillington The Reverend Taylor Croissant is an ordained minister in The United Church of Canada, currently serving at Southminster United Church in downtown Lethbridge.  He is originally from Medicine Hat, Alberta, and after earning a bachelor’s degree in Political Studies, he completed a Masters of Divinity at St. Andrew’s College in Saskatoon.  Before coming to Lethbridge, Taylor served several churches in northern Alberta, as well as a two-year appointment with The United Church’s global partner church in South Korea, The Presbyterian Church in The Republic of Korea.  He is the editor of Building

Lethbridge Housing Authority – building healthy families and sustainable communities with appropriate and affordable homes. Lethbridge Housing Authority (LHA) is a Housing Management body established by Ministerial Order in 1995. Its purpose is to provide affordable housing to seniors, individuals and families through the operations and administration of funding and properties owned by the Province of Alberta. Recognizing that housing is more than just the bricks and mortar of a building, LHA is a respected partner engaged in building vibrant communities through strong partnerships. We currently partner with several organization in order to address the complex social issues behind housing stability and homelessness in Lethbridge. We will explore the role Lethbridge Housing plays in the housing continuum, what more can be done to keep our most vulnerable citizens safely and affordability housed and what are we missing in Lethbridge to achieve a reduction in homelessness. Speaker: Robin James Moderator: Knud Pe