Sherri Buckle running for mayor in the upcoming October 20th Cold Lake Municipal Election.
Q1: What are the biggest needs you’re hearing from the residents in the community, and how would you work to address them if elected mayor?
“Well, I think like probably any community, particularly in rural Alberta, safety and security is what I’m hearing from almost every single person I speak to. I think we have some opportunity to think outside the box a little bit and talk about bringing stakeholders together. Currently, our municipality does not have a working group of stakeholders. The shelters, the mental health and addictions supports, emergency services, the municipality, the Chamber of Commerce — we should all be sitting at a table where we share the same end goal, but bring different ideas and have those discussions so that we’re not working in silos. I think that collaboration is really important.”
“We could also look at some of the communities that aren’t facing the same challenges we are and reach out to consultants. There are consultants out there who will come into your community, and there’s grant funding available to hire them. So I think really, truly thinking outside the box is how we can address the safety and security issues that everybody is talking about.”
Q2: What motivated you to step forward and run for mayor?
“Many years ago, I was a stay-at-home mom, and we were living on one income. I quickly realized that every decision your municipality makes directly impacts your household budget. At that time, I knew I needed to start paying attention, and that’s when I truly became engaged and started following municipal politics.”
“Fast forward, that was about 30 years ago, and now, with Mayor Copeland retiring, there’s an opportunity. I have some great ideas, and I’ve built my resume over the years. I’ve worked in the financial industry and the non-profit sector, and I’m also a business owner. So I look at things through different lenses — as a stay-at-home mom, a business owner, a non-profit worker, and from the financial industry. I think that gives me a really strong background to do a great job and represent our community.”
Q3: What do you see as the most important opportunities for Cold Lake in the next four years, and how would you help the city take advantage of them?
“We have so many great things happening here with the expansion at 4 Wing and the F-35 program. We’ve got new people moving to town, and we’ll see some of the effects of carbon capture. So it’s about making sure we are accessible, open for business, and ready to take advantage of new opportunities.”
Q4: Cold Lake continues to grow and face new pressures. What is your vision for balancing infrastructure demands with affordability for residents?
“Sometimes we need to think outside the box, working with developers depending on what they’re looking to do. We may want to look at incentivizing. For example, if we’re collecting taxes on raw commercial land, that’s worth a certain amount, but a developed piece of commercial property brings in much higher tax revenue for the municipality. So we need to work directly with people to grow that infrastructure.”
“If it’s housing, then is it multi-use? Right now there are programs in place — is it enough? I don’t know. Sometimes we need to be more creative in order to attract new infrastructure.”
“The other piece is education, and I think that’s on everyone’s mind. As our schools continue to face large class sizes, we need to ask if there’s an opportunity to advocate to the government for more schools here. It’s a long process, but it’s an important one. If we’re attracting new residents to our region and our schools are already overburdened, then we need to do something about that. So I think balancing infrastructure and affordability is really twofold, working directly with developers and making sure education keeps pace as we grow.”
