Sherwood Park Minute: Issue 101

Sherwood Park Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of Sherwood Park politics

📅 This Week In Sherwood Park: 📅

• Strathcona County will host the 25th Alberta Summer Games this July, welcoming nearly 2,000 young athletes across 14 sports at venues including Millennium Place, Strathcona Athletic Park, and sites in Fort Saskatchewan and Edmonton. To help cover the cost of roughly 20,000 meals, the Games Society received a $75,000 provincial grant, part of a larger $820,000 operating grant from the Government of Alberta. Mayor Rod Frank highlighted the broader goal of supporting youth recreation and giving athletes a pathway from provincial competitions to national and Olympic levels, while also bringing economic benefits to the County.
  
  
• The Strathcona Food Bank (SFB) has received a $1 million provincial grant to support construction of the new Nourish Centre in Sherwood Park. The $7.6-million, 18,000-square-foot facility will replace the current leased space and significantly expand capacity, including a choice-based grocery market, food rescue and cold storage, a community kitchen, and space for over 260 volunteers. Demand for food bank services in Strathcona County has doubled over the past four years, and the new centre is expected to more than double service capacity. The project combines provincial funding, long-term reserve funds, and ongoing community fundraising, with construction continuing through 2026 and an anticipated opening in January 2027.
  
  
• Ward 6 Councillor Corey-Ann Hartwick wrote an article on practical steps to maintain community safety, highlighting both rural challenges and strategies residents can adopt. Hartwick notes that while Strathcona County remains one of the safest communities in Alberta, rural areas can face higher crime risks, particularly property crimes. She recommends using Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) techniques, such as improved lighting, maintaining clear sightlines, securing gates and windows, and properly storing vehicles and equipment. Hartwick also encourages residents to volunteer with Strathcona County Crime Watch or Citizens on Patrol, which work alongside RCMP and Community Peace Officers to proactively monitor neighbourhoods. She invited residents to a Community Safety Information Session in Council Chambers on March 5th from 6:00 to 8:30 pm, emphasizing that proactive awareness, small everyday choices, and community engagement are key to maintaining safe and welcoming neighbourhoods.
  
  
• Sherwood Park-Fort Saskatchewan MP Garnett Genuis wrote an article reflecting on the importance of Canadian nationalism in the face of modern challenges. Genuis argues that threats like rising separatism, annexation proposals, and attacks on national symbols call for a positive and clear defense of Canada. He highlights Canada’s unique history of incremental political change, its avoidance of revolutions, and its longstanding pluralism, which have allowed diverse communities to coexist within a stable political system. According to Genuis, Canadian nationalism involves celebrating the country’s existence and addressing regional grievances through negotiation and compromise. He emphasizes that nationalists must go beyond rejecting opposing ideas to actively preserve Canada as a free, democratic, pluralistic, and anti-revolutionary society, ensuring its shared values endure for future generations.

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