Lethbridge is long overdue for a municipal ward system
By Lethbridge Herald on September 12, 2025.
Editor,
Wouldn’t it be nice when a person comes knocking asking for your vote in the upcoming election if they could say,\”Hi I’m campaigning for councillor for Ward 6, can I count on your support\?” rather than “Hi I’m campaigning for a seat on council, I’ll represent everybody but nobody, can I ask for your support?”
I’ve chosen my next councillor, the only one I have confidence in, since that person has already given years of stellar service to this community and as councillor will continue to give back, assuring me there is going to be a fire lit under some of the deadwood down at silly hall to get the ward system implemented. It’s overdue – Lethbridge voters long ago said they wanted someone representing them in their own ward.
A.W. Shier
Lethbridge
6-5
Agreed. Lethbridge would benefit greatly by switching to award system, as so many cities have done successfully. Better representation for every portion of the City, and lessens opportunities for individuals pushing through their personal agendas. Such as bike lanes…
And don’t forget synthetic straws! Man, bike lanes and plastik straws and green bins and bad ol’ otterwa … hills to fight for in this municipal election!
A ward system with representatives rotating each year (by drawing plastic straws) might work? Less divisive, I think.
… or car lanes.
I don’t have a strong opinion on whether to stay as is or switch to ward system.
However, I do think we should be beware of each candidate’s position on the very important issues facing not only Lethbridge but Alberta/Canada. Some of those issues are separation, book banning, govt interference in city administration, reign in city spending on nice to have projects. So far, I’m unaware of any candidate specifically addressing some of those issues except for the standard “I’ll be more transparent, control spending, increase low income housing, etc.”
the issue with a ward system is that it pits one section of the city against others over limited resources. that typically results in more grandstanding, less cooperation, at least insofar where the larger picture is concerned. and then, of course, there will dealings where support for a pet project that one ward councilor desires will be sought in return for their support of a pet project desired by another…and so forth. pork barreling typically mostly serves the elected reps, and the contractors and whatever middle persons are involved.
the issue with our council is the same as it has long been: they do not place needs ahead of wants near enough; they do not oversee how money is changing hands enough, they do not ensure we have much needed audits, such that waste and, likely, graft, are rooted out and prevented. a ward system will only foment those issues.
The city has been pitting the different areas of the city against each other since the city was established, on many different levels over many different departments.
not at all to disagree with your statement, but, i do not see how that reality is at all addressed by changing to a ward system. what is is systemic will thrive under a ward approach: there a re countless cities out there that tell us this is so.
Make certain the person isn’t another Reformer hellbent on destroying what our hero Conservative Peter Lougheed created for us and wanting Smith re-elected like her pal Pierre Poilievre was.
how do you do that Mr, Fed-up?
A really good question how do you do it, especially when a lot of these mindless seniors haven’t a clue as to what a true conservative is and automatically votes for the word conservative and hasn’t a clue who the guy is hiding behind it, or cares.
With the horrible financial mess these Reformers have put this province in we don’t want any more of them, do we?
The former Conservative MLAs I knew said that it was simple.
If they promise to increase provincial revenues by increasing oil royalties and corporate taxes to get us back to the Lougheed levels and explain why they have do it instead of spreading the lie that we don’t have a revenue problem, we have a spending like these Reformers are famous for doing you know they are the right person.
Rachael Notley used it in 2015 and it got her elected and why she didn’t use it again has us all shocked she should have. Praising Peter Lougheed and wanting to copy what he had done to achieve it was a smart move. We realized the oil industry crash of 2014 made it impossible for her to achieve it but she didn’t even bother to try to explain that, why? We don’t know.
Alberta Mismanages Heritage Fund, Misses Out on $575B in Revenue Over 44 Years https://share.google/SqLENE2X659KdDOsg
These ignorant fools supporting these Reformers find it smart to stick their heads in the sand and pretend it didn’t happen that’s how stupid they are. Being stupid is what they do best.
I’ve had dozens of them call me a liar or my friends liars because they were too stupid to do any research to find out the truth. They would never think of talking to lawyers, accountants, oilmen, economists, bankers or former MLAs to find out what the truth is because they don’t want to know the truth because they can’t handle the truth they aren’t man enough as our lawyer friends point out.
Young people have told me that their stupidity has caused a real problem in their families, their grandparents and even some parents aren’t welcome anymore in their family gatherings anymore because of how stupid they are, which doesn’t surprise us.
Those of us who were bankers and police officers can certainly tell you about how stupid some of them are.
Con-artists and politicians are famous for treating them like morons because it’s so easy to do. When you hear about scams where money is stolen you can bet they are mainly seniors who are the victims.
Much like this.
https://www.reddeeradvocate.com/news/former-red-deer-pc-attorney-general-jim-foster-takes-issue-with-smiths-ethics-violation-6826729
Pros and cons ,but we know or some of us do, where the present system has gotten us. So what could be the harm in trying something different? Especially because I believe, it is mostly the incumbents that don’t want this. It may interfere with them being elected by their base for the 10th time, perhaps?
Also, some candidates have had for a number of election cycles those private corner properties where they PAY the owners to allow them to set up their election signs. Why mess up a good self serving thing? Especially now as less wealthy candidates can’t set up signs for free on city Blvds. If an election sign is on a number of perfect well travelled locations through out the city – don’t be naive folks! The sneaky bird gets the worm! It is time to kick those folks off of council. I hate sneaky people and I especially don’t want them representing me or pretending to.
In the past there has been votes on the ward issue by council. If 5 councilors with say the mayor vote no to continue an investigation into different types of ward systems, the remaining 4 on council can do the math. They can vote yes and therefore come out smelling like a rose to some electors,even though the last thing they truly want is a ward system. It could be that only 2 of the 4 who voted yes genuinely wanted that investigation as their electors wished. The other 2 are just good at covering themselves for their appearance of following their electors wishes. The last thing some councilors want is to separate themselves from their voter base. A ward system could do that and it could cost them the election. For some councilors who aren’t perhaps qualified to do anything else or can’t find another position with the grandeur they are used to( and pay), they may not want to take the chance.