UCP candidate wants a course correction for Lethbridge West
By Alejandra Pulido-Guzman - Lethbridge Herald on October 1, 2024.
Herald photo by Al Beeber
John Middleton-Hope, seen here on nomination day, was chosen as the UCP candidate to represent Lethbridge West in a byelection.LETHBRIDGE HERALDapulido@lethbridgeherald.com
United Conservative Party candidate for the vacant Lethbridge West seat in the Alberta legislature John Middleton-Hope says he hopes for a course correction for citizens in that riding.
“I am certainly excited to be the candidate. We have a lot of work to do. It is an important course correction for citizens of West Lethbridge to have adequate and effective representation,” says Middleton-Hope.
He says he intends to be working hand-in-glove with MLAs in Edmonton to provide the services and the supports that Lethbridge needs to continue to grow and prosper as the third largest city in the province.
 When talking about how he intends to persuade residents of Lethbridge West to vote for him and leave behind multiple years of New Democratic Party support, Middleton-Hope said it comes down to giving them an option.
“The citizens of West Lethbridge have a choice. They can vote for a person who has the ability to ensure that the citizens of Lethbridge are heard, or the other option is to elect a New Democrat who is going to sit in Opposition for the next three years, who’s sole job is to criticize the government,” says Middleton-Hope.
 He adds that citizens have a clear choice. They can either vote for someone who can fix the problems or someone who will be only able to point them out. But even though they are on opposing sides, Middleton-Hope says the campaign will be respectful.
“Rob Miyashiro reached out at the beginning of this phase of the campaign and I appreciate Rob’s comment about being interested in running a respectful, interest-based campaign,” says Middleton-Hope.
He adds that one way he will be campaigning is by engaging with the riding’s citizens and learning what the challenges are.
“And working collaboratively together to ensure that those issues are advocated strongly to the provincial government, so that we can get the resources that we require,” says Middleton-Hope.
He says as member of Lethbridge city council he is already familiar with some of those issues and he will be addressing them during his campaign.
“Public safety which is a critical piece for us and it is fundamentally important to the citizens of Lethbridge – everything from the development of the shelter, to the supervised consumption site, to police resourcing ” says Middleton-Hope.
He adds that education is another critical point of his campaign at all levels from kindergarten to post-secondary.
“I just had a meeting with a number of university students who expressed concerns about loans being released from the province and I intend on making that very loud and clear to the provincial government,” says Middleton-Hope.
He adds that it is critical for students to receive their loans so they can pay rent and buy groceries as it is already October.
“I also have meetings with school boards and I anticipate I will hear about class sizes, about schools needing to be built, about teachers and about teacher assistants,” says Middleton-Hope.
Another issue he will be addressing is healthcare, says Middleton-Hope, especially in regards to a cardiac sciences facility at the Chinook Regional Hospital.
“What we want to encourage the government to do is to ramp the timeline up so that it’s delivered much sooner,” says Middleton-Hope.
He says that one more issue among many others that he will be addressing during his campaign is about water and wastewater when it comes to drought, water conservation and water management.
“That’s important because that drives economic demand in the region. We can’t encourage McCains or Cavendish to expand bookstands or any of the numerous businesses that are trying to locate in both the city and the county, unless we have an effective water treatment facility that provides that water resource to our citizens as well as our neighbours,” says Middleton-Hope.
Middleton-Hope won the riding nomination on the first ballot with 249 votes. Erin Leclerc had 193 and Shauna Gruninger 51.
22-21
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“Persuade residents of Lethbridge West to vote for him and leave behind multiple years of New Democratic Party support” what a joke! The Lethbridge West voters presented nominal support for the NDP, remember Ms. Phillips, a “Cabinet Minister” barely won her seat (by a mere margin of 200 votes) to a relatively unknown real estate agent! This same, Ms. Phillips, literally dumped her constituents, not responding to telephone calls, emails, letters, and very seldomly being in her office, then suddenly resigning from her position!
How and more importantly “why” would Lethbridge West constituents want to support an “non resident Lethbridge West candidate” (Rob Miyashiro)” and the NDP party?
Not only does Rob Miyashiro bring tainted baggage with him and his reputation as a bully on City Council, it is not evident which political stripes he (Miyashiro) actually ascribes to!
His (Miyashiro) posture with Nenshi, and their iconic images of standing side by side, do little to impress us.
The NDP have truly failed us in Lethbridge West (Phillips) and in Edmonton (Notley) as they drove our province into significant debt which thankfully came to an end with the election of the UCP (Danielle Smith).
For now, cudo’s to Lethbridge East MLA, Nathan Neudorf and his assuming the reins of Lethbridge West. We can’t wait until MLA (in waiting) John Middleton-Hope gets to work side by side with MLA Nathan Nuedorf for the benefit of all of Lethbridge.
Harold, did you intentionally misspell Nenshi and Notley or are you just a moron?
Oh mighty one, thankyou for your typographical error correction(s).
How about a “real” comment on my post and the “ineptness” of Miyashiro to even challenge Lethbridge West?
Thanks for the chuckle Harold. Ms Phillips won her seat by 2500 votes in 2023 where the incumbent Mr Neudorf won by less than 700. Hardly overwhelming support for Mr Neudorf but your view is hardly surprising considering your past posts. I’ll tell you why I won’t vote UCP, Danielle’s hare brained ideas concerning the APP, contracting hospitals out to religious organizations, provincial police force, stalling negotiations with doctors, building private schools with public money and many more.
