Hyggen asks for respect for incoming city council
By Lethbridge Herald on October 23, 2025.
Herald photo by Alejandra Pulido-Guzman
Incumbent Mayor Blaine Hyggen speaks to media to thank those who gave him the opportunity to continue his work towards making Lethbridge a great place to live, Wednesday afternoon at city hall.Alejandra Pulido Guzman
Lethbridge Herald
Blaine Hyggen had some strong words for online commenters Wednesday during his first news conference as the re-elected mayor of Lethbridge.
“You wouldn’t believe the threats, etc. that come out online, physical, talking about your family or fellow colleagues. Lethbridge can do so much better, and it needs to do better,” he told reporters. “People are passionate, and I can appreciate that, the democratic process, but by engaging in conversations that can get you somewhere.”
Hyggen won the mayor’s chair by 905 votes, according to unofficial numbers, beating second-place challenger Ryan Mennie by 905 votes. He said he is not afraid to have tough conversations with voters, but he is not okay with people using social media for name calling and language used by some residents when making comments.
He thanked everyone who ran for office for their courage and, with a shaky voice and watery eyes, he pleaded with residents to treat them with respect regardless of who they voted for.
“I want to ask you all to treat these individuals (council members) with the respect we all deserve. Whether you see them in person or you interact with them online, remember these are your fellow citizens.”
Hyggen said all candidates were individuals who were sworn to make the community a better place, adding he was grateful to every resident who participated in the election, as their involvement strengthens the city’s democracy.
“It’s an honour,” he said of his re-election. “It has been an honour to serve for 12 years, eight of them as council and four as mayor, and to continue to serve for the next four years.”
He said he heard loud and clear at the doors and the forums that residents want to make sure the city keeps moving forward.
“Continue the advocacy work that we are doing, do the doctor recruitment strategies and I want to emphasize something that is really important: Recruiting doctors is not our mandate. But those doctors live in our community, and we want to make sure it is a place those doctors want to move to.”
Unfortunately, said Hyggen, he has received many comments saying, “stay in your lane, you’ve got nothing to do with doctors,” but he says that he as mayor and his colleagues on council have a duty to help in the recruitment efforts.
They should do what they can to make the community a place the where doctors want to live.
Hyggen said he is looking forward to working with the new council and listening to the ideas brought forward by those elected and not elected, as many of their ideas were worth implementing.
“We want to continue working in public safety, but we have already done some incredible work. We’ve heard that we had the third largest crime severity index drop in Canada.”
He said words couldn’t express his gratitude to Lethbridge Police Chief Shahin Mehdizadeh and his team for the efforts to reduce crime within the city.
“As well as our fire department and emergency services,” he added.
Speaking to the low voter turnout in this municipal election, Hyggen said many factors may have influenced it, from changes in the process to lack of information distribution due to the postal strike.
“We were supposed to get information out to the community on where to vote and all that, and we did everything we could within the city from website to social media, to emails, and local media, but many do not use those methods.”
19-18
Well said Blaine. I was hoping for some diversity in council myself, and we have them. One for culture and knowledge in agriculture, which will be a big boom if her ideas could be implemented here for economic growth, a media guru that knows city council inside and out, and one that has fiscal responsibility and accountability. Good luck to you all
Fiscal responsibility and accountability on city council? We needed that a few years ago when we got scammed by the lde
the brunt pf incumbents ensures we continue to get more of the ongoing waste, nepotism, and what appears to be graft (but, how will we ever know without some needed audits).
it will be short time before the newbies learn that the city admin runs the show, and council is there to provide a rubber stamp that provides a veneer of democratic process and due diligence.
*whisks by you and sprinkles some dust and whispers* If ye shall think to do a better job, then me thinks you should run next time
why not acknowledge the truth? at the very least, why not demand audits that would help us follow the money…which seems to blow into some very regular pockets.
Congratulations Mayor Blaine, continue with your good work ethics and your collaboration with other communities and levels of Government to keep Lethbridge moving forward.
…and while you are at it Mr. Mayor, please protect our water from being polluted with hazardours metals (like selenium) that is a by-product of mining in the Crowsnest Pass.
https://ablawg.ca/2025/10/23/taking-stock-of-the-grassy-mountain-project-and-other-coal-matters-update-4-october-2025/
Don’t be misled by the UCP.
i suggest looking at some of the benefits of said product. Perhaps it could help economic growth if we retain such a byproduct.
https://health.clevelandclinic.org/selenium-benefits
There is zero benefits from selenium polution from coal mining, zero! https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10320305/ https://e360.yale.edu/features/from-canadian-coal-mines-toxic-pollution-that-knows-no-borders
Thank you Mayor Hyggen for stating what needed to be said! It is very sad people have to threaten those who they disagree with and as someone who worked security in City Hall, I know you are not overstating the issue.
There is a reason the floors to City Hall had to be closed off and access restricted sadly. But worse, the threats have increased and escalated.
You are aware I we have not always agreed on everything, but the respect remained. No one agrees 100% with their politicians! As you are aware, we protested to shut down the SCS and did so successfully, peacefully protesting, respectfully going before committees and Council . . . something that proves change can be brought forward while respecting all sides.
There is a group who continually disrespect others, who often comment in social media, attacking others under the guise of freedom of speech, but when you call them out, they demand the platform administrators censor them! I won’t expand on who this group is . . . but you know Mayor!
The next four years are going to be tough and you have a lot on your plate, and that is why I congratulate you on your win, because you can finish what you have been building on for this city! You have a some good additions to your team and I wish you well!
well said. Bravo!
Just to mention, is the City of Leth website gave only the names of the buildings where voting stations were located, but no addresses. Also, not everyone gets a newspaper, therefore missed out on receiving an Election ’25 booklet with pertinent information. No posters on public property made it a very quiet election.
actually, if you look up on google map, or click on the city the website gave, you will find the address… just a thought for next time