Intense debate on Friday’s election forum between Medicine Hat mayoral candidates

Mediator Aaron Fleming asked the candidates their approach to a Municipally Controlled Corporation (MCC) to which both McGrogan and Samraj were in favour of.

Barnes praised the Medicine Hat Electric Department and said reliable electricity in the future is gold.

Barnes is a conservative member and Samraj said he is in favor of socialist ideas.

Samraj said keeping our publicly owned utility is a socialist idea. Strengthening business competitiveness to improve growth in Medicine Hat was another topic the candidates debated on.

Rose said the Wild Horse Border Crossing needs to be a commercial port if there is going to be growth in Medicine Hat.

This statement from Rose sparked a disagreement from Samraj.

Samraj said if the Wild Horse Border Crossing is the biggest impediment to our economic development then you’re running in the wrong election.

The biggest growth problem the city is facing according to Samraj is the unequal amount of business taxes.

McGrogan said we need to learn from past mistakes within city council on the topic of government accountability and financial sustainability.

Rose replied to that statement saying we can’t afford to learn on a scale where we are losing millions of dollars.

On the same topic current Mayor Linnsie Clark said making investments in energy projects including solar energy is the key to becoming successful.

Barnes said as a direct response to Clark, we don’t need to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in a solar farm and said we need to be more financially disciplined.

The candidates had similar responses regarding the topic of building healthy communities.

Both McGrogan and Samraj acknowledge poverty issues in Medicine Hat.

Barnes said we need law enforcement to find the difference between crime and homelessness.

The councilor candidates participating in the forum Friday were asked questions based on the same topics as the mayoral candidates.

Those candidates who participated include Stephen Campbell, Robert Dumanowski, Don Fedoruk, Brock Hale, Pamela Kunz, Immanuel Moritz, Kaleb Orge, Dan Reynish, Kirby Schafer, Kirsten Spek, David Toth, and Brian Varga.

Spek and Kunz both agreed solar energy is a topic to invest in while weighing the pros and cons before making decisions.

To keep the city supplied with energy Orge refers to Medicine Hat’s energy as a dragon.

Orge said he doesn’t care what kind of enegry the dragon has as long as it can fly on it’s own.

To strengthen business competitiveness, Dumanowski said we need to bring people to Medicine Hat by creating tax incentives and removing red tape.

When opening a business in Medicine Hat, Toth and Hale agree with creating a one stop shop in the city to make the process easier for new residents.

To help build healthy communities Fedoruk, Schafer, Campbell and Hale said we need to focus on needs before wants with the city’s spending.

The number of attendance at Friday’s were very similar to the forum on Wednesday.

The event was lived streamed and can be viewed on the Chat News Today website.

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READ: Medicine Hat election forum Friday featuring councillor and mayoral candidates, will be streamed

by Jett Schwaier

Intense debate on Friday’s election forum between Medicine Hat mayoral candidates

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