Cardston residents vote against ending prohibition

It was a typical day in Cardston where the excitement of Monday’s plebiscite has all but died down.

However, for restaurant owner, Patricia Twombly, she’s left to wonder what could’ve been. “We are disappointed. We were saddened by the whole thing,” she said.

She says she’s not surprised the plebiscite ended with the majority of residents voting against amending the prohibition law.

“People have fears and you can’t really alleviate the fears they’ve had all their lives. You can’t change what their true beliefs are, so you just go by and hopefully as the years go by there will be some changes.”

Out of 1451 votes, 1089 people voted against liquor sales in the town, with only 347 in favour.

Darren Atwood, with Cardston Residents for Positive Progress, originally asked council to add the prohibition amendment to the plebiscite. He says even though the vote didn’t turn out how he hoped, he is impressed with the community engagement.

“That’s what I went into this for, to increase voter awareness and increase community response. Get people talking and thinking and showing out to vote,” he said.

Store owner, Barbara Fox, is happy with the outcome of the results. It gives her peace of mind knowing that alcohol won’t be sold in her town anytime soon.

“We’re different from the rest of the world and maybe instead of trying to make ourselves like the rest of the world, we need to capitalize on our difference” she said.

Mayor Maggie Kronen explained the results are a clear indication that Council doesn’t need address the matter any further. “I think for this Council, this issue will not be re-visited” she added.

“I would say the results are pretty significant, statistically very relevant and representative of the community’s best wishes for the town.”

For Twombly, while she wishes the vote went the other way, she’s forced to accept the will of the Cardston.