SUNDRE — The local library is playing a part in providing information about the candidates who are running in the upcoming municipal election.
Although an in-person meet-and-greet event that had been originally been planned at the Sundre Municipal Library and scheduled Oct. 8 had to be cancelled as a result of the provincial government’s recently reimposed restrictions, an alternative approach has been developed to provide voters with information before they cast their ballots on Oct. 18.
“With not being able to host any in-person adult programs, the meet the candidates evening has had to be cancelled,” explains Karen Tubb, library manager.
“We are going ahead with our plan of creating a brochure with candidates’ views on a set of questions on current issues,” said Tubb, adding the brochures were expected to be out early this week.
Not to be confused with a kind of biography submitted by the candidates, the pamphlets will feature “their answers to a set of questions on current issues,” she said.
Among the queries candidates are being asked, is how the municipality might balance the need to maintain or replace infrastructure while keeping taxes affordable; what services they consider vital to the community; how they feel about the provincial government’s proposed police force to replace the RCMP; and how they would advocate for more affordable housing.
As of this past Friday, all but three candidates had submitted their answers prior to the deadline at the end that afternoon, she said.
“We have almost all of them back,” she said, adding the brochures were already being worked on.
“We’re hoping to have them ready by (today, Sept. 28). People can pick them up from the library,” she said.
Additionally, she said questionnaires featuring essentially identical queries but with a few different questions were also planned to be sent to Mountain View County candidates in Divisions 4, 5 and 6.
“We’re not going to do it for the whole county, just for the (divisions) in our area,” she said. “Of course it’s up to them whether they fill it in or not. It’s a great opportunity for them to let people know their views on current issues.”
The pamphlets will offer voters a chance to be more informed citizens, which is among the library’s objectives as outlined in its plan of service, she said.
“So, this is a way of helping them to be informed about current issues and the candidates’ perspectives on those issues.”
