Municipal election candidate forum, Q&A to be held Wednesday and Friday this week

By MEDICINE HAT NEWS on September 24, 2025.

newsdesk@medicinehatnews.com

The Southeast Alberta Chamber of Commerce is holding two municipal election forums in Medicine Hat this week. The forums will be held from 5-9 p.m. at the Esplanade Arts and Heritage Centre on Wednesday and Friday this week.

The first forum will only feature council candidates. Friday’s forum will consist of one session for remaining council hopefuls and one session for mayoral candidates.

The forums will include introductions, a moderated Q&A and debate, as well as concluding remarks.

Questions posed to candidates will be drawn first from those submitted in advance, with questions regarding policies and positions of the Chamber of Commerce taking priority. Questions submitted at the forum will be taken last.

Any questions not asked at the forum will be distributed among candidates and responses will be publicly shared on the Chamber of Commerce’s election website.

Personal links back on city website

After removing the personal websites and links to social media feeds of candidates running in the upcoming election early this month, the city has decided after further review to repost them.

On Sept. 3 the city announced it was removing all links from its website, citing its perceived endorsement as well as alignment with other municipalities, according to “a brief scan” conducted by staff.

However, following further review and consultation the city determined it is acceptable to provide candidate links on its website, subject to the inclusion of an appropriate disclaimer.

According to the city, this disclaimer will indicate that views, opinions and information expressed on external candidate websites and social media platforms are those of the candidates alone and do not represent the city.

“Maintaining the principles on impartiality and fairness continues to be a priority during the delivery of the municipal election,” reads a release.

On Tuesday candidates were emailed a digital form to provide their campaign information for inclusion on the election website, which will begin to show up today and will be added as more submissions are received.

The city admitted its initial jurisdictional scan was conducted under time constraints but says upon further review, staff confirmed many municipalities do not link candidate information.

However, Lethbridge, Red Deer and Grande Prairie, all comparative sized communities to Medicine Hat, do post candidate information and links to websites and social media.

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