Lethbridge West candidates put byelection campaigns in gear

By Lethbridge Herald on November 20, 2024.

Herald photos - Candidate Rob Miyashiro (NDP) at left, and John Middleton-Hope (UCP) at right, have officially begun their campaigns as voters in the Lethbridge West riding head to the polls in a byelection set for Dec. 18.

Alejandra Pulido-Guzman – LETHBRIDGE HERALD – apulido@lethbridgeherald.com

With the byelection for Lethbridge West set to take place on Dec. 18, candidates for the NDP and UCP formally kicked off their campaigns to win their seat at the Alberta legislature as the representative for Lethbridge West.

Lethbridge-West NDP candidate Rob Miyashiro and UCP candidate John Middleton-Hope held press conferences Wednesday after a date was announced by Elections Alberta to talk about their campaigns. 

Miyashiro told the Herald he was relieved to finally have a set date for the by-election after working hard for the last couple of months without knowing when it would take place. 

“Part of it is relief and excitement that we get to move forward, we get to. Now we get to start getting the voters out, making sure that they will vote and then we can just bring this home,” said Miyashiro.

He said that thanks to the increase in membership to the New Democratic Party during the leadership race last year, that allowed them to have a strong support locally. But they continue to knock on everyone’s doors looking for supporters that may not necessarily be official members of the party but that are willing to support him. 

“We started with people that we were pretty sure are going to support us, or people that have supported us in the past. And now we’re talking to as many people as possible in hopes that they’re going to provide that support in this election,” said Miyashiro. 

He said he is hopeful those who supported Shannon Phillips throughout the years would continue to support the party by supporting him as he shares the same values as her when it comes to the NDP values. 

“People understand that I also have the same values as the NDP, they know what I stand for, people know from my performance in City Council for eight years, what I was fighting for and fighting against and I think that’s been helpful as well,” said Miyashiro. 

When talking about the date set for the election Miyashiro said there are a few emotions that came up when it was announced. 

“We’re excited to have a set date, but also disappointed in the timing so close to Christmas, as it is an obstacle that we have to overcome, but we weren’t in control of that, so we just keep pushing forward and keep finding support and making sure that they are going to vote,” said Miyashiro. 

He said it is unfortunate that there is a possibility that a percentage of the population won’t be around when the vote happens, but they are hopeful that those planning on leaving take advantage of advance voting which will take place from Dec. 10 to Dec. 14. 

“We hope all of our people get out to vote from Dec. 10 to Dec. 12, never mind the 14. We want all of our people, all of our support to do it early, to make sure they can be around to vote and that’s where our big push is going to be the next few days,” said Miyashiro. 

As UCP candidate John Middleton-Hope announced he was taking an unpaid leave of absence from City Council Wednesday, Miyashiro said his absence from his day job will be a little different. 

“Fortunately, I banked holidays, so I don’t have to take a leave of absence. I’m actually on vacation. I mean it’s a similar thing, but I truly couldn’t go a month without getting paid,” said Miyashiro. 

Middleton-Hope said he has set up his campaign headquarters in the heart of downtown in Festival Square at 333 6 St. S., the location making a statement that downtown is a place that is not only “salvageable” to be but a worthy place to be. 

The campaign has invited groups to use the space, calling it a public space and his team wants people to use it.

Middleton-Hope said with the writ being dropped his campaign is moving into high gear, a campaign that actually started when he was elected the UCP candidate.

The candidate said he’s on the street, connecting with voters for about 10 hours a day in the riding which also includes areas on the east side of the Oldman River and encompasses 21,000 residences.

“We’re out door to door in the freezing cold meeting with Lethbridge constituents and spreading the word,” he said of his campaign team on Wednesday.

The campaign will be focusing on public safety, education, health care and infrastructure, “the key pieces that people are talking about at the doors,” said Middleton-Hope, those being the same issues that the campaign has been discussing with people since it started two months ago.

He noted that 61 doctors have moved to Lethbridge in the last two years with 27 in primary care and 34 being specialists.

“The government is laser focused on making sure that we have not only doctors here but we also have nurse practitioners setting up clinics in the city of Lethbridge,” said Middleton-Hope.

Residents are also concerned about the Canada Pension Plan, he said.

He said concerns NDP leader Naheed Nenshi expressed last week about the vote being held after exams are finished and many are leaving is that sentiment “assumes is that all students are somehow New Democratically oriented. That’s not true.”

-with files from Al Beeber