Exhibition Hall at Westerner Park. (rdnewsNOW/Troy Gillard)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

turning a new leaf

35 opportunities for Westerner to reverse financial fortunes, according to Deloitte

Oct 31, 2020 | 10:24 AM

The audit and consulting firm reviewing the financial struggles of Red Deer’s Westerner Park has come up with 35 opportunities for the non-profit to modernize and become more efficient.

City council will receive the full rundown from Deloitte LLP during a special meeting this Monday.

“The Westerner has a significant community and economic impact on Red Deer, so it is mutually beneficial for The City to continue to work alongside the Westerner as they work to become financially sustainable,” said Allan Seabrooke, City Manager. “The City will work on modernizing our agreements with the Westerner to ensure they accurately reflect the governance structure, financial controls and what Council wants the relationship to look like between The City and the Association.”

Opportunities shown above were identified by Deloitte for Westerner Park to turn a new leaf financially. (Red Deer city council agenda for Nov. 2)

Earlier this month, Westerner CEO Mike Olsen said the organization is confident it can find a more sustainable path forward.

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Deloitte has cited poor decision-making, internal processes, and a lack of communication on multiple levels, as reasons for Westerner Park’s current financial crisis. The building of Exhibition Hall and a lack of proper marketing for the hall have had a negative effect on the Westerner’s financial performance, Deloitte also found.

Despite these shortcomings, an audit found there was no intentional misrepresentation or fraudulent activity at Westerner Park over the last three years.

Once Deloitte completes its latest presentation on Monday, representatives from Westerner Park will update council on what changes they’ve already made and how they plan to move forward.

The meeting begins at 1 p.m. and can viewed online.