Special Interest Group Gets Special Attention From City of Medicine Hat
Yesterday, the Southeastern Alberta Chamber of Commerce (SACC) held a “members only” event about the proposed Municipally Controlled Corporation (MCC) for our energy division; 4 senior City of Medicine Hat (COMH) staff members were scheduled to present. The public has said they are tired of closed doors meetings where they do not have a voice; the public has valid concerns with the COMH meeting privately with special interest groups.
There was a public engagement session for the MCC on Friday June 6 from 11-1pm, the first of two public engagement sessions before the June 24 Public Hearing. It was held at City Hall in the Helen Beny Gibson Lounge which has a lovely view but lousy acoustics and bad lighting for photos/video. There was no formal presentation at this session. Members of the public criticized the timing - being in the middle of a workday especially on a Friday. The other public engagement session will be a one hour online session tomorrow from 5-6pm.
“In this online virtual info session, our project team dives into why the City is considering a municipally controlled corporation for our electric distribution, gas distribution, and electric generation business units (and the supporting energy marketing and business analysis function).
Participants will be able to submit questions on screen in writing for our team to address during the presentation.”
So, they can pick and choose which questions they wish to answer, they can end the session whenever they want.
Document Unreadable for the General Public
The public is encouraged to read this document and watch this presentation given to council at a previous date. They do not mention that the 109 page document is highly technical or that the video with the presentation is 1-3/4 hours long .
(Seriously, can you please stop with the ads in the City videos?)
I asked Adobe Acrobat Reader AI to evaluate the readability of the document, here is what it said (Corporate Communications, please take note!).
“The document is highly detailed and technical, making it challenging to read for a general audience. It includes extensive financial data, legal frameworks, governance structures, and strategic considerations, which are presented in a formal and structured manner.
While the document is comprehensive and well-organized, its readability could be improved by:
Simplifying Language: Use less technical jargon and more straightforward language to make the content accessible to a broader audience.
Summarizing Key Points: Provide concise summaries or executive overviews for each section to highlight the main takeaways.
Visual Aids: Use more charts, graphs, and infographics to visually represent complex data and relationships.
Section Highlights: Include bullet points or call-out boxes to emphasize critical information.
Clearer Formatting: Break down dense paragraphs and tables into smaller, more digestible parts.
Overall, the document is suitable for stakeholders with a background in municipal governance, finance, or energy business operations but may be overwhelming for readers without expertise in these areas.
So unless the people reading this document have specialized training, it will be unreadable to the general public. This is despite the City’s own Public Participation Policy 165 which states
“The information needed to participate and provide informed views and perspectives will be readily available, accurate, fact- based and presented in plain language.”
The very first thing students learn in Business Communication class is to figure out your audience and tailor your writing accordingly
this is a rookie mistake on the part of Corporate Communications
To paraphrase an old saying
”If you can’t dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with jargon.”
Everything in this document might be well reasoned and factual but if people cannot read it or find it difficult to read, then it might as well be used as toilet paper. The message is not being received but hey, at least the COMH can say -
“We had these documents available, it’s not our fault they didn’t read them.”
(Yes, yes it is your fault. It is your obligation to communicate clearly and effectively to your audience.)
Public Participation Policy 165 says nothing about meeting with special interest groups. We know that the City is meeting with one special interest group, how many others are they meeting with in private? This gives an air of secrecy which the public is loath to tolerate.
The Owl asked the City if the media was welcome at this event, the City said no. I checked the SACC membership list and two local media companies are on the list.
The City has stated that they will exclude us at every opportunity (we will not be allowed to interview city staff, we will not be permitted to attend press conferences, etc).
It occurred to me that the other media could attend if they wished because they are members…”
The Chamber website said that members must register for this event. I tried and was not able to register. My coworker Thomas Fougere (Tom) was able to register as a guest, he registered three of us from the Owl. I received my registration confirmation in my name to my work email account from SACC Events Manager Brad Tajiri. I assumed that since I was registered that I could attend this session.
It says -
“Kelly Allard has been registered to attend Exploring an MCC - A Chamber Members Information Session event on 6/9/2025”
The registration e-mail advised that by our attendance, we agreed to being recorded.
“Please be advised that your presence at events by the Southeast Alberta Chamber of Commerce either as a member of the audience or participant during the filming/ taping or photography constitutes your consent to the possibility of your voice and likeness being used without compensation, in the unlimited distribution, promotion, advertising, exhibition, and exploitation of the program in any and all media by any method or device known or hereafter devised, and you release the Southeast Alberta Chamber of Commerce and its subsidiaries from any liability in connection with such usage. Thank you for your understanding.”
