First election forum draws packed house

By Alexandra Noad - Lethbridge Herald Local Journalism Initiative Reporter on April 9, 2025.

The Yates Memorial Centre was standing room only at an all-candidates forum hosted by the Lethbridge Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday evening.
All six candidates running in the April 28 federal election were able to share their main goals if elected, followed by questions by both the audience and a panel of media personalities which included Al Beeber from the Herald, David Opinko from Lethbridge News Now, Cass Patterson from Vista Radio and Justin Sibbet from Global Lethbridge.
Many questions to the candidates pertained to how they were going to protect Canada in general, but especially Lethbridge, from tariffs being imposed by the Trump government in the United States.
MP Rachel Thomas said the Conservative Party plans on taking down the trade barriers that exists between provinces.
“Right now, it is more difficult to move a good, a service or a person from Alberta to B.C. or B.C. to Alberta than it is to move south to the United States of America; it shouldn’t be that way.”
Liberal Party candidate Chris Spearman said as an MP, he would advocate for the agriculture industry, which he feels is often overlooked.
“Our agriculture industry is almost a secret and we’re not getting the attention of governments,” said Spearman. “And the coal mining issue is a perfect example of how we go forward with a coal mine and just forget about the 40,000 people that are employed in the agri-food industry.”
Nathan Svoboda, candidate for the NDP, said his party aims to have an “elbows up” approach to tariffs, along with subsidizing those whose work may be impacted by them.
Clara Piedalue, candidate for the People’s Party of Canada (PPC), rebutted, saying that Canada’s retaliatory tariffs will just hurt our own economy. The PPC, she said, would rather negotiate than retaliate.
Another hot topic at the forum was the proposed Grassy Mountain Coal Mine.
Green Party candidate Amber Murray said that if she can stop the proposed coal mining of the Eastern Slopes, she hopes to make it a tourist destination to help boost the economy in Lethbridge and surrounding areas.
“We have a whole bunch of opportunities in that area to bring in bike races, to bring foot races; the money behind these things is enormous.”
Thomas said the coal mining issue is on the provincial level and while she believes that MPs are able to advocate for clean water, she cannot interfere with a provincial decision.
Spearman was questioned how he was planning on managing a higher political position after the supervised consumption site caused the crime rate in Lethbridge to skyrocket when he was mayor of Lethbridge, an assertion that sparked loud applause from the audience. Spearman replied there was a lot of misinformation surrounding the SCS, which was followed up with even louder applause and cheers.
Advance polling stations will open April 18-21 with Election Day taking place on April 28. A second candidate forum is scheduled for the Lethbridge Public Library downtown branch on April 16.

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