With the provincial election looming ever closer, it is imperative voters learn what their candidates and the parties they represent stand for.
All-candidate forums are one of the few chances citizens have to see the candidates in action as they respond on the spot as questions are asked.
That is why it was so disappointing to see only eight of the city’s 11 potential representatives take the time to participate.
We understand campaigning is an arduous, time-consuming task and candidates may have had other obligations to attend to that prevented them from being at the April 2 forum, but for current MLA and Airdrie-East candidate Angela Pitt to not participate in the forum but still show up for the meet-and-greet portion is questionable at best.
Are we then to assume she had the time to participate, but simply opted not to take the opportunity to address City council’s questions? Whatever her reasoning, the optics of the situation are horrible.
Though numbers of residents who took the time to watch the forum online were not available by press time, City of Airdrie Team Leader of Corporate Communications Jill Iverson said she counted 63 people in attendance in Council chambers.
For an election that could have a huge impact on the future of Alberta and Airdrie, we can only hope the rest of the eligible voters in the city’s 68,000-plus population take advantage of the chance to watch the forum on the City’s website.
