New UCP candidate for Lethbridge West wants to bring positive change to riding
By Al Beeber - Lethbridge Herald on April 14, 2023.
Herald photo by Al Beeber
Cheryl Seaborn is the new UCP candidate in the Lethbridge West riding.LETHBRIDGE HERALDabeeber@lethbridgeherald.com
She had planned to seek the nomination in Lethbridge West for the UCP last summer but a personal matter prompted her to change her mind.
Now Cheryl Seaborn – who resigned as constituency president last year to mount a run at the nomination – will challenge incumbent NDP MLA Shannon Phillips for the seat in the Alberta legislature.
Seaboard is a registered nurse and University of Lethbridge alumni who has lived in Lethbridge for 25 years. She is also a recent recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee Medal for her work building positive relationships with the Kainai Nation.
“The west is best,” joked the long-time West Lethbridge resident during an interview at City Hall Wednesday where she was present to hear deputy premier and Minister of Infrastructure Nathan Neudorf talk about government funding for the design of a new cardiac catherization lab at Chinook Regional Hospital.
“Most people are unaware that I did the consider the nomination actually last summer. So for personal reasons, I had to pull back at that time. It wasn’t as though I hadn’t already been considering it,” Seaborn said.
“I was excited to do it and I’m really looking forward to representing Lethbridge West and creating some positive change there and some positive momentum,” said Seaborn.
She was constituency president for about 3.5 years until she ended that relationship last summer due to her potential run for the nomination.
For the candidate, a big challenge is making sure the public gets to know her.
“Ultimately I need to get out to the doors and meet people and help them to see what my vision is and just who I am and what I represent. It’s a short timeline and I need to be able to get out and I need to meet people.”
Seaborn’s gotten positive feedback early into her candidacy.
“It shows that there is momentum and it shows that there are people there waiting and wanting some positive change to happen in Lethbridge West. So I’m hopeful to be able to bring that change,” added Seaborn.
Health care is one of the biggest issues that needs to be dealt with in the upcoming election, she said.
“I’m a registered nurse and I worked in health care until about a week ago and so I understand health care. I understand the complexities of health care. As a manager for Alberta Health Services, you get to see things that maybe aren’t always right up front and I think it’s top of mind for people.
“People want access to free public health care and fortunately Premier Smith came out yesterday (Tuesday) – and I’m proud to be a part of a party that says that’s something we stand behind.”
Seaborn said shortages in all areas of health care are a concern, adding the physician shortage in Alberta existed long before the UCP came into power.
“We already had a physician shortage then, it just wasn’t as publicized. I think COVID really accented that and it’s really a North American-wide phenomenon that we’re seeing happen,” she said.
“The premier and caucus have worked really hard to bring physicians to the area. . .there is work being done, there is a plan,” she added, saying health care is a passion for her.
The economy is another issue here with voters.
“We have poor fiscal policy coming to us from the Liberal/NDP coalition and that is affecting people in a very, very deep way. People are finding it harder to put gas in their vehicles, to go to work, they’re finding it harder to feed their families, they’re finding it harder to pay their rent or their mortgage.”
Seaborn said she’s happy to be part of a party that is looking to mitigate some of the effects of the economy “by helping with electrical rebates, utility rebates and not allowing us to be taxed anymore for our gas, all of those things.”
The candidate added there is more work to be done and it will get done under a UCP government.
“The people of Lethbridge West are the ones that are going to let me know what their concerns are and if I’m fortunate enough to be elected, to bring back to the legislature in Edmonton.”
Seaborn was selected to represent the riding after the resignation of Torry Tanner following the surfacing of videos showing her making inflammatory comments about Alberta students being exposed to pornography and being helped to change their gender identity by teachers.
Following that resignation, Premier Danielle Smith said she’d be working with the constituency and party to appoint a replacement candidate.
Seaborn and her husband John have five children and and six grandchildren. For 24 years, they’ve owned a successful business in the area.
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DO NO HARM- TO ANYONE https://lethccc.com
We are having a meeting at Honkers Pub April 18th at 6:30PM please accept this post as an invite. We also would like to see Shannon Phillips, Mr Myashiro, Mr Neudorf and Mayor and Council.
I think you should be prepared for the greatest concern, and thats survival of the Downtown. Under past Leadership of the UCP, the direction was to allow Marshal Smith (Chief of Staff) to head up Recovery programs for the UCP while he was working for Minister Ellis.
His direction was to increase beds, increase recovery hot spots and of course it has resulted in what you see in Edmonton. A further erosion of the Edmonton Downtown, businesses closing up, sales of buildings falling through etc etc.
This is because in all cases we continue to mirror the same issue every city has and that is, to permanently house (shelter) the Addicted in our downtown’s. This has never and I mean never worked. It has always created the same problem over and over again. The Downtown gets destroyed and it becomes the center for crime.
Why? It seems like a complicated question, it is not! The roots of the problem stem back to 50 years ago when a “homeless” person was a person without a home, period. It occassionally involved alcohol and homelessness but that was the level of complication of the day. Most of people my age remember the panhandling but really, that was the extent of the problem.
