Mohammed looks to bring a fresh inclusive perspective to Medicine Hat city council

He holds a bachelor’s degree in communications and a master’s degree in management.

In recent years, he has worked as a consultant focused on economic and workforce development for a range of organizations in southern Alberta.

Mohammed is also the founder of Connections Intercultural Association.

“It really kind of started from our living room with the help of a lot of people in the community,” Mohammed said.

“When we moved here 20 years ago we realized that, there’s a gap with integrating newcomers into this community,” he added.

“My wife and I opened up our home, we invited three people who shared some of their concerns with us. And at that time, we had just moved here too, but we have a bit of a local network.”

The group has grown into a recognized presence, helping organize the Canada Day celebration and creating and hosting the Glow Up the Globe event.

“We partner with the City of Medicine Hat, [Southeast Alberta] Chamber of Commerce, different organizations to make sure that, you know, newcomers and locals are able to integrate and build meaningful relationships,” Mohammed said.

In addition to his professional and volunteer work, Mohammed has spent years coaching youth soccer and supporting local sports.

Mohammed decided to run for council because he realized that during his time in Medicine Hat, he had been involved in so many things.

“People have said that to me, you’d be a great leader. Have you thought of running for city council? And my excuse has always been, we’re very busy,” Mohammed said.

“But then I realized that that’s everybody’s excuse to not be in leadership,” he added.

“Sometimes we see decisions that are not going the way we like it and we complain about it. After reflecting on some of the things that I see and people talking to me, I said to myself, I really want to be part of shaping the future of this community.”

Mohammed said that he cares about this community, and he wants to contribute.

His campaign has five main priorities:

Restoring trust and confidence in city leadership
Building a fair and resilient economy
Safeguarding public resources with purpose
Planning smart, investing fair – across all neighbourhoods
Building a community where everyone thrives

He says trust is a currency for good governance.

“What that results into is connecting with key sectors, leaders, people in our community to be able to achieve our goals as a community,” Mohammed said.

“I believe that when we have goals, we need to make sure that the people that are at the table are able to support this and we have community backing,” he added.

“That would come as a result of tangibles like a citizenship panel, open design sessions before we start a major project, clearer communication, from council and admin to be able to do that.”

He said this would bring trust.

“When we lead with this kind of transparency, people feel respected. That’s how we build unity and move forward,” Mohammed said.

“Restoring trust is really important. We have to look at it internally. When we look at it internally, we do a really good job,” he added.

“It’s easy to sell ourselves externally.”

He said to build a resilient economy, we have to look at scaling small businesses.

“Having programs that would support them with it, as mentorship or matching grants. These are things that we can outline and see how do we support our local business to make sure they’re doing well,” Mohammed said.

He adds that larger regional employers should also be engaged in conversations about workforce retention, infrastructure and growth.

Safeguarding public utilities with purpose is something important to Mohammed.

“Our utilities, they’re not just revenue tools. They’re essential services that community need, our businesses need. So things like transparent rate review with diverse users input are very important,” Mohammed said.

“Within our community, we have a lot of intelligent people. There’s something to be said about drawing all that intelligence to the table and having a conversation with them on how we set certain priorities for our community,” he added.

“I believe that when we have the right panel at the table, we’re able to have some transparent rate reviews, and come up with what’s best for the community.”

Mohammed said with good planning, no community is left behind.

“Having some neighbourhood specific consultations before development. I would amplify what is already going on that has to do with good community consultation to make sure that we’re doing that,” Mohammed said.

“Prioritizing some infrastructure upgrades for underserved areas. Lots of conversation about recreational facilities that need to be upgraded or shut down. I want to see that. And I would advocate for a fair way of rebuilding those structures to make sure that those communities are not left behind,” he added.

“A lot of these upgrades, if we do them fairly, we map out our community and make sure that we have places that our youth, our seniors, and everyone can go to. There’s so much life that comes into community as a result of that. And those are proactive measures that would actually engage our kids and keep them out of trouble.”

He also wants to build a city where everyone thrives through wellness and safety.

“Mental health infrastructure to make sure that there’s some progress going on that way,” Mohammed said.

“Expansion of parks and rec access across public spaces. Taking care of those parks where people can go,” he added.

“It brings people together, because these are areas where people get to come together, hang around and connect. When people feel connected, cities like ours thrive.”

by Jesse Gill

Mohammed looks to bring a fresh inclusive perspective to Medicine Hat city council

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