Note that it says nothing about who will be doing the recording…
I arrived early, intending to hang out in the air conditioning and check out the gallery while I waited for the event to start.
After all, the City’s own FB page had said that people could hang out in the Esplanade to get away from the heat (the temperature was 32C at 3pm).
The doors were locked when I arrived so I sat on the grass under a large tree until the doors opened. It was quite pleasant with the nice breeze.
I went inside at about 3:40 pm and headed to the bathroom. When I emerged, security - correction - it was NOT a security guard, it was a City employee - asked if he could help me. I said I was there for the event; he said I was not invited. (I’m not sure how he could discern that, I do not recall meeting him before. I have a lousy memory for faces, it is very possible I am mistaken.) I showed him the e-mail confirming my registration and he said that was fine.
At no time did he confirm my identity.
I waited for my coworkers. They showed up and we chatted for a bit before entering the venue. Upon entering, I saw a large drop down screen with an obvious presentation set up. About a dozen round tables with black tablecloths were set up, snacks and water were on tables to the left of the entry. I spotted the following City staff in attendance.
Managing Director of Development and Infrastructure Pat Bohan
Managing Director of Energy, Land and Environment Rochelle Pancoast
City Solicitor Ben Bullock
Finance Director Lola Barta
Corporate Communications Specialist Terra Petryshyn
The following names were listed on the event advertising as being available at this event.
Director Travis Tuchscherer
Solicitor Matthew Klasen
There were about half a dozen other people who I could only assume to be Chamber Members.
This was different from the public engagement session held at City Hall on Friday June 6. There was no presentation, staff just kind of stood around and waited for people to come to them. One attendee called the following document provided at the June 6 event “a piece of shit”.
I asked about the discrepancy and they said that this is the same information that would be provided at the online engagement session on June 11, that this presentation was just to “spark conversation”.
Does the public not deserve the same?
Chamber event - 2 hours long with a presentation
Public online event - 1 hour long with a presentation.
Chamber event - in person questions, no ability for host to remove participant or end meeting with a click
Public online event - ability to ignore written questions (no verbal questions), remove participant or end meeting with a click
This venue cost a minimum of $650 according to the rental rates document.
I asked why it was a private session. Terra Petryshyn of the COMH said
“We have private meetings all of the time, the City of Medicine Hat meets with people all of the time, period.”
There was a brief chat about being able to register as a guest and then Petryshyn said -
“I don't think you guys really realize what you guys are doing to the humans that work for the City of Medicine Hat”.
When asked what we were doing (to the humans that work for the City of Medicine Hat), Petryshyn then walked away without answering.
Tom spoke with Lisa Dressler, Executive Director of the Southeast Alberta Chamber of Commerce about joining the Chamber on the spot. Dresler said memberships are approved by their Board of Directors. She said the June meeting is where they approve memberships from May and they do not meet during the summer.
(Even if Tom applied and paid the fees on the spot, he would not be potentially approved until the fall.)
Dressler told Tom that he did not have her permission to record her even though their own material says
“Please be advised that your presence at events by the Southeast Alberta Chamber of Commerce either as a member of the audience or participant during the filming/ taping or photography constitutes your consent to the possibility of your voice and likeness being used without compensation, in the unlimited distribution, promotion, advertising, exhibition, and exploitation of the program in any and all media by any method or device known or hereafter devised, and you release the Southeast Alberta Chamber of Commerce and its subsidiaries from any liability in connection with such usage. Thank you for your understanding.”
Tom asked Dressler if she knew how the charter worked and she ignored his question.
We took seats at the back of the room. The security guard came up and accused Tom of being aggressive. Police arrived and threatened to arrest us for trespass if we did not leave.
I said to the security guard - again, correction he was NOT a security guard but a City empioyee
“You said I could stay”
He replied, “You were nice to me, I have nothing against you,” and again accused Tom of being aggressive to him.
Police than said we were breaking the law by committing mischief by not leaving (interesting how it was not trespass…).
We have video of what occurred so you can judge for yourself what happened.
FYI - when dealing with the Southeast Alberta Chamber of Commerce, please note that even if you have registered for an event, it does not mean they will let you in. If you apply to join SACC in the summer, you likely will not be considered for approval until the fall; they can pick and choose who they approve (they are a private membership after all).
Final note - Minutes after leaving, I received an e-mail unregistering me for the event.
