Laurie Makichuk is looking to get all the information.
Makichuk, who is running for both the Catholic School Board and a seat of Lloydminster City Council, sat down with 106.1 The Goat on Friday to discuss what she would do if elected to City Council.
According to Makichuk, the response she received from the electorate when she previously ran in a by-election in 2014 was one of enthusiasm, but low turnout when the voting day came.
“My campaign is to get out and vote,” said Makichuk.
“You need to get out and vote, this is for the mayor, this is for councilor, this is for your schools. We need people, more than ten per cent of the people in Lloydminster, to get out and vote.”
Beyond the drive to increase voter turnout for 2016, Makichuk also illustrated what she would want to see changed in the structure of City Council, stating that she would want to see council agendas divided up, and the whole council ‘tweaked a little bit’.
“I don’t know that one meeting a month is enough,” said Makichuk.
“The structure itself, I would like to see discussion, so that the councillors get full information, a time when they can ask questions without being scrutinized. We need to be prepared for decisions that are made. Mostly, we need to have all the information to make accountable decisions.”
When asked for further clarification on her point, Makichuk indicated that she would be in favour of more usage of in-camera sessions by council. The sessions are closed to the public, with records of what is said also closed. However, no binding decisions can be made during the sessions. .
“I would like to sit down with directors in an in-camera session, and get all the information, whereas you’re not watching your P’s and Q’s because media’s there, because the public is there,” said Makichuk.
“I would like to ask informal questions, what ifs, and again, clarification questions. I think sometimes when you have media and public there, to ask a question to be asked again and again and again, so that you really totally understand what’s going on, is intimidating.”
She additionally expressed support for the regular posting of accounts payable information by the municipal government.
As for how Makichuk plans to spend the last weeks of the election, she said she planned on doing a large amount of door-knocking, and urged residents of the city to come out to election events.
“It’s important to do your background checks right now,” said Makichuk.
The vote takes place on October 26.
