Chamber hosting by-election forum Aug. 31

By Trevor Busch
Taber Times
editor@tabertimes.com

With Cornfest 2023 a wrap, local politics is taking centre stage this week.

On Thursday, Aug. 31 the Taber and District Chamber of Commerce will be hosting a Municipal By-election Forum at 6:30 p.m. at the Taber Legion Hall. 

Doors open at 6:30 p.m., with the forum itself set to commence at 7 p.m. with Ken Holst moderating. The event will also be live-streamed online with a link to the chamber’s Facebook and YouTube pages.

The Town of Taber by-election was called in July following the June 26 resignation of Coun. Alf Rudd who took over as victim services manager for the Taber Police Service.

The Municipal Government Act (MGA) Section 174 states “a councillor is disqualified from council if the councillor becomes an employee of the municipality.” A by-election had to be called to fill the vacancy left on Council as per Section 165 of the MGA. The by-election must take place within 120 days of the date of resignation. 

Vying for the role of councillor are seven candidates including Cat Champagne, Ian Croft, Mike Krchnak, Mani Parhar, Daniel Remfert, Dale Tilleman and Naomi Wiebe.

In a statement, the chamber said they organized the by-election forum after conducting a Facebook poll that indicated interest from the public in learning about the candidates and their viewpoints on issues facing the community.

Residents and voters are encouraged to submit questions in advance via email at taberchamber@gmail.com by today at 4 p.m., or text taberchamber@icloud.com.

Attempts to reach forum organizer Rick Popadynetz for comment were unsuccessful.

The Town of Taber by-election is on Sept. 7.

For voters interested in learning more, election profile stories on five candidates are included in today’s edition, with two published previously in the Aug. 23 edition.