Candidate Interview: Elizabeth Fielding

By Jon Roe

<1. What do you think the big issues in this election are?
2. How are you planning to address the city’s crime problem?
3. What can the city do to ease the crunch on affordable housing?
4. What transportation infrastructure need would you address first?
5. What separates you from the other candidates?

1. There are so many issues. The media, of course, is concentrating on infrastructure, LRT and affordable housing which are definitely big issues. The whole traffic situation in Calgary is a big stress on everyone and affordable housing is affecting more and more people.

For myself, I think the main core of everything, when I’ve been door knocking and people seem to feel that they don’t have a responsive municipal government. A responsive government, period, especially at the municipal level.

2. I feel we need more community involvement. The C-Train stations need better facilities and more hospitable atmosphere. Better lighting. They should be patrolled by security guards around the clock or at least during operational hours.

I believe that we need communities working together, we need more sports facilities but combined with the arts programming and drug and alcohol abuse counseling.

3. First thing rent seems to be coming down a little bit but one of the problems is the deposit. We need to lower damage deposits, legislatively to 50 per cent. We need a registry within city hall that’s very accessible to the public. We need some subsidized housing, not in the sense, I don’t like the word low-cost housing because it comes with a real stigma and the treatment of the people in that low-cost housing is often very disrespectful. They’re treated more like prisons than tenants and that needs to change as well.

4. Most of the transportation issues have been for the seniors or for the students. We have again a central station in each area of the city reverse traffic wise where students can meet and we have bus/shuttles directly to the institutions and also that will free up more space for the rest of the public as well. As far as the C-Train goes, we need to do some real people surveys on it and decide where it’s the most beneficial. All of the issues are very interconnected. Sports arenas we’re looking at people driving way out of town in the morning, through the day because there’s no facilities in their area. That creates more traffic.

5. I’m a woman and I’m not really running on that issue because I’m a humanist not a feminist particularly. I think my varied background gives me a better perspective that’s not focused on one particular issue. I’m better equipped to look at everything impartially. Everyone has their own needs and wants. Equality does not mean the same. Our city is becoming much more diverse and we need a government that will deal with that on an impartial basis. The only promise I’m really making is to treat everybody fairly.