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.”