A forum was held at the Lethbridge Public Library on Tuesday evening where the front-running candidates in the Lethbridge-West byelection went toe to toe on various issues.
Rob Miyashiro of the NDP and John Middleton-Hope of the UCP were present, but the Alberta Party’s Layton Veverka was unable to attend. His wife read a statement on his behalf.
The candidates fielded questions from the public and a media panel of three community-selected reporters. The questions asked about the Canada Pension Plan, health care, environment and safety, education and even loyalty to Lethbridge.
The day after the forum was held, both candidates spoke about the event.
“I will stand up for Lethbridge all the time, that’s what my job is,” Middleton-Hope said in an interview on Wednesday afternoon. “That doesn’t mean that I will vote against the party, but it does mean that I will put Lethbridge first.”
Miyashiro offered a similar answer, stating he will not vote against his party either.
“If you know how the legislature and party politics works, … unless it’s an open vote and that is declared by the leader of the party that it is an open vote, typically you have your discussion in caucus and you go through the issues and you (can) voice your displeasure,” he said on Wednesday morning.
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“If the leader and the caucus is going to move a certain way in a vote, you don’t waver from that.”
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Both candidates said they felt the debate helped their campaigns.
“I think people came (to the debate) with a preconceived idea of who they were voting for, whether it was (United) Conservative or New Democrat,” Middleton-Hope said. “So, winning the debate? I was very confident that the explanations and the answers that we got out, … not only did I feel comfortable with it, but our team felt very comfortable with them.
“Did we do well? I think so.”
Miyashiro said the debate was about getting points across.
“It’s a lot easier for us to sit there and take shots at their record because there’s a lot to take shots at,” he said.
“So, winning or losing, did we raise all the points we wanted to bring up about the Danielle Smith government and the UCP’s five and a half years of what they’ve done to this province? Yeah, I think we were able to do that.”
The campaigns have been running for several months and the candidates revealed the main concerns they said they’re hearing at the doors while out rallying support.
“Overwhelmingly, the No. 1 issue is health,” Miyashiro said. “Regardless of what anyone else might say, health care, health care, health care.
“People are worried that their doctor is going (to leave the city) next. People are worried because their doctor just left. People can’t find a doctor.”
Middleton-Hope said there were several topics that were top of mind for the voters he has spoken with.
“Education is important to a lot of folks, particularly younger folks,” he said. “Health care is important to just about everybody. But safety and security in the downtown core, that’s where people are at.”
Both candidates spoke about the controversial debate about coal mining in the Crowsnest Pass.
“My view, and the view of the Alberta NDP, is that we are opposed to mining of any kind on the eastern slopes of the Rockies,” Miyashiro said.
Middleton-Hope said both the City of Lethbridge and the Alberta government have gone on record regarding their positions on the proposed mining operation. However, he said it is still important to listen to different views.
“The government of Alberta is also exploring options,” he said. “I think that’s prudent — it’s no different than the Canada Pension Plan, (where) we are exploring options.
“It doesn’t mean that we’re going to move everyone over from the Canada Pension Plan to the Alberta pension plan and that, all of a sudden, strip mining is going to start occurring in the eastern slopes. That’s what the New Democrats would have you believe, but it’s not the case.”
The byelection is scheduled for Dec. 18. Advance voting is open from Dec. 10 to Dec. 14.
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