Candidates give final public pitch

INNISFAIL-PENHOLD – When Innisfail council candidate Ron King took the microphone last week to offer his take on whether the community should push to banish the loud daily train whistle, a locomotive blasted through the town.

The ironic rumble and loud whistle drew laughter from the packed house at the Innisfail Royal Canadian Legion, the venue on Oct. 4 for the second and final all-candidates election forum that featured two mayoralty candidates and 11 for the six council seats.

It was the last chance at the public level to prove who is best to lead the community following the Oct. 16 election. The following night there was a similar event in Penhold, and a mayoralty forum in Bowden.

“It was really good to hear the candidates. I think we have a really strong group of candidates running,” said Penholder Ken Kowalchuk at his town's election forum on Oct. 5, which featured five-minute pitches from two school board trustees, two mayoralty candidates and 13 citizens vying for spots on six council seats. “Quite frankly, I wish we had two councils and we could elect everyone. It is going to be a very tough decision for me as a voter to pick.”

The Innisfail event, in spite of its brief moment of levity, was all business, with affordable housing, seniors and economic development once again priority topics.

“Affordable housing is going to make it so the younger families will be able to afford to come here,” said Carol Ellis, a 35-year Innisfail resident. “The decline population (in Innisfail) is alarming. We raised our four kids here and it is a great place for families to raise their children, but they need to be able to afford the housing.”

But the Oct. 4 forum also had time for controversial topics, including community engagement, an issue that has smouldered in Innisfail since September 2016 following the abrupt firing of popular fire chief Dean Clark.

“I caused conflict. The reason we caused conflict was because there was a lack of communication. We went in as a group looking for answers, not conflict,” said councillor candidate Christa Lamboo, a leading voice with the Citizens for Innisfail dissident group that dogged the current council for the first eight months of 2017 for better communication. “We now have a new CAO who is all about open communication and communicating with its citizens.”

Incumbents Mayor Brian Spiller and Coun. Gavin Bates both defended the current council's communication strategy and openness, with Spiller noting town business is effectively communicated through The Town Voice in the Province, social media and “more open houses in the last two years than in the first five years I was on council.

“That is because the people want it. We are actively following all the recommendations from (Alberta) municipal affairs. We are trying to keep our citizens better informed of what we are doing,” Spiller told the audience.

In Penhold, the top three priorities listed were crime prevention, water quality and lower taxes.

“We want a safe community where criminals are not welcome,” said mayoralty candidate Mike Yargeau on the crime prevention issue.

The trio of hot topics was the specific platform for Ken Denson, who was the only election candidate in the evening to acknowledge the heroism of the town's three firefighters during the Oct. 1 Las Vegas massacre.

“I believed they deserved it. They risked themselves to help others. I commend those guys for what they did,” said Denson.

Getting youth engaged and giving them more recreational opportunities was also on the minds of many.

“We are missing our mark with teenagers. There's nothing to do in Penhold,” said councillor candidate Tyrone Muller.

Most importantly, however, all candidates were pleased with the packed turnout at the Memorial Hall forum, noting it bode well for the future of the community.

“Apathy will kill a community. To me it (turnout) means you care,” said incumbent councillor Sharolyn Sanchez.

See Bowden mayoralty forum story on page 15.