First election forum draws packed house
By Alexandra Noad - Lethbridge Herald Local Journalism Initiative Reporter on April 9, 2025.
Herald photo by Alexandra Noad
All six candidates selected for the Lethbridge riding for the federal election participate in a forum put on by the Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday evening at the Yates Theatre to allow their views on key issues be heard prior to Election Day on April 28.The Yates Memorial Centre was standing room only at an all-candidates forum hosted by the Lethbridge Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday evening.
All six candidates running in the April 28 federal election were able to share their main goals if elected, followed by questions by both the audience and a panel of media personalities which included Al Beeber from the Herald, David Opinko from Lethbridge News Now, Cass Patterson from Vista Radio and Justin Sibbet from Global Lethbridge.
Many questions to the candidates pertained to how they were going to protect Canada in general, but especially Lethbridge, from tariffs being imposed by the Trump government in the United States.
MP Rachel Thomas said the Conservative Party plans on taking down the trade barriers that exists between provinces.
“Right now, it is more difficult to move a good, a service or a person from Alberta to B.C. or B.C. to Alberta than it is to move south to the United States of America; it shouldn’t be that way.”
Liberal Party candidate Chris Spearman said as an MP, he would advocate for the agriculture industry, which he feels is often overlooked.
“Our agriculture industry is almost a secret and we’re not getting the attention of governments,” said Spearman. “And the coal mining issue is a perfect example of how we go forward with a coal mine and just forget about the 40,000 people that are employed in the agri-food industry.”
Nathan Svoboda, candidate for the NDP, said his party aims to have an “elbows up” approach to tariffs, along with subsidizing those whose work may be impacted by them.
Clara Piedalue, candidate for the People’s Party of Canada (PPC), rebutted, saying that Canada’s retaliatory tariffs will just hurt our own economy. The PPC, she said, would rather negotiate than retaliate.
Another hot topic at the forum was the proposed Grassy Mountain Coal Mine.
Green Party candidate Amber Murray said that if she can stop the proposed coal mining of the Eastern Slopes, she hopes to make it a tourist destination to help boost the economy in Lethbridge and surrounding areas.
“We have a whole bunch of opportunities in that area to bring in bike races, to bring foot races; the money behind these things is enormous.”
Thomas said the coal mining issue is on the provincial level and while she believes that MPs are able to advocate for clean water, she cannot interfere with a provincial decision.
Spearman was questioned how he was planning on managing a higher political position after the supervised consumption site caused the crime rate in Lethbridge to skyrocket when he was mayor of Lethbridge, an assertion that sparked loud applause from the audience. Spearman replied there was a lot of misinformation surrounding the SCS, which was followed up with even louder applause and cheers.
Advance polling stations will open April 18-21 with Election Day taking place on April 28. A second candidate forum is scheduled for the Lethbridge Public Library downtown branch on April 16.
16-15
The all-candidates forum, without surprise, proved that Rachael Thomas is our best suited, best educated, most articulate and intelligent choice for Member of Parliament, Lethbridge.
We do agree with Mr. Spearman that his advocacy and blatant support for the SCS when he was Mayor and that this was a travesty!
His comment regarding “mis-information regarding the SCS” is true, we still don’t know where the nearly three million dollars of Provincial funding went, what happened to Stacey Bourque (Executive Director of the SCS)????
It is evident the arrogance of Mr. Spearman who did not (and probably never will) accept any blame for the problems created in our City from the SCS. Suffice to note the ranking of Lethbridge (during his term as Mayor) as one of, if not the worst community, respective of crime, in the entire country. Thank you (no thank you) Mr. Spearman!
You say Thomas is the most educated, articulate and intelligent (can you provide any proof of that Harold?) yet she has accomplished nothing in her tenure as representative of this area. Spearman may not win, but I think you’re gonna see a hell of a lot of votes for him, showing discontent for the UCP.
Agreed , I expect Thomas to win the election. That’s because if you painted a goat blue , we’d elect it. To be Premier or MP , you only have to get by the base. I also agree Spearman will get more votes than a liberal candidate usually would.. I hope that means the tide is turning and we’ll finally start voting based on merit and not tradition.
Speaking of the highly educated, why would you vote for someone running federally to show your disapproval of a provincial party? Bias has overtaken logic.
Not often I agree with BW.. but he’s correct federal and provincial choices should each be based on their own merits , platforms , what aligns most closely with your choices and values..
It’s interesting that Poilievre has spent significant effort distancing himself from Smith and her kooky behaviour lately. They are clearly not aligned.
Seriously? Pollievre has DEFINITELY not distanced himself from Premier Smith neither the other way around! Did you hear about the fifteen thousand Albertans who attended the Conservative rally in Edmonton?
The police said there 8-10,000, I would believe the EPS before I would believe a PC party hack with a megaphone.
Harold going on about rally sizes ….remind you of anything?
do you mean, as in some orange freak spewing on “very big rally, very, very big…biggest rally ever for a president…unprecedented…very unprecedented”
They obviously have forgotten how bad the CPC were the last time around. They want it again.
https://financialpost.com/diane-francis/tories-must-correct-income-trust-blunder
Don’t worry, buck, I disapprove of the Conservative antics countrywide
“One thing “??Where do I start other than the fact that she has been elected and re-elected and re-elected and will be re-elected again this this time not to mention that she has consistently gleaned roughly or greater than 50%?of the total votes cast! I envision her becoming a Cabinet Minister this go around.
UCP? Wake up, this is a Federal Election not Provincial. The only Federal Party related are the NDP Federal and Provincial.
Were you at the all-candidates forum, certainly non votes for Spearman, rather he was practically laughed off the stage! As for the election results, let’s be “conservative” and predict that Rachael Thomas achieves 60% of the tally!
Getting elected repeatedly is not an accomplishment. like someone said earlier you could paint a goat blue and it would get elected around here.
Again, I ask give me an example of any legislative accomplishment this woman has made during her tenure… showing up doesn’t count
Hey Lumpy, “Lions don’t concern themselves with the opinions of sheep!” Go Rachael, go!
:::rolleyes:::
such a clown.
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