Ward system offers benefits

By Letter to the Editor on September 18, 2020.

I enjoyed reading and fully support your editorial of Sept. 2 regarding the ward system for Lethbridge council elections.

Would all the citizens of Lethbridge be happy being represented by eight councillors from one area? I do not believe they would. So why is the present city council so opposed to looking into the ward system? Taking this a bit further, would all the citizens of Alberta be happy if all 87 MLAs were elected from Edmonton? Would all the citizens of Canada be happy if all 338 MPs were elected from Quebec? Of course not!

All 63 rural municipal districts in Alberta have the ward system to ensure council representation is evenly distributed. The school boards of Alberta use the ward system. The Cities of Calgary and Edmonton have the ward system. A lot of cities across Canada (many of whom are smaller than Lethbridge) support the ward system. Why not the City of Lethbridge? After seeing the spending spree of recent years, I doubt it is money!

In the past 50 years I have voted in municipal, provincial and federal elections while residing in Manitoba, B.C. and Alberta. The 2017 Lethbridge municipal election was the first and only time I have not voted for a candidate in a specific ward, constituency or riding.

Hopefully this will become an issue in the upcoming election in 2021.

Frederick Lee

Lethbridge