Cypress-Medicine Hat candidates cite collaboration, respect at forum

Barnes went on the offensive of Rachel Notley’s NDP government for most of the night, citing the province’s growing debt with the hopes of eliminating the carbon tax and less government regulation if elected.

As for Mueller, he defended Notley’s four-year term and put an emphasis on protecting the environment and an increase in long-term care beds for Alberta’s aging population.

Smithers spoke about the province’s duty to protect vulnerable citizens and the need to get natural resources to tidewater, while Anwar made it a point to say he was not a servant of the Liberal Party but a servant to voters and wanted more options for the province to collaborate with municipalities.

Aside from a few debates regarding stats surrounding Alberta’s debt, the night was kept extremely civil to the surprise of some in attendance like Josie Medhurst.

“I was surprised for sure about how polite they were, talking among themselves,” said Medhurst. “There were some points where it kind of goes towards that bashing, but at the end of the day it was really polite and really easy to follow.”

Following the debate, moderator and Alberta Chambers of Commerce president and CEO Ken Kobly made a point to extend an extra thank you to the candidates and the crowd for the respectful environment.

Anwar said although there were a handful of heated discussions, the forum allowed the public to see the candidates as members of the community.

“Those guys, they’re great people, they’re professionals,” said Anwar. “I’m proud of them even if we have a difference in opinions and work for different values.”

Collaboration was one of the big topics brought up, more specifically about how the elected member can work alongside those in the community who may not share their specific beliefs.

Something that local voter Shelby Meyer said was a refreshing take.

“Even at one point they all actually agreed with each other and talked about collaboration, which I thought was really awesome,” said Meyer.

According to Barnes, getting input and conversation from multiple sides has been a goal of his since he was first elected in 2012.

“That is one of the main jobs of whoever is successful, is to make sure you represent all the people of Cypress-Medicine Hat,” said Barnes. “In my two prior terms, in my seven years, I’ve tried very, very hard to make sure that’s exactly what happens.”

As for establishing further collaboration between local citizens, Mueller said the idea of regular town hall meetings would be enticing if he became the next representative of Cypress-Medicine Hat.

“Anybody and everybody can come, any affiliation whatsoever, and participate,” said Mueller. “I think that’s a very, very good idea. The more that’s done, the better civility would result and we’d probably be richer for it.”

One of the more powerful moments of the evening came in the final statements, when Smithers became emotional speaking about some of the province’s more vulnerable citizens.

During their respective remarks the other three candidates thanked Smithers for her candour, something the Alberta Party member said shows there can be humanity in the political sphere.

“There are difficult topics that we need to talk about,” said Smithers. “I appreciate that all the people in that room and all four candidates have the courage to have the difficult conversations. We likely will never agree on everything, but that’s okay.”

Getting ready to cast a ballot in less than two weeks, Meyer added she hopes the rest of the election season looks more like Tuesday’s forum.

“We’ve seen a lot of ugly sides of people come out during this election,” said Meyer. “So, I hope that the rest is able to go on a little bit cleaner.”

by Scott Roblin

Cypress-Medicine Hat candidates cite collaboration, respect at forum

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