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City Council to switch from SPC’s to CIC meetings
By Lethbridge Herald on February 11, 2026.
By Alexandra Noad
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter- Lethbridge Herald
Lethbridge city council will now be meeting as a full group for both city council meetings and what was the former special policy committees (SPC’s), now will become Community Issues Committee (CIC), after a 7-2 vote in favour of the motion in both the second and third readings.
Due to agendas for SPC meetings already in the works, there will be a transition period from Feb. 19 until April 30, 2026 where the meetings will be held on every other Thursday.
Beginning May 5, 2026, the CIC meetings will be held on alternating Tuesdays to city council meetings.
Mayor Blaine Hyggen, who voted in favour of the motion, says these meetings wouldn’t be based on one theme, but rather could contain a wide range of topics.
He added that it will improve transparency and engagement, things he both campaigned on.
“I campaigned on more engagement, more transparency, this will bring that.”
Councillor Rajko Dodic, who also voted in favour, added that all of these topics would be discussed by all members of council, rather than a few, before being presented at a city council meeting.
“The main difference is that all members of council hear the same information and don’t have to refer it to council to go through it all over again, in some cases.”
He also added that this would give them the opportunity to meet as CIC’s twice as often as the SPC’s would meet.
Councillor Jenn Schmidt-Rempel voted against the motion saying she didn’t see the same public engagement opportunities as the now former SPC system.
Councillor Belinda Crowson also voted against the motion as she believes there were many things the old CIC system did not achieve, but the SPC system did.
Councillor Al Beeber voted in favour of the motion in hopes to bring more transparency to city council.
“I really think it’s important for all of us at this chamber to hear every issue that’s brought to our attention, instead of just members of four people. I just think it’s more transparent (and) it’s more efficient.”
A full calendar of remaining SPC meetings can be found at http://www.lethbridge.ca/council-administration-governance/agendas-minutes-and-council-meetings/.
City council next meeting will be held on Feb. 24.
18-17
Committees only work well when the concerns brought forward are researched and if needed, acted on!
There are some committees that were not functioning well and were closed to public input unless invited directly.
I trust the Mayor, knowing that he sincerely wants to be more transparent and if he had the time, which he doesn’t would meet and listen to every citizen’s concerns . . . he is a hands on person, who wants to engage with the people, but as Mayor, there are only so many minutes and hours in a day!
I am willing to see how this works! What really needs to be addressed are the Freedom of Information requests made to City Hall . . . there are some serious issues in that department, with many requests failing! That is not being very transparent!
Alhough nothing is perfect . . . improvements could be made easily to give the public ‘reasonable’ access to information requested in this department!
I have given up making requests after two complete failures for requests!