Lethbridge candidates plead their cases at 1st forum - Lethbridge | Globalnews.ca (2025)

For the first time, all six Lethbridge candidates in the 2025 federal election were able to plead their cases directly to voters in one place.

The Lethbridge Chamber of Commerce hosted an all-candidates forum on Tuesday evening to allow media, voters and others in the audience to question the candidates vying for a seat in Ottawa.

Topics ranged from environmental concerns to tariff response plans and online censorship laws. One question was even brought forward by a mother on behalf of her young daughter related to stances on service dog availability across the country.

The forum created an opportunity to understand each candidate in a clear way, despite the one-minute time limit to answer each question.

“The great thing about forums is it allows people to see the diversity of views available,” said Marc Slingerland, the Christian Heritage Party candidate.

Another person hoping to speak in Parliament is Amber Murray of the Green Party. She says it was good to see Lethbridge so attentive during the forum.

“I was really impressed with the amount of people who wanted to ask questions. It seems to me that (in) this election, folks are really engaged.”

Two standout points from the evening were concerns around water safety as a result of mining in the Rockies and affordability on everyday goods.

“I also took away how concerned everyone is about the cost of living and the housing crisis,” said Clara Piedalue, the People’s Party candidate.

Despite there being six names on the ballot, there were some shared beliefs up and down the debate table.

“So many of our candidates have shared values across the political spectrum; there’s so much that we agree on,” said Nathan Svoboda, the NDP candidate.

Candidates were civil throughout, as were most of the 400-plus people in attendance, but that didn’t prevent debate and discussion over some of the more contentious topics, like coal mining.

“It is interesting to me that at this table, there is a claim that certain actions are going to be taken, or that certain successes are going to be achieved, but there is total disregard for where (coal mining) lies — and it is with the province,” said Thomas during the forum when asked about her stance on mining in the eastern slopes.

Murray used one of her two allocated ‘rebuttal cards’ to fire back against the Tory incumbent.

“The Conservative Party of Canada has promised to scrap the Impact Assessment Act, so projects that should have been examined for negative impacts on the environment, health and Indigenous rights,” said Murray.

After the forum, Thomas clarified she will advocate on behalf of Lethbridge, but affirmed the issues ultimately must be decided by the Alberta government.

Meanwhile, other candidates took the opportunity to go after the federal government as a whole, parties aside.

“There was a time when saying ‘I am Canadian’ was a source of pride, an identification with one of the freest, most prosperous, diverse and generous spirited nations on the planet,” said Slingerland.

“It’s incredibly sad that the feelings aroused by the same statement today are so different. ‘I am Canadian’ now brings to mind a country whose government excels at progressive virtue signaling, but fails at the basic duties of governance.”

It was a common theme among the Christian Heritage and People’s Party candidates.

“The authoritative federal government has its reach in our pockets, down out throats. We have to be vigilant what we say and do and that’s wrong,” said Piedalue.

Two of the candidates, Thomas and former mayor turned Liberal candidate, Chris Spearman, also had to defend their records during their time in their respective offices.

“As the local representative here in Lethbridge, I’ve had the opportunity to have a listening ear and then go to bat for my community. Whether that is agricultural issues that come to my attention, business issues that come to my attention, red tape that is getting in the way of folks and their existence, taxation and the impact that is having on people,” said Thomas.

While she defended her time in office, Spearman said, with the power of hindsight, he would make on major change that arguably defined his tenure as mayor.

“Supervised consumption on it’s own will not work and that’s what happened last time. We were too far on the left in terms of that solution. I think there’s misinformation, if I could elaborate a little further. People thought the City of Lethbridge made the decision, they did not. We did not make that decision as council. The supervised consumption operation was approved by Health Canada and it was funded by Alberta Health Services. Our only role was zoning.”

However, he says his career has been filled with positives that outweigh the struggles.

“I’m not a career politician, I’m a public servant and I have the record to prove it. As a school board trustee, I helped obtain government funding for five major school renovations and five brand-new schools,” said Spearman. “As your mayor, I helped bring over a billion dollars in investment to our city.”

Svoboda, on the other hand, took the time to outline his vision for the future of Lethbridge, leaving the past behind.

“I envision the future of Lethbridge to be workers and people able to be successful. What that looks like is addressing the affordability crisis, doing that through completely eliminating the GST on things like home heating and groceries and essentials. On top of that, also completely eliminating the income tax on the first $20,000 that people make,” said Svoboda.

He says it’s time Lethbridge shakes things at the federal level.

“I’m committed to being the change that we desire to see in our community.”

There are two more candidate forums taking place for the Lethbridge riding before the election on April 28.