City council approves provincial EOI request for permanent shelter project

“We need to see a different lens, a different way of moving this issue through the community. For any order of government, the desired outcomes are the same,” said City Councillor Lawrence Lee. “Red Deer has made great strides in moving and identifying what it wants to see in terms of those outcomes, but at the end of the day we’re not the project managers on this and that’s clear.”

Mayor Ken Johnston had met with Jason Nixon, Minister of Seniors, Community and Social Services, prior to the council meeting and broached the possibility of an EOI request. Although the minister seemed open to the idea, Johnston said Nixon made it clear that an EOI will merely help with council’s mission to find a location, not magically solve the problem.

There is currently no timeline on the EOI, but General Manager of Community Services, Sarah Tittemore, said past EOI’s she’s witnessed have taken the province six months to complete.

Johnston ended the discussion with an assertion that this decision doesn’t mean council is shirking the responsibility to someone else.

“This is not council taking a break on this issue,” he said. “My feet are singed right to the knee bones currently, and I don’t see the fire going away until we get this done.”

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by Ashley Lavallee-Koenig

City council approves provincial EOI request for permanent shelter project

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