Greg's Public Awareness Blog

03/25/2026

The owner has put a great deal of time restoring this hotel.

Spring is here, the days are getting longer and my thoughts begin to turn towards the Grand Hotel again.

It won't be long until I put away my house restoration and focus again on the big beast that brought me here to Shaunavon. I'll likely start over there again in earnest next month. In May, I plan to paint my house, but the rest of the warmer months will be dedicated to shining up the Grand.

I've been thinking about hotel project priorities for the summer and there are a few:

1. Redo the top floor exterior windows (lower was done last year).
2. Redo the rooms in the lower level at the end of the hall - generally the rooms in the worst condition due to a fire decades ago and subsequent water damage (before I had a new roof put on).
3. Submit my application for a grant to the Saskatchewan Heritage Foundation to assist me in brickwork repairs.
4. Continue throwing up ceiling drywall upstairs.

It's funny.. for as much as people often say I accomplish so much, I always aim to do more and often feel like I'm falling behind..

I'm looking forward to continued progress soon!

03/25/2026

This is disturbing:

I had asked for examples of having difficulties with the Permit Department.
I have received several stories from people "in the business" that are afraid to speak out FOR FEAR OF RETALIATION FROM THE INSPECTORS and other staff. wtf!

How can a City employee, or employees, or an entire City Department - those that are paid by OUR taxes - be vindictive to the citizens that rely on their services? This must be changed.

Bad attitude in any business or any department generally trickles down from the leader - or in this case - the department manager.
I do not know if this is true in this particular instance - I do not know anyone in the department - but everyone should be looked at and evaluated by an independent body. There are just too many negative stories being passed on.

If there are issues let's fix them.

I do know of many stories of being jacked around by our local inspectors. I have read the stories and I have have seen it first hand. I have heard of many businesses that chose not to open or locate here because of excessive red tape and delays. I have a story of my own. The guys on the ground that interface with the public have a reputation for being difficult - of having a bad attitude. Not all of them - just some.

So how do we inform the decision makers that there is a problem? It can't be directly because everyone is afraid of the blowback on the next project. Possibly an effective whistleblower set up - independent of City Hall officials - will be an avenue to express dissatisfaction with the present situation.

We must all fight to get an independent body - FREE of Administration meddling - to assist us with correcting the bad attitude, where it exists,. We can't let Admin hijack the process.

So read this official item from Medicinehat.ca regarding obtaining a permit. Is it accurate? :

"How long will it take to approve permits?
Building permits: Typically within 15 business days, provided that an approved Development permit (if required) has been issued. The timeline of a Building permit application will increase if amendments or resubmissions are needed from the applicant.
Trade permits: Typically within 5 business days*, provided the associated Building permit (if required) has been issued.
*Excludes commercial heating permits which are reviewed in accordance to Building Permit timeframes."

So I am going to ask again - send me your stories of your dealings with the Building/Permit department. With your permission I will publish the story anonymously and/or pass them on to the head of the whistleblower group.

All City Hall departments, the managers and the staff will eventually need to be examined. We want an efficient organization that is sensitive to the citizens of Medicine Hat. We want businesses to find it easy to locate here. And we want to conserve our tax dollars for use where it is needed - not for pet projects or roads where we cannot make a safe turn with a vehicle.

Our Council cannot change things if they are not aware of a negative situation. They need our help - so let's give it to them.

This is my opinion.
What is yours?

03/21/2026

How did they find out about this ?

My actual current state 💀🚶‍♂️

03/19/2026

This is from Nicole Frey ( regarding frivolous or unnecessary spending by City Hall)
...........Or they pay large amounts of severance to buy employee silence and making them sign in NDA so they're not even allowed to whistleblow. This was part of our whistleblower report to council on Jan 22 that they've done nothing with. Administration needs to not be permitted to use taxpayer dollars to buy employees silence to hide their misconduct. This needs to be addressed and Alissa Willard policy than any NDA that have been signed are void if an employee is reporting wrongdoing.

******we really must look into the People Service Department (HR Dept) and the Finance Department*******

03/19/2026

All prayers are for the PEOPLE of Iran, not the Dictator Clerics from the stone age.

Iranians are Persian. They are noted to be intellectuals -scientists, doctors, philosophers and educators. They have a noble heritage. A free Iran would be a huge asset to the entire world. I personally know many and they are admirable people. It is my hope that they are freed soon.
Greg

03/19/2026

A QUESTION FROM A NON-LAWYER:

It seems that City Hall ( i.e. US!) is constantly being sued by former employees on the grounds they were falsely terminated. This is costing us a huge amount of money - over and above severance pay, moving expenses, and expense accounts and what ever was paid during their substandard term of employment - being treated like a Queen.

One way to stop this, or at least discourage this would be to have our exalted Legal Department counter sue the plaintiff. Give them something to worry about and put some of their skin in the game. Make them hesitate to roll the dice.

Right now any disgruntled ex-employee has very little to lose if they proceed with a lawsuit. They might win a judgement in their favor, or most probably they would file with the Court in the hopes that the City settles out of Court and pays all expenses. I believe this has been pretty much standard in previous years. It must stop.

So if the City goes to Court to defend themselves, they would then have to provide evidence that there was just cause to fire that individual. That is just standard legal process.

Why not use that same evidence to counter sue the plaintiff??????
Stop the severance pay, win the City some money, and recover expenses.

More importantly, use this legal route to discourage any future frivolous legal actions - give the ex's a reason to shut up and go away. And save us a great deal of money.

The City has a well paid Legal Department. They do seem to bring in outside Legal Council A LOT - possibly to duck any responsibility. But they should be able to hand this kind of legal action. If not, they should be ex-employees too. Maybe they could take time from harassing taxpayers like Nicole Frey and spend their expensive time dealing with dereliction of duty, negligence, or even criminally active employees (money disappearance, padded expense accounts, theft etc.). Follow the money, honey!

If we are going to start conserving our tax dollars we must reduce and/or stop frivolous spending and waste. All departments of City Hall must be inspected and analyzed to stop needless expenditures. Our Legal Department cannot be exempted from a review.

Raising taxes must be a last resort, not the first option.

I am not a lawyer but I have a great deal of experience with lawsuits and counter-suits. I have been on both sides.

That provides me with the right to speak about these matters.
And this my opinion.

Greg

03/19/2026

Why? Why would our Mayor want to give away Council's ability to govern the city? She was the only one to vote against keeping the power to decide the utility rates within the purvue of Council. This looks bad for our City.

It appears to me that the
Administration - the employees we pay - once again was trying to remove authority from the people we elect.
Councilors C***s and Clugston put an emphatic stop to this and indicated this type of action would not be tolerated in the future. The mayor did not agree. Kudo's to the rest of Council.

03/19/2026

How disgusting.

03/19/2026

Good point.

JUST IN🚨: Gas prices so high the sign just started giving life advice.

03/18/2026

No deer, no geese, no snow, no ice on the river, no wind, just a long train. A perfect spring morning.