Oh really? In the 2019 election, Phillips (Cabinet Minister) won the riding of Lethbridge-West by a slim margin of 225 votes over the UCP candidate Karri Flatla (local real estate agent). Phillips gathered 11,016 votes, or 45.2 per cent, to Flatla’s 44.3 per cent, or 10,791 votes.
Are you also oblivious to the “non-represtiveness” Ms. Phillips exhibited towards Lethbridge West Constituents, when she was unresponsive to e-mails, letters, phone calls and attempted meetings/office visits? This, to the point where bundles of letters and messages were eventually delivered to MLA Nuedorf’s office for action?
Do you also fail to admit/recognize when NDP Cabinet Minister Ms. Phillips had just “mis-spoke” as she goes down in history, for her lame attempt of trying to cover up her outright lie regarding her RCMP comment(s)???? Truly non-existent integrity yet you support the NDP?
I’m still laughing Harold. To tell you the truth Kenney was starting to grow on me but now the UCP is lead by quite frankly a train wreck. It’s not that I support the NDP policies it’s the fact that I don’t support the UCP as it now stands. I’d support a fire hydrant before the UCP as I’d expect you to support before the NDP. The question is will Middleton Hope support Danielle’s leadership?
Go ahead and blindly support this.
Hmm. Aimco’s returns in 2022 were -3.4% https://2022.annualreports.aimco.ca/investment-performance#:~:text=Despite%20the%20global%20headwinds%2C%20AIMCo,the%20benchmark%20by%201.9%25*.
Are you blindly supporting that? The fact is CPP’s 10 year return is 9.2% where AIMCO’s is 7.2% and the CPP has been ranked repeatedly #1 in national pension plans.
HaroldP,
In regards to the provincial UCP and Danielle Smith; maybe before talking about how well the UCP are (not) doing, you may want to review the following two links. I don’t think the NDP did nearly as much damage as you think they did in comparison.
https://www.abconservatives.ca/
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1zY7Z_BcgpzSW0OmYQh3B16GH_3QjLIbQsN59Ahpvz2M/htmlview
Is anyone else surprised at how low the voter numbers were? I’ve never been to a nomination selection before but I expected higher numbers.
I assume every police officer in town voted for him so that’s a large percentage.
If he wins the by-election, we’ll have someone not scared of Danielle Smith and her base… (unlike Neudorf). Finally a decent candidate in Lethbridge West unlike the last couple of bizarre choices.
You should not comment until you educate yourself as to how a candidate is chosen. It is not like a general election but is closed so that only paid party members in the riding can vote.
Exactly, does the term “moron” accurately fit as a shoe with respect to Knowlton????
Mr. Middleton-Hope suggests that he can only be an effective MLA because he is a member of the party currently in power as the GoA? If elected as MLA for Lethbridge-West, when the UCP are no longer the GoA, what will he do? Throw in the towel? What part of the Westminster system of democracy does Mr. Middleton-Hope not understand? Has Mr. Middleton-Hope ever read the Role of the Official Opposition on the webpage for The Legislative Assembly of Alberta?
Roles and ResponsibilitiesThe opposition serves as a critical check on the government, questioning its policies and suggesting alternatives. The role of the opposition is to criticize government activity [emphasis added], hold the government accountable, propose improvements and present itself to the public as an alternative to the party in office.
https://www.assembly.ab.ca/learn/the-legislative-assembly/roles/official-opposition
John Middleton-Hope’s remarks about needing to elect a UCP representative to have effective representation are concerning. The implication that only a governing party MLA can advocate for constituents shows a misunderstanding of how our democracy works. In a parliamentary system, opposition MLAs serve as a critical check on government power. Their role is not to ‘sit on the sidelines,’ as Middleton-Hope suggests, but to hold the government accountable, question its policies, and propose improvements. If he truly believes that only government MLAs can be effective, what does that say about his understanding of governance? And if the UCP were to lose power, should we expect him to ‘throw in the towel’?
The citizens of Lethbridge West deserve someone who understands that opposition isn’t a dead end—it’s a vital part of democracy. Effective advocacy isn’t about party allegiance; it’s about dedication to serving the community, regardless of which party holds power.
Fully agree with your statement, “The citizens of Lethbridge West deserve someone who understands that opposition isn’t a dead end—it’s a vital part of democracy”. The MLA for West Lethbridge, “in waiting” (sic) Mr. John Middleton-Hope, WILL work in and with the standing government, as an advocate for the constituents, logistical issues and the demographic character of Lethbridge West, why? Because this is where he resides, supports and loves!
On the other hand we have witnessed and expeienced first hand, HOW the NDP (Shannon Phillips) failed Lethbridge West Constituents in so many ways (Non-responsive to e-mails, telephone calls, letters, locked Lethbridge office, non-attendance (despite multiple invitations with Lethbridge City Council and/or Lethbridge City Council member(s) for over a 3 year period!) Finally when she dumped us all, by resigning mid-term….”No thanks” we had enough, enough of NOTHINGNESS from the NDP.
Consider the facts, the NDP are thowing a candidate (Rob Miyashiro) a non-Lethbridge West resident, an induvidual who was disfunctional as a City Council member, and a documented “bully” to fellow Coucil Members, and a continual failure in recent campaign efforts both Federal and Provincial. Lethbridge West deserves better than NDP (Miyashiro) we deserve positive, experienced, proven representation, we need John Middle-Hope!