2025 Candidate Q’s: Vicky McGonigle
Thank you High River residents for taking the time to ask our 2025 Municipal Election Candidates the many questions before and at the All-Candidates Forum.
While we couldn’t get all the questions answered in person, we did go through the questions, remove the redundancy and have the Most Asked questions below that our candidates were invited to answer AFTER the forum.
Read on to learn more about your candidates and the issues that have been top of mind for our engaged citizens.
Email Vicky to learn more: info@vickymcgonigle4highrivercouncil.com
What does advocacy mean to you and how best do/will you practice this attribute of leadership?
Advocacy means actively listening to people, understanding their need or request, and following through to pursue answers and results in response to their request. It also means communicating with the person or group that you are advocating for clearly and in a timely fashion. In a civic setting it may also include searching for information to help their cause and providing as comprehensive a response and result as possible. As a councillor I would add that being available to citizens, to hear their concerns would be a hallmark of advocacy.
Advocacy also includes the ability to understand the viewpoint of a citizen, whether it aligns with mine or not. As a councilor, my views on an issue are of less importance than those of the citizens.
Advocacy also means stepping up to address issues with other municipalities or the Province, clearly and when necessary relentlessly, when issues or needs for collaboration arise. I have experience with this particular type of advocacy both in Turner Valley and in Longview. It is amazing what you can achieve with some collaboration paired with dogged determination.
Lastly advocacy may include being able to describe the limits placed on a municipality by the governing legislation or bylaws, and if necessary taking the expressed concerns beyond the civic level and, assisting residents to navigate other levels of government or bureaucracy where possible.
A person could write a book on the aspects of good advocacy, and it is a vital component of a councilor's position.
What is your position on water conservation?
We have an obligation as members of the community to conserve and manage our water. Provision of potable water to the Town is one of Council's core responsibilities. At the same time, Council must be conscious of the standards accepted by the community with respect to their personal use of water. Conservation and reasonable citizen's expectations must be approached with the balance citizen's expect and deserve in all matters.
Above all, the Town Operations should not waste water resources. It is of concern to me that there is an outstanding report indicating that the Town is unable to account for a significant amount of treated water, and resolving this issue is of paramount importance, both from the conservation point of view and due to the cost of treating the water that is possibly not being delivered to the residents but lost in the water system.
Again, my position is less important than the wishes of the people of High River. However, I do support water conservation generally speaking.
A lot of the candidates talk about local economy specifically; how do you plan to grow the economy? And how do you plan to encourage sustainable growth?
Sustainable growth requires public support. I would like to see the citizens consulted before any plan is in place, to ensure that they have maximum input on future development within the Town and within the communities. I mean a robust consultation, involving representatives from the various communities if possible, as well as the Chamber of Commerce. I will not agree with the poster board nature of consultation I have witnessed to date. To succeed, we will need real input, and some involve interested volunteers to help with that planning and outreach.
We are all in High River because we love the small town spirit and the lovely quiet spaces and communities. We also enjoy the local activities, local shopping, and local recreational activities. The challenge is to provide housing and business opportunities that fit securely into the people's vision of High River.
The placement and configuration of new businesses, big or small, will affect everyone. Council needs to test the communities acceptance of business development plans regularly.
We cannot truly address the local economy without also addressing increasing demand for affordable housing. The challenge is to ensure that the areas of growth we are able to achieve are welcomed by the community and add to the attractiveness of High River. This means preserving green spaces, preserving the character of existing communities, and ensuring that business growth and affordable housing enhance High River. Growth must be carefully thought out. A slap dash approach, driven by developers, is generally not successful or sustainable.
In terms of strictly business development, in this very difficult economy we are facing in the next 5 to 10 years, we may have to explore innovative ways to incentivize new business in the most cost effective manner possible. Such incentives must also be sensitive and responsive to existing businesses. They need to thrive and Council should be alert to their needs also as they develop.
How do you plan on responding to the growing needs of the youth demographics (ages 10 to 16) of High River to help retain or bring them back when they become adults?
We desperately need to establish a committee of youth organizations and recreational organizations to advise and inform Council. For instance, we are lagging behind neighbouring municipalities in terms of our sports fields, to the point where we are not able to host tournaments that are so vital to the teams and to the local businesses.
