Take a look and join today! Review all the post and comments to learn more about the candidate. Forum will be suspended post election.
This event is taking place via Facebook Live. Don’t have an Facebook Account? Don’t worry, a copy of the video will be posted here after the event takes place.
Click for Facebook Live Stream
Coaldale residents will be voting in a new Town Council to include one Mayor and six Councilors.
Mayor
Henry Doeve
Jack Van Rijn
Councillor
Jacen Abrey
Jason Beekman
Brad Calder
Bill Chapman
Wayne Driver
Ilja Kraemer
Jay LaPierre
Henry (Butch) Pauls
Dale Pickering
Lisa Reis
Jordan Sailer
René van de Vendel
Clayton Varjassy
FOR IMMEDATE RELEASE
October 7, 2021
COALDALE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 2021 MUNICIPAL ELECTION FORUMS COALDALE CANDIDATE FORUM
(Coaldale, AB) The Coaldale Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce that it will be hosting a live candidate forum for the upcoming municipal election.
The candidates in this election encompass a total of 15 candidates; 13 are running for the office of councillor while the remaining 2 are running for the office of mayor.
“That’s a lot of candidates for our town of nearly 9,000” states Derek Connick, Director and Political Advocacy Chair for the Coaldale Chamber. “The number of candidates is a good indicator of how passionate members are for their community. It also enhances the electoral process as citizens have a wide variety of candidates to choose from.”
A live forum will be taking place on Wednesday, October 13, at the Gem of the West Museum, starting at 7:00 p.m. The Coaldale Chamber would like to thank lead moderator, Wayne Street, for his willingness to contribute to the live event. As a retired teacher and administrator to both Kate Andrews High and RI Baker Middle School, Street should have no problems keeping the candidates on track.
After much deliberation, the Chamber Board has decided to host this event via Facebook Live with no public in-person attendance. The residents of Coaldale will have ample opportunity to engage prior to the event, as the Chamber has been soliciting questions from the community. If you have not already done so, consider submitting a question to info@coaldalechamber.com today.
There will also be a live chat component available on the streaming platform where questions can be asked of the candidates. For those who choose not to have a subscription to Facebook, the event will be made available for viewing at coaldalechamber.com the following day.
Since new health restrictions are making it challenging for candidates to engage with the community, the Coaldale Chamber was pleased to provide a new alternative to this year’s civic election by launching an on-line forum group via Facebook. The group titled; Coaldale Chamber 2021 Municipal Election On-Line Forum is an excellent resource to citizens who want to ask questions of the candidates, to ensure their voice is heard.
Connick, who also co-moderates the online forum, has been paying close attention to the contributions made by the community. “We have witnessed over 200 people participate thus far in the on-line forum”. This format has become a valuable indicator of the candidate’s willingness to respond, notes Connick, especially with some of the tougher questions. Are
candidates making themselves available to the public and willing to engage? How did they handle some of the tougher questions? Did they ignore, deflect, or take the question head on? What we at the Chamber want to see is did the candidates succeed with gaining votes by convincing the people of Coaldale that they are the right person for the job. The on-line forum will be accessible until election day, after which it will be suspended.
The last advance polling station will be open on Thursday, October 14 from 2:00 – 8:00 p.m. Final voting takes place on October 18, 2021 from 10:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. Polling stations are located at the Coaldale Community Centre.
An Alberta senate vote and two referendum questions will also be present on the ballot. Albertans will be asked to vote for a total of three persons to the Alberta Senate. The two referendum questions concern topics related to daylight-savings time as well as the provinces commitment to the principle of making equalizations payments.
Now is the time to have your say Coaldale. Get out and vote!
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For more information please reach out
Colleen Van Raalte
Executive Director
info@coaldalechamber.com
403-345-2358
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