Jason MacDonald is a Red Deer city council candidate.
I have been a Red Deer resident for 22 years. My wife Kelly and I have raised four children here and we have been small business owners for 14 years. The last eight of which have been downtown. Since moving to Red Deer I have been heavily involved with the community. Daily you can find me coaching several of my children’s sports teams, speaking at local charity events, or running my local business.
I studied criminology at Mount Royal University and moved on to work for the federal government in corrections for 12 years. We once saw Red Deer as an up-and-coming city that was a safe place to raise our kids. In recent years we have watched out city follow a downwards trend, caused by an old way of thinking that does not support the values that brought us to this city in the first place.
Local businesses are leaving our city and relocating to places where it is easier to conduct business due to lower crime rates and fewer regulatory requirements. Residents report feeling unsafe due to the rise in crime in recent years and the growing homelessness and drug problem our city is experiencing. It’s time to offer increased affordable housing to reduce homelessness while getting tough on crime and drugs in our city. I’m committed to bringing a new progressive way of thinking to this council. I want to move away from the way we have governed during the last four years and put the priority back on service to our citizens and businesses.
I believe that growth comes from within. To support this growth, we need to supply our community members and businesses with a municipal framework built to succeed. I plan to do this by revamping land-use bylaws, allowing and encouraging more diversity in business and development, looking at less restrictive regulations, and speeding up licensing and approvals.
My name is Jason MacDonald, and I am committed to growth and change.