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File photo of Lethbridge West MLA Shannon Phillips (Lethbridge News Now)
YEAR-END INTERVIEW WITH LETHBRIDGE WEST MLA

Phillips looks back on 2019 provincial election, win in Lethbridge West

Jan 2, 2020 | 6:36 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – It was her third election campaign and she narrowly won, defeating the UCP’s Karri Flatla. Lethbridge West NDP MLA and Official Opposition

Finance Critic Shannon Phillips says 2019 was definitely a memorable year.

The provincial election, which took place on April 16, saw the NDP go from 54 seats to just 24 seats in the Legislature.

Phillips says while Maria Fitzpatrick lost her seat to the UCP’s Nathan Neudorf in Lethbridge east, the work her volunteers and staff put in, was outstanding.

“We ran a big campaign in Lethbridge West and with hundreds of volunteers and donors and people signing up to help. Ultimately, we won the seat and that was good.”

She did admit however, that it was the ugliest campaign she experienced in her 20 years in politics.

“I’ve never seen the level of vitriol and just bad behaviour in my life in an election campaign. That happened, but ultimately, we were able to rise above that, above those personal attacks and everything else and win the seat and continue represent the people of Lethbridge west to the best of my ability.”

And she adds that some aspects of the year have been disappointing, considering that the NDP started the year with a set of commitments to supportive housing, law enforcement funding, needle debris programs, supervised intox and increased detox availability. Now, she says Lethbridge is getting less in terms of helping with the drug crisis than before.

“That is a specific change that people in Lethbridge can point to as a result of this UCP government being elected.”

On the bright side, Phillips is happy with the level of engagement of her constituents in provincial issues since the election.

“People in Lethbridge are ready, willing and able to stand up for their neighbors, their communities, the issues that affect them and their neighbors and their families and their relatives. That is
amazing. Our staff has been run off their feet in responding to this community in their quality of life and their cost of living.”

Phillips was also pleased to see the opening of the new Cavendish Potato facility and the new jobs created, along with the opening of the $260 million Science Commons at the University of Lethbridge.

As for her message to her constituents, she says everyone will have to organize and work together to either reverse or perhaps mitigate some of the cuts made in the October provincial budget.

“We are going to have to advocate at the level of the school board, at the level of the city, to make sure as these massive cuts come from the province, that they are making the right kinds of choices that at least protect the most vulnerable.”

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