The Southeast Alberta Chamber of Commerce had the opportunity to participate in a business roundtable with Premier Danielle Smith and MLA Justin Wright on Wednesday, November 12th. 

The roundtable was a follow-up to a Business Survey on Impacts by Vulnerable Sector, conducted from February 17 to March 11, 2025. There were 98 business responses to the survey with the roundtable providing a unique opportunity to discuss the survey findings directly and review the top concerns identified by local businesses. 

We profiled a number of community priorities during the roundtable and sent a follow-up from the request for us to send our additional notes and information that we highlighted during the session.

We provided our MLAs with the City's website page related to Shelters: https://www.medicinehat.ca/community-support-culture-safety/community-support/community-shelters/ to ensure they are aware that we are promoting the community's ability to share input and feedback. 

We also shared the Resilient and Inclusive Community Task Force Action Plan that is publicly linked on that page.

The list of items we shared during the meeting for community priorities were those highlighted in the list of advocacy items in the action plan, recognizing there are certain elements that are not within our control at a community level and require advocacy from us, with potential action by other levels of Government. 

We highlighted and advocated for:

• Funding for increased police and community patrol presence, especially during early morning and late-night hours
• Expanded funding for a second high-visibility safety camera
• Expanded detox and treatment beds, and timely access to mental health supports.
• Legislative changes and barrier reductions for affordable housing development, while providing incentives to promote development
• Legislative changes for justice reform
• Education Toolkits and Healthy Family Education (example – Brain Story)
• Transition housing (hospital/detox/recovery) – if people come out of detox and aren’t in a supportive environment and housing, they go back into the same cycles
• Integrated Support Systems for Homelessness, Addiction, and Mental Health
• Transportation supports (getting people to the right places to get their Alberta ID card, being able to get to hospital, shelter, community supports)

We also emphasized the need for continued focus on:

• PEACE Team and Downtown Patrols
• Implementation of cameras and CCTV
• Downtown Vibrancy Initiatives
• Support and advocacy for existing organizational work in the community (MHCH, Root Cellar, PCN, Our Collective Journey, MHFS)

The Southeast Alberta Chamber of Commerce also has a policy on: Supporting Communities in Managing Crime, Homelessness, and Property Damage, which has been adopted by the Alberta Chambers of Commerce. These recommendations also align with the recommendations of the local task force:

1. Provide dedicated funding to support local needs related to crime, addictions, mental health, and homelessness. This funding should be flexible to address the unique challenges faced by different rural communities.

2. Establish an advisory council with representation from the ministries of Justice, Mental Health & Addictions, Municipal Affairs, Public Safety, Affordability and Utilities, Seniors, Community and Social Services, and Treasury Board and Finance.

3. Allocate equitable funding models to municipalities for law enforcement and community-based solutions on a per capita investment to help address crime, homelessness and property damage issues.

4. Provide tax credits or funding to support businesses in implementing crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) strategies and financial relief through interest free loans or disaster relief style funding for the recovery of property damage and other measures that promote community safety.

5. Ensure that provincial regulations support community efforts around public safety, mental health and addictions, and to minimize repeat offences by aligning goals and outcomes to address local crime and mental health and addictions impacts on local communities.

The local Chamber has also posted a couple of updates to our website about some of the work being done and resources available:

• Community Safety Concerns and the Impacts on Business
• Ongoing Work to Address Concerns Around Downtown

As the local Chamber, representing our impacted members, we'll continue to advocate for these priorities. 

If members have feedback, they can submit that to policy@southeastalbertachamber.ca.