Medicine Hat News (Newspaper) - April 13, 2007, Medicine Hat, Alberta Today High 14 Low 3 At Home With You April News Since Hatters heated at public hearing JAMES NEELEY Medicine Hat News The democratic process reared its head Thursday night in council cham At times angry and but it certainly made its With varying opinions about every aspect of a new arena in Medicine Hat it was difficult to determine a consensus from the public The closest thing to one might be We need a new but not Lets raise some money and build it in the With a potential tax increase of anywhere from nine to 19 per cent there is no as Graham chair of the New Arena Steering Committee the new arena is going to hit taxpayers right between the And with many angry references throughout the night to the recent increase in utility rates it seems no one is ready for another tax One woman even went so far as to challenge city council and the mayor live on a month like I Blood pressures and heart rates ran high during the But Kelly reminded the capacity crowd of more than some sitting on stairs and in its an emotional but a factual issue as Is the arena a need or a desire or asked one woman in And throughout the proceedings and most of loud boos and wild Greens Dion and May strike a deal Page A10 Select TV errors NEWS PHOTO SHANE YUHAS A member of the public speaks in front of members of city council and a packed crowd Thursday night during new arena public Arena News Ip an impromptu motion Graham chair New Arena Steering the than 300 folks in attendance for a show of hands on various Issues relating to the new i And here are the best guess results want a new arena TwOthirds said many dopt want a new said Who wants to wait and save Eighty per pent i the r October per Medicine Hat News Just a reminder that some of the listings in the Select TV delivered with todays paper will be incorrect due to Shaw Communications changing its channel The Medicine Hat News is working with Tribune Media Services to have the problem corrected for next weeks publication of Select TV For the current and uptodate programming visit and click on TV Calling The News Newsroom Almost wants it located in the Pox Springs Business Park Fifty per applauses shook council The only real minus a small was opposition to the Flats recommended by a study presented to council in January and backed up by city administration April The downtown location is to the police and said Frank Devine He backed his statement saying the public survey from the open houses gave a 94 per cent no vote to the Flats We dont have a downtown to added Kelly agreed to a certain In his introduction to the public hearing he stated that choosing the downtown location would be political The comment received a and lengthy One group that made out pretty well from the evening was the Box Springs Business Park Numerous references to the feasibility of the site and the owners willingness to donate land and build around the arena were partner with location is being carefully responded Another idea brought forward by members of the public is to use corporate sponsorship to offset some of the This was confirmed by Kelly as part of the plan to maximize the revenue of the new Members raised concerns about other areas they feel are a greater necessity than a new and that will benefit all Hatters instead of only hockey The lack of affordable housing was noted numerous as was the need to make Medicine Hat more handicap In the end Kelly announced that council is bending over backwards to do the right All Im hearing is dont do he But we will need a new its either now or With a possible decision looming on the public made itself And it suggested that council tread very carefully and make the best decision for future For more on the new arena public hearing see Page A3 NEWS PHOTO SHANE YUHAS John a partner with the Box Springs Business handed out flyers promoting the proposed Box Springs Arena location Thursday night during the open public hearing concerning the new arena Critics slam deal with provinces CAMILLE BAINS The Canadian Press VANCOUVER The federal governments medical guarantee agreement with the provinces and territories is a meaningless version of what the Tories promised before they were health critics said Its a cynical said Mike spokesman for the Canadian Health He said Prime Minister Stephen Harpers guarantee is meaningless and voters should see through it because the root causes of Jong waiting lists for treatment havent been Under an agreement announced with provinces and territories last each jurisdiction has promised to slash wait times by 2010 but only in one key treatment On federal Health Minister Tony Clement told a news conference that guarantees focusing on one treatment area in each jurisdiction will allow provinces network and shire knowledge to strengthen the medical But one of the Conservative partys main election promises last year was to have guarantees for five priority areas diagnostic joint replacements and sight Critics say the lack of doctors and nurses is the main issue behind long wait what Harper should be talking about if theyre interested in reducing wait McBane cannot leave it up to provinces to fix the causes of wait times he There has to be federal leadership but instead were getting federal gimmicks and federal Colin president of the Canadian Medical position is that you can set targets and goals and benchmarks but unless you have the resource capacity to deliver it in terms of health care professionals and you cant do McMillan said from What were going to have to and this is our fundamental is to have a madein Canada approach to selfSUfficiency and the education and licensing of doctors and nurses to meet the needs of the not only today in the He said guarantees are but theyre secondary to lack of capacity to deliver the service in the first In a report last the federal Brian said the healthcare system isnt ready to deliver care guarantees that would fund costs for patients to travel to another jurisdiction if they cant get timely care at Clement said Ontario has promised to slash wait times for cataract as has which is also focusing on joint The Saskatchewan government has said it will focus its guarantees on arterial bypass surgery while the territories say wait times will be reduced for primary The guarantee agreement will cost the federal government an extra million in one time George health said that the province has some of the worlds best outcomes for cancer care but chose to aim its guarantee on radiation therapy because cancer is one of the two leading causes of premature after heart ALL IN STOCK TOLL FREE 18667363876 OPEN TO PUBLIC ONLY
