MLA de Jonge updates town on provincial supports

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A summary of advocacy efforts on behalf of the Town of Strathmore was highlighted during the Feb. 11 Committee of the Whole meeting.

Chestermere-Strathmore MLA, Chantelle de Jonge provided an overview of the province’s support for projects in and around Strathmore over the last year.

First on the docket was the attention paid to the Shasta senior’s living facility soon to see construction near to the Strathmore Hospital. 

“The province is, through operational funding, supporting this and I know it will have a huge benefit for seniors for many years to come,” said de Jonge. “Last summer, we had a really neat engagement here in town … where we had two parliamentary secretaries of health come into town to meet with residents here, as well as physicians.”

de Jonge indicated a priority towards highlighting existing facilities, as well as where the province can better support residents through initiatives and investments in hospitals, as well as rural family practice.  

In Budget 2025, the province announced the rural hospital engagement program which was to support planning for upgrades and improvements at rural hospitals across Alberta. 

“Each hospital underwent two different reviews – a facility condition assessment (FCA) and a functional evaluation (FE) … the FCA has been completed and the FE, it is on track and it is scheduled to be completed by April 30,” said de Jonge. 

She noted both assessments to be critical first steps to identify opportunities for future capital investments.

Immediately following, de Jonge spoke to the province’s ongoing support of the Strathmore and District Agricultural Society, emphasizing the $5 million earmarked for the development of the Western Events and Cultural Center. 

The province provided the ag society with over $200,000 in grants within the last year to support their activities.

Other recent funding efforts noted in the presentation included the $1.4 million slated for the Wildland Urban Interface program, $3.6 million in grants for the True North Society to support transitional housing, and $125,000 for upgrades to the Lions’ Club splash park. 

Coun. Brent Wiley took the opportunity to inquire to de Jonge as to the potential extent the town may be able to set its ambitions in relation to the local hospital and health care in the near future. 

“It is a bit early to say before the FE is completed … I don’t want to pretend I’m an expert, that is why we have frontline providers that will tell us what they think the need is and how they can best meet the need,” said de Jonge. “That is why we are going through this process so we have boots on the ground, eyes in the facility, and also having those conversations with the staff at the Strathmore Hospital so they can tell us perhaps what that is when it comes to diagnostic equipment.”