ROB MURRAY: Jeff Laidlaw is running for Mayor of Canmore in the upcoming municipal election. Tell us a little bit about yourself, your background and your related experience for the job of mayor.

JEFF LAIDLAW: I came from Ontario. Ten years in financial services, 20 years in marketing, eight years in the service industry here. I was also a councillor in the township of King, Ontario. I spent nine years doing citizen engagement, and then went into council.

RM: What made you decide to run, not only this election, but to run for mayor in this election?

JL: Honestly, I like Vi. I like Sean.  I think they would make good mayors, but they represent to me the old guard and I wanted to give people an option. That’s really what it’s about. It’s giving them someone who isn’t the old guard, who isn’t entrenched, who comes in with a different point of view.

RM: What would be your top or maybe one of your top issues that you’re really passionate about, and some ideas you have around it?

JL: Obviously it’s subject to what council and everybody else agrees to, but staff accommodation is huge. I think we’ve let that go for 20 or 30 years in this town and it’s time it’s dealt with. It’s starting to really affect the businesses. We have to look a lot at the zoning in and around the town, and determine what zoning will give us what we want. Most of the zoning right now is geared towards gentrification, towards building more and building more expensive. I want to take that and I want to say, look, if we have the density, let’s use that density for apartments. Let’s use it for staff accomodation. Let’s try and make that work rather than another million and a half dollar home, because that really does nothing for anybody other than the developer.

RM: Looking back on the last four years, what’s something you feel this past council did a good job tackling? Conversely, what’s something you feel they could have done a better job on?

JL: I think they did a good job with TSMV. Ultimately, with the hearing and the processes, especially under those circumstances, I think they did that well and I think they came up with the right decision. On the bad side – I think the biggest issue people know of is probably the A&W corner. I was there yesterday and it took me 15 extra minutes to get through that intersection because of the lights. It didn’t work, I don’t think.

RM: If you’re elected, how would you stay engaged with the people of the community?

JL: I’m always out in the community and anybody’s welcome to approach me anytime. In fact, I welcome it. I love it. The last council – I saw very little of any of the councillors in the community. I’m in the community every day. Another thing I’d like to do is start at regular process of town halls. COVID will put some limits on that initially, but I think it’s something to look at.

RM: What’s another issue or part of your platform, or maybe a series of issues that you’d like to discuss that we haven’t really touched on yet?

JL: I think the finances of the town need to be looked at. We need to look at a) What are the capital projects we’ve committed to? b) What are our operating costs and how do we take care of those? The commitments in both of those are I so I’d like to review that. Other than that, I think my biggest issue would be communication. Let’s make sure that residents are informed. Let’s make sure those public meetings that are held are actually about meeting, understanding, listening, and working with people and not about ticking a box.

RM: Where can people find out more information about you?

JL: Contact me directly on Facebook. I’ll try and do other ways. I have certain limits because of my speech, as you can tell, but that doesn’t stop me from listening and that doesn’t stop me from being in the community. In fact, I joke about it. This is a handicap for sure, this talking thing, but it means I have to listen more.

RM: Why should people vote for you for Mayor of Canmore in the upcoming election?

JL: I think if they’re happy with the last eight years, they can vote for Vi or Sean and they’ll be very happy. If they’re looking for a change or something different, they should vote for me.

Filed under: Canmore, Municipal Election