Meet the women of Medicine Hat City Council

“We did not know any lawyers, so I didn’t have any role model of ‘oh I want to be like my dad who is a judge.’ A lot of people in law school had that kind of background. I did not. So getting to know the law was one thing, but the practice of law and being a lawyer was really unfamiliar with me,” she

Robins moved to Medicine Hat in 1998 before being called to the bar in 1999. Drawn by the accessibility of clubs and activities she decided to stay in the city. Since then, she has prosecuted some of the city’s most high-profile cases. But outside of the courthouse, Robins is an active participant in musical theatre having participated in the productions of Rent, Chicago, and Spring Awakening. Her latest production was Legally Blonde, where she played a judge.

“You get this wonderful opportunity to let go and just be silly, and playful and I have always really enjoyed that, any experience I’ve had like that has helped me do the hard stuff during the day because I know that I can do the fun stuff at night,” she said.

But her most important role in life is that she is a single mom to twin daughters. And over the years, Robins said single parent representation on council has been missing from the equation.

“I just didn’t see on council the voice of someone like me, who would be a single parent dealing with aging parents and dealing with young children at the same time that requires a balance for sure, and I didn’t see those types of issues represented, and part of that was gender for sure, and part of that was the age of the councillors,” she said.

Robins said the COVID-19 pandemic was a defining moment in her decision to run.

“I thought we needed some leadership from the top. We needed someone to be encouraging people in the community and speaking out about the pandemic. It has been the crisis of my lifetime…and regardless of how you feel about vaccines and masking it requires leadership to manage our way through it,” she said.

Allison Knodel is another new face on council. At age 30, she is believed to be the youngest female ever elected to council in the city’s history

“It took me about three full days after being elected, not just because I am the youngest, but because I am a girl in a community that has very strong and stable roots, and to be elected as a bit of a forward thinker, with an open mind it feels like such a gift and something that I will never, ever take for granted,” she said.

Knodel has lived in Medicine Hat her entire life. She is an only child, and from an early age she has always expressed a desire to lead.

“I didn’t like following. I was always trying to pave my own path, and I was always quite energetic. I did gymnastics growing up and so I learned a lot of self-discipline and a lot of leadership skills through gymnastics. But I think it took me until I was an adult in my early twenties to sort of realize those skills,” she said.

While she was attending Medicine Hat College to become a teacher, she served two terms on the student association. Now as a councillor she hopes to bring quality questions, a human-focused perspective, and compassion to the table. She also hopes to bring a voice to the city’s youth.

Newly-elected Cassi Hider aims to create a community where people can thrive by focusing on the economy. She is a third-generation Hatter with a 24-year-old daughter. Her background includes business, the education system and the social services sector. She is the current executive director of the Ronald McDonald House.

“We have to enhance our community with meaningful work. I have said that since day one, and create wonderful employment here for the citizens of Medicine Hat so they can afford to buy a home, and have a lifestyle here rather than just a life,” she said.

Having worked with businesses both on the human resources side and immigration, Shila Sharps hopes to use her expertise on council to help spur growth. Sharps was born in Medicine Hat. For years she’s been known to be a voice for some downtown business owners and led the charge to disband the CCDA. Tenacious by nature, Sharps said she aims to use those skills to better advocate for citizens.

“It’s about bringing a voice to the table. Not that other councils haven’t done that. I think initially all councils do that because they are driven by the right reasons to be there. But I think over time if you don’t have a check and balance in place you stop doing that,” she said.

Alison Van Dyke also aims to use her skills built from years of community advocacy. She previously worked for Public Interest Alberta and is the current chair of Palliser friends of Medicare. She also advocates for food security through her work with the Community Food Connections Association.

Van Dyke is from humble roots. She grew up on a farm outside Medicine Hat near Golden Sheaf Park. Her family has farmed there for over 100 years and still farm there to this day.

“We like to joke about the family compound because within seven miles there is five home quarters of my immediate and extended family farming there,” Van Dyke said.

The eldest of four children, she said, she always got told she was the bossy older sister, but in reality, leadership was modelled from an early age.

“I think I grew up in a family that really valued political involvement, and community involvement and just this idea of, ‘if you see a need, then you should be involved in filling that need or participating in some way,”’ she said.

After being dismayed by city decision-making last fall, mainly regarding the potential sale of the city utilities, Van dyke decided to take action.

“I just felt like there was a real lack of community engagement and consultation around a variety of decisions. So I started to do some campaigning and advocacy around those issues, and then I kind of realized, well this isn’t just one or two things this is kind of a trend,” she said.

Now that she is on council Van Dyke wants to maintain and enhance public services, such as recreation and seniors services, to ultimately create a community where people especially the youth, want to stay.

The five female councillors and Mayor Linnsie Clark will be joined by three men. Incumbents Robert Dumanowski, and Darren Hirsch. Andy McGrogan, the city’s former police chief will also be there, serving his first term.

The new council gets sworn in at the next council meeting on Nov. 1.

by Tiffany Goodwein

Meet the women of Medicine Hat City Council

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