Praveen Joshi, owner of Hospitality Doctors has announced his intentions to run for Medicine Hat City Council (Tiffany Goodwein/CHATNewsToday)

By Tiffany Goodwein

Council candidate advocating for responsible budgeting, economic development and stronger communication

Jul 25, 2021 | 4:15 PM

MEDICNE HAT, AB- A local businessman with 19 years in the hospitality management industry has declared his intentions to run for city council.

Praveen Joshi has lived in Medicine Hat for the past six years with his wife Tania, and young son Tanishq. He also has a dog named Leo. He currently runs his own small business, Hospitality Doctors, which provides consulting and hotel management to hotels in Alberta.

Throughout his life, Joshi has lived in numerous cities in North America, including New York City. He said Medicine Hat is one of the best communities he has lived in and a place with a lot of potential.

“ I think we can really grow, and I think we need to have more diversity in city hall and it could be age-wise, ethnicity-wise. We need to have different people so they can make better decisions about the city,” he said.

In terms of economic development, Joshi said the city needs to start thinking outside the box in order to see more growth.

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“ We need to start reaching out to entrepreneurs, anywhere in the country, they are in B.C. they are in Ontario, wherever and give them some perks to do business here and move to Medicine Hat,” Joshi said

“So the biggest thing we need to look at is: Are people moving in or are they moving out? If they are moving in, that’s a good thing. But if they are moving out we need to find out, what’s the reason? Do they not have jobs? What do they feel?” Joshi added.

Supporting businesses in the city, he said, goes hand in hand to enhance the city’s potential overall.

“If there are no businesses, there are no jobs, nobody is going to want to live here, right? So we have to make sure the businesses are good, big businesses are good, small businesses are good, their taxes are good,” he said.

His platform also includes responsible budgeting and other key issues that take taxpayer needs into account.

“ I want to make sure that there is proper budgeting at City hall and we are not just spending money here and there, and at the end too we are just laying off people just to make it up. Road safety too. I hear from a lot of residents that the speed limits on residential streets are too high, and also in the Saamis Heights area, I think we need more access. We just have one access point, so I am going to advocate for that.

Mental Health is another key area of the platform. Joshi said while he understands it is a provincial issue. He said he will advocate for more supports to come to the region.

Another key area of his platform is communication and accountability. Joshi said more communication needs to be delivered to residents in language that they understand involving issues like taxes, investment, utilities, and the Waterfront Development plan.

When asked about the recent scandal involving the privatization of Invest Medicine Hat, Joshi said communication from the city fell through.

“ The communication was not proper, and I don’t know the intent behind it, as I’ve said I have not discussed it with anybody from the city, so, was it right or wrong? I don’t know. Was it done wrong? Yes, I think there should have been enough time given to people to bid and all that. But I also see that when the residents reacted the city rectified it and they stopped it. So that’s also a good thing.”

Promoting political engagement for all citizens including minority groups is also something Joshi hopes to bring to the table if elected.

“I am devoted to having a town hall meeting once a month. I’ll sit down, I’ll announce, and anybody can come and talk to me about the issues they are having,” he said.

Joshi added that if elected he will be accessible to residents, open and transparent.

“I’m always going to be there for the community, no matter what,” he said.