Miyashiro felt privileged to represent constituents in first year as MLA

By Lethbridge Herald on January 1, 2026.

By Alejandra Pulido- Guzman

Lethbridge Herald

When reflecting upon 2025, Lethbridge West MLA Rob Miyashiro said his first year in the role was great and he was excited to represent his constituents in the Legislative Assembly. 

Miyashiro said he is confident that when people look back on what happened at the Legislative Assembly in 2025, they will realise that the New Democratic Party did everything they could to keep the government accountable not only for the bills and motions they put through, but also the way they put them through. 

“Everything we say in the House is entered in the permanent record. And I think history will show that we were opposed to several things that they’ve put through that don’t help Albertans,” said Miyashiro. 

He said this year was challenging, as he along with his NDP colleagues tried to keep the UCP government accountable, while being shut down in unconstitutional ways. 

“They put a lot of power in the hands of their ministers to shut down things that they don’t like, which is unfortunate,” said Miyashiro. 

He said one thing he found himself personally bringing up to the House was to represent Albertans living with disabilities and raising awareness against the Alberta Disability Assistance Program (ADAP).

“The UCP is forcing people with disabilities, their parents and guardians and families without a good reason to move towards an American style healthcare system,” said Miyashiro. 

He said it continues to become clearer the type of government the UCP is every time they bring a Bill to the House, which is a government that is not interested in helping everyday Albertans. 

“There’s no question now that this is a government that favors privatization, and this government won’t speak out against separatism. Even when they talk around it, they will not speak out against it,” said Miyashiro. 

He said he is looking forward continuing to challenge the UCP government in the House, fighting for Albertans and making sure history shows what they did to keep the government accountable. 

“People need to know why we’re there, our job is to push back and to make sure that what they’re doing is called out, talk to them with some evidence and so on,” said Miyashiro. 

He said one of the evidence-based talks they had with the UCP was around raising the minimum wage and how it is beneficial for the economy, as this allows people to afford more things and they will be spending more money, but the UCP refused to increase it. 

Miyashiro shared that another example on how the UCP does whatever they want without caring what is best for everyday Albertans, has to do with utilities and their refusal to set a cap on them. 

“Our government has the ability to regulate electricity prices, but our prices are some of the highest in Canada right now and they want to blame it on the market,” said Miyashiro. 

Another example Miyashiro highlighted when talking about the UCP not doing what is best for Albertans is their continued use of the Notwithstanding Clause for things like forcing teachers back to work without fixing the issues they brought up in the first place. 

“The government pushing these things through and taking people’s rights away it’s already getting us international backlash for Bill 2 and Bill 9,” said Miyashiro. “When it comes to Bill 9 people are saying this is the most regressive thing, they’ve seen the government do in years for trans rights.”