Nonprofits have taken this term “homelessness” and “most vunerable” to a new level. Money being spent is now at an outrageous level and climbing and of course the nonprofits are more than willing to offer more and more nonfunctional services to garner as much of that money as possible. A nonprofit that services the Addicted is a business and a very profitable one.
If you are unaware of just how profitable all you have to do is look at Mustard Seed, they claim on their Taxes over $77,000,000 of PAID FOR realestate.
I digress! So we have an opportunity in Lethbridge to be different, to think outside the box as it were. The result? A purposeful guiding of all the Addiction problems directly into our downtown. The UCP are more than willing to dump it on us, just as the NDP are! So in that respect you are no different then the person you are running against. Shannon Phillips refuses to enter the fray of installing the Community Care Campus from Railway Tracks at Stafford all the way up to 5th North and Stafford. In fact she announced but never funded the 40ish bed High Acuity Facility on this parcel of land and the UCP is still supporting it but not funded yet.
So, sorry about this, here is the question! When you see what Addiction is doing to Portland, Seattle, San Diego, Toronto, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, Victoria, etc etc why would the UCP even for a moment think its a “great idea” to install all of this in our downtown. You and the NDP already know what will happen to our downtown if this goes through! So why are both parties hell bent on killing our downtown?
I have come up with a solution for 76% of the Addicted population by dealing with Elders of the Blood Tribe. They have graciously suggested they would consider taking all of the Addicted if they can get the Acres Property across from Kipp Rifle Range.
Buses would run back and forth to Standoff stopping at the Retreat, and it will house the 95% (of the total) that Marshall Smith does not talk about, which is the group who will never rehab. Those are the people that concern Lethbridgians, not the 5% that will attempt rehab.
Increasing Numbers. The biggest issue every city has is they house their addicts in their downtown. This attracts more addicts. So you get cities/towns shuttling their addicts to other cities so they can, for instance, stupidly claim they have solved the Homless issue in their city. This of course just attracted more Addicts and homeless to that city because they wanted free housing too.
If we consider, and thats all I am asking, my approach, then Lethbridge will be the new approach to addiction. If you want to remain an addict, we will give you a home. It will not be downtown and you will have to take a bus to get to it. It does two things, it makes you no longer a Destination, and its one big pain in the ass for the Addicted to have to pay attention to rules.
So when an Addict is performing in the downtown. Police pick him or her up and load them on the Bus. Why is this different? The Address is their home. They can no longer tent because they have a home. They can no longer loiter because they have a home, they no longer can sleep in alleys parks etc because they have a HOME. Crime? That will be a huge problem for them if they are out at their home.
When they decide to rehab, then they are moved into facilities for those that are in rehab. Anti-Social Behaviour has a home, Social Behaviour has a home!
Solution: https://lethccc.com – Why is the Indigenous Plan at this website the answer? Because it had input from 14 elders of the Blood Tribe. Why acres property? Because it would put Mothers and Fathers and Relatives in a Direct line between Lethbridge , their Children, and Standoff. Many do not have anyway of finding their children who are addicted and they could either visit or work at the Retreat. So the Addicts would have regular relative visitations and access to Traditional Healing.
Is the Acres Property the best Solution, YES! Is it the only solution and only piece of land that will work. NO. Either the UCP or NDP buys a property outside of Lethbridge and we will make it work. Ideally Acres works the best or somewhere near Acres.
You will note I am proposing 2 facilities. A fenced in area in Lethbridge downtown for interim dry housing and for those that are the truly homeless and not addicted.
“The Most Vunerable will soon become the Downtown Businesses and Residents”! You can take that statement to the Bank, if you would like, talk to the beseiged businesses of Edmonton or any other city!
Dennis, taking your propoal as having merit at face value [ my apology, I have not read in full detail ] I have one query:
Why the Acres property and not a plot of land on th BIR, perhaps near the gas bar off HWY 3 enroute to Standoff? You made note of the Mustard Seeds land acquisition but at least they paid for the lands. I appreciate the pc improprity of this observation but it sounds as if the Elders are willing to help but only if they get something of it, namely lands. There is enough profiteering cloakd as altruism kicking about already.Given the high percentage of addicts who are off the 2 reserves, would it not pehaps be as conducive to the rehab process to be on their lands and also therby have possible access to Federal monies ?
…and before someone says ” its all their land ” I’m not here to engage in silly discussions on that point.
Acres is unique in that the Property is owned by the Blood Reserve Blackfoot, but never surveyed into the Blood Reserve. Whch means that the Acres Property could house non indigenous people as well as indigenous. As soon as you cross the Old Man River heading toward Standoff you are actually on the Reserve. Once on the Reserve only Indigenous can live there.
THe property is unique for that reason. It was to be a Casino, and if a Casino it had to be able to house more than Indigenous in the Hotel. So the property is perfect. Secondly it would prevent the problem from spreading to Standoff or Lethbridge. Bussing would occur and any issues in Standoff with Consumption could have the Blood Health then shuttle those people to the Retreat.
This allows both communities to survive without drug issues, gives both communities access to the addicted. Allows bus travel between the 3 spots and provides permanent homes to the Addicted.
Plus there would be better access of social services from different sectors,if off of Reserve land proper.