Council candidate Alison Van Dyke (Photo Courtesy Ross Lavigne)

By Chris Brown

Alison Van Dyke announces run for city council

Jul 7, 2021 | 5:07 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – Community advocate Alison Van Dyke has added her name to the growing list of those seeking a seat on Medicine Hat City Council this fall.

She says she’s been concerned with some of the direction and decision-making by council.

Van Dyke says council discussions this winter about selling the city’s power generation business or partnering with private industry spurred her decision to run. She spearheaded a successful community advocacy campaign and petition so that the residents could eventually have input about the sale.

She says the Medicine Hat Advantage from owning the utility isn’t just on the ratepayer side. She says what it really is is the dividends coming back to the city from selling excess power to the provincial grid.

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“We have an income source that most places don’t have and I’m concerned that with the sale of the power plant that, yes, you have a huge infusion of cash, it looks great on the sheet for that year. But the losses that happen down the road can’t be measured,” she says.

The potential closure of some city recreation facilities in favour of larger, yet-to-be built multi-use facilities was also a factor in her decision. She said that doesn’t seem to align with the municipal plan for the city when comes to walkability.

“When you start shutting down small local rec centres, you’re really reducing that (walkability),” she says.

People who have transportation issues would be negatively affected by the closures, Van Dyke says. She is also concerned with the higher costs associated with bigger rec centres.

Van Dyke says if Medicine Hat positions itself right, the city has an opportunity for significant growth with more people being able to work remotely.

“I think if we want to take advantage, to capitalize on that we need to think about why would someone who already has a job, would work remotely, want to move to Medicine Hat. And we want to make this a community of choice and you do that through social prosperity,” she says. “And so if we want to attract people with jobs either back home or new residents that have never lived here before we need to start thinking about how do we make this a community that people want to choose to live in because people have that choice now in a way that they never have before.

Van Dyke has a long history of advocacy for the community. She is food security coordinator with Medicine Hat’s Community Food Connections Association and chair of the Palliser Friends of Medicare. She says moving into politics is a natural fit and wants to be a voice on council for those who aren’t currently represented and can’t advocate for themselves.

Van Dyke wants to arrange casual backyard gatherings with residents to discuss the issues that are important to them.

More information on Van Dyke can be found on her Alison Van Dyke for Medicine Hat City Council Facebook page.

The municipal election is on Oct. 18.