Lethbridge federal candidates square off in final forum

Green Party of Canada candidate Amber Murray states that Poilievre would look to impose the three strikes rule by using the Notwithstanding Clause, something in the Charter that she feels needs to go because it has been used against striking workers, the trans and non-binary community and minority groups.

Liberal candidate Chris Spearman, when asked about how Canada should respond to tariffs imposed by the U.S., said that Prime Minister Mark Carney has already done a great job at bringing provinces together to strengthen domestic trade and reaching out to other countries to improve free trade relationships.

Nathan Svoboda with the NDP told the audience that, unlike the other federal parties, the New Democrats would fight for the rights and financial well-being of everyday workers in the trade dispute, and not just the wealthy and powerful.

Thomas likened Carney replacing Justin Trudeau as Liberal leader to a car dealership giving a rundown, used vehicle a “splashdown” and pretending like it is a brand new vehicle. She says Carney will continue to keep oil in the ground and prevent Canada’s economy from truly taking off.

Spearman later stated that the Liberals, under Trudeau, were the only party that has “built a pipeline,” referring to the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. His statement generated audible laughter from the audience.

The Liberal was also asked about the creation of Lethbridge’s Supervised Consumption Site, which happened during his tenure as mayor. He says that the facility was approved by Health Canada, funded by Alberta Health Services, and operated by ARCHES. Spearman says the City of Lethbridge had virtually nothing to do with opening the SCS.

On the topic of healthcare, Clara Piedalue with the People’s Party of Canada says Alberta has wasted large amounts of federal dollars and that there has been no accountability on how that money gets spent. She believes provinces should be in charge of funding and managing healthcare and that there is currently too much bureaucracy when it comes to requesting help from Ottawa.

The Christian Heritage Party’s Marc Slingerland spoke on the need to build up Canada’s military. He believes that the federal government defending the sovereignty of Canadians should be its number one priority. He says military spending and recruitment are not where they should be and that the Canadian Armed Forces should spend less time focused on diversity hiring.

LNN caught up with most of the candidates at the conclusion of the forum and asked them two questions. Here is what they had to say:

Chris Spearman – Liberal Party of Canada

What is the number one issue for you in this election?

“There are really two issues that are important to me. One, of course, is protecting our economy and our water from the coal mine, and the second one is speaking up for the agri-food industry. It employs everybody, it’s the reason the city is here. We don’t have oil and gas in Lethbridge, we don’t have that kind of an economy – it’s all agri-food. We have to protect against the tariffs and we have to protect against the coal mine and the damage it’ll do.