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By Sheldon Spackman

CITY HALL

Veer proud of Red Deer’s response to COVID-19 pandemic

Apr 2, 2020 | 2:41 PM

Mayor Tara Veer says she’s proud that Red Deer has taken emergency planning very seriously, and as a result is fully prepared to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We have engaged in not only pandemic preparation, but business continuity in multiple scenarios,” she said. “I feel very strongly that our Emergency Operations Team was able to hit the ground running and that we are doing well as a community in order to get ahead of the curve from an operational perspective.”

Veer says City of Red Deer staff, community partners and the provincial government have been working quickly to identify problems, come to the socially-distanced table and arrive at solutions.

She’s also happy to see most Red Deerians are physically distancing and abiding by provincial health restrictions to help stop the spread of the virus.

“I think central Albertans as a whole are acutely aware of the fact that our hospital is overcapacity at the best of times,” she notes. “If we want our loved ones to be able to have healthcare, whether it’s a COVID case or a non COVID-related case, or just for any other health emergency, it’s absolutely imperative that each and every one of us do our part and stay physically-distanced as much as possible.”

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Veer says the City of Red Deer is in it for the long haul and will continue to do the right thing for the sake of citizens, including closing recreation and culture facilities through June 30.

“The indication that we’re getting is for people to prepare for these restrictions to be in place, at minimum, for April and May, and potentially June. This really is a new normal and we know that it’s difficult and very challenging for people, but we also know it’s the right thing to do to preserve the health and safety of our public.”

Veer says news this week that the province is investing $1.5 billion to accelerate construction of the Keystone XL pipeline project should be a much-welcomed boost to the economy.

“Our council, along with many Albertans, have long advocated for energy-to-market access for Alberta’s energy product,” says Veer. “This announcement doesn’t address the short-term situation, but certainly is very welcome news in the long-term for our economic recovery and hopefully securing new markets for Alberta’s energy products so we can get Albertans back to work after the pandemic and to help restore economic prosperity, not only to our province but to the people of our community as well.”

Veer acknowledges, however, that diversification should also be part of Alberta’s economic recovery.

“I think Red Deer has made some great efforts in trying to diversify our local economy, and I think we’ve had some success in that. But the pandemic certainly highlights how fragile our economies really are and how reliant our communities are on each other, and provincially across Canada and even internationally.

“Obviously it’s critical to Alberta’s economy to get energy to market and it’s an important answer for our economy, particularly for provincial resources in being able to fund public services,” she continues. “But ultimately, we still have a responsibility to diversify our economy and I think that Albertans will continue to pursue that.”