Council needs to invite all of these organizations to prepare a plan that would include a long term vision of where and how we can develop a welcoming set of quality sports fields. Each of these organizations are experts in their sport or activity and we need to access their expertise to formulate a plan that will keep our youth in High River and allow them to fully participate in their chosen sport by hosting other communities with pride.
While I am certain money will be needed, it is not all about money. It is about celebrating our local recreation organizations, supporting their journey. My understanding is that they are growing despite the absence of a plan, and I believe that all of High River would be supportive of their continued growth.
Healthy communities need dynamic community organizations, sports groups, youth groups, cultural opportunities, a thriving library, and activities that families can enjoy together throughout the four seasons of the year. I do not have all the answers, but from talking to some of these organizations, I do know that they have some pretty impressive ideas. If we can provide them the chance to work together, to build their dreams, great things can and will happen.
Not every young person is an athlete, and we must make room to support all of our children to the best of our ability. ( that includes the seniors too - although the question didn't specify seniors. They are part of everyone's family.)
With an aging population and increase in disabled persons in our town, what steps do you propose to ensure a meaningful life for all residents?
I guess I could say "please see above". Again Seniors are the ones most capable of determining what would assist them in their senior years and they are amazing volunteers. I have no doubt that if Council expressed a desire to listen, they could also get "organized" and give Council some direction on what would be best for them. Are there facilities that could be made available and accessible for seniors? We should ask them what would be a good start and a better follow through.
I expect that transportation within our Town is an issue for many seniors, especially in the colder seasons. Is there a possibility of again energizing the local communities to support seniors that need such help? Making sure that our seniors have access to community events, (including their grandkids' baseball games!) would be another community building endeavor. Council can help; they can lead, they can facilitate, and budgets can be squeezed to address barriers in the community for our seniors. The Snow Angel initiative is a great start, but I am certain that with some direction and input from the seniors we can do better and do more.
People with disabilities are each unique, and I doubt that there is a one size fits all answer to barriers they may encounter. Again, sincerely involving the communities affected in resolving barriers to their enjoyment of our community is the most effective and truly sustainable path forward. When we start making plans and decisions for others we usually fall short on results.
What does urban sustainability mean to you?
For me urban sustainability means that the Town is:
Living within its means (not going into excessive debt)
Looking after core responsibilities of water, sewer, safety, and roads without placing an undue burden on the tax payer
Planning responsibly for growth, in consultation with the residents. Unplanned or haphazard growth is unsustainable. Similarly growth that is not supported by the people will not succeed and is unsustainable.
Providing a framework of user friendly policies for the steady development and support of recreational and cultural organizations. A Town must support and facilitate these community led initiatives.
Maintaining positive and innovative financial long term plans that coincide with the direction the people have identified as their future goals for the community.
Constantly reviewing and revising plans for economic growth in both the business and residential sectors. The Town must keep abreast of the developing Provincial and National markers in order to be positioned to take advantage of trends as they develop, rather than struggle to catch up after opportunities are gone.
As well, constantly staying in touch with the people who live here. Keep abreast of how they are managing in the economy, how they are seeking to engage their children and, yes, their parents, in the community.
Currently our challenge is to increase the attractiveness of High River for young families relocating. Be aware of the facilities they are looking for, not only in recreation, but in cultural facilities as well. This would include ongoing robust support for the Library, the Venue, community led initiatives in sports, spaces for child care, while maintaining a reasonable bottom line. If we are not yet able to accomplish all things for all people - we should be a strong voice for what we will do in the foreseeable future.
High River Council needs to keep our advantages top of mind while still looking realistically to establish additional draws for both families and business. While innovation is great, let's not forget what we already do well.
Volunteerism is a real driver of community attractiveness. People like to live or visit where they are always welcome - Where it is evident that the community cares about itself - not just the money others can bring.
Sustainability is a work in progress - kind of like dishes and laundry - you are never finished. Again you could write forever about the aspects that would enhance the long term sustainability of our urban home. There is always more to be done and better ways to create the community we want.