Housing shortages, rising costs and long-term water needs led the policy agenda Tuesday night as candidates in the Airdrie–Cochrane federal race offered sharply different visions for the riding during a virtual election forum hosted by the region’s chambers of commerce.
The event was co-hosted by the Airdrie Regional Chamber of Commerce and Cochrane & District Chamber of Commerce, both of which described themselves as non-partisan advocates for business and economic development.
It featured all five confirmed candidates in the April 28 federal election: Blake Richards (Conservative), Sean Secord (Liberal), Sarah Zagoda (New Democratic Party), David Sabine (Libertarian) and Christopher Bell (Christian Heritage Party). It was the only public forum scheduled in the riding before election day.
The region has become a flashpoint for affordability, infrastructure, and federal priorities.
Moderated by Alberta Chambers of Commerce COO Jason Leslie, the structured forum asked pre-submitted questions reflecting business and community concerns, including affordability, housing supply, infrastructure, energy, immigration and federal debt. Questions were drawn from chamber members and community priorities submitted in advance of the forum.
Some were also selected live from the webinar audience during the event. Each candidate had 90 seconds to respond to questions, which were not shared in advance. The 90-minute webinar began at 7 p.m. and was recorded for public access by the chambers.
The federal election is scheduled for Monday, April 28.
Cost-of-living and food affordability
Candidates were asked how their parties would reduce living costs and tackle food insecurity.
Zagoda framed her affordability pitch around personal experience.
"I volunteer on Saturdays giving out groceries at the Indian Society of Airdrie. It's really great. And I know I see it. The lines get bigger every single week," she said.
She proposed capping grocery prices, eliminating GST from essentials like diapers and phone bills, and raising the basic personal exemption. "People who don't have — who just need help, right? Like everything is really tough right now," she said.
"We have two million Canadians using food banks in this country. Think about that number," Richards said. "In a country like Canada, there should never be the case."
Secord said Liberal plans would lower costs and support farmers by boosting domestic supply chains. "There’s one of the provisions in the Canada Strong Framework, a Liberal policy plan to say that [we will] help Canadian farmers get foods to market at a low cost, particularly in Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, by extending the extended railway interest switching pilot by three years," he said.
"Every idea we’ve heard this evening from the NDP and the Liberals is to use the power of the state to control the economy," Sabine said.
"Rather than trust in a big capital G, government to meet all our needs, we need to restore trust in capital G, God," Bell said.
Immigration, jobs and credentialing
In a question selected from the webinar audience, candidates were asked how their parties would address labour shortages and help immigrants gain credentials and jobs.
Richards reiterated the Conservative proposal for a “Blue Seal” certification — a fast-track system for licensing foreign-trained professionals.
"There are 34,000 nurses in this country who are not able to work as nurses," he said. "We'll get rid of the gatekeepers — that means the people slowing down permits, approvals, licensing — all of it."
Secord said the Liberals would reduce temporary worker and international student levels to sustainable rates, while streamlining credential recognition. "We will work with provinces and territories to streamline and speed up the recognition of foreign credentials," he said.
Zagoda emphasized permanent residency pathways and protections against workplace exploitation. "If you are good enough to work in Canada, you’re good enough to live here," she said.
Sabine said migrant crises stem from UN policies that treat Canada as a welfare state, and proposed ending participation in those agendas. He called for shifting financial responsibility for refugee sponsorship to private individuals
Bell said immigration was "a privilege, not a right" and called for moratoriums on refugee, immigrant, student and foreign worker entries.
Budget, spending and debt
In a final question submitted by viewers, candidates were asked how they would balance the federal budget and manage long-term debt.
Richards said a Conservative government would implement one-for-one spending rules and remove bureaucratic red tape. "It must be done. This country cannot afford another four years of the Liberals."
In a riding where the Liberals have struggled in recent elections, Secord opened his budget response by distancing himself from Ottawa leadership. "We’re not electing Trudeau. We’re electing a new government," he said. He emphasized the economic credentials of Liberal leadership: "Mark Carney has managed economic crises on several levels."
Zagoda said the NDP would introduce a graduated wealth tax of one to three per cent on households with net worths over $10 million, estimating it would raise $94 billion over four years. She also proposed closing tax loopholes and cutting the federal government’s reliance on consultants by $8 billion.
Sabine argued that federal spending could be cut from $538 billion to $60 billion by limiting government to policing, defence, and the courts — functions he said the private sector could not perform more efficiently. He quoted Margaret Thatcher and criticized what he described as government waste and overreach.
"We've heard very few ideas in the room tonight about how to lower the spending of government and rein in the spending of government. We've heard all kinds of ideas about how to take more money from citizens and waste it in government services, departments and bureaucracy," he noted.
Bell linked fiscal decline to demographic collapse. "Some records say four million potential taxpayers were lost to abortion. When you include their children and grandchildren, that’s tens of millions," he said. He proposed a 50-year amortized repayment model to manage federal debt.
Housing pressure and growth strategy
With Airdrie and Cochrane among the fastest-growing communities in Canada, candidates offered sharply different visions for tackling housing affordability and infrastructure backlogs.
Richards, the Conservative incumbent, said a future Conservative government would reward municipalities that accelerate permitting and reduce development costs. "We will reward cities that do more permitting with more infrastructure funding," he said.
He added the party would scrap the sales tax on new homes and reduce the income tax rate to 15 per cent.
"We’ll focus on building homes rather than on building bureaucracy. The first thing we’ll do is stop the carbon tax, because it adds cost to everything."
Zagoda said the NDP would take a more aggressive approach through a proposed $16-billion “Communities First Fund” aimed at creating publicly owned, non-market housing in every neighbourhood.
"People are being priced out. It’s increasing the homeless population and stress and everything else," she said. "We have to stop fighting municipalities — they're not the enemy. They're trying to do the work."
She also called out the Conservative record on housing investment. "The Conservatives voted against it, and then Blake Richards actually did advocate for Airdrie to get it. And that’s great. But the party doesn’t want them to support ideas or bills that don’t come from their party."
Secord cited the Liberal plan to build 500,000 homes annually using public lands and domestic supply chains. He noted $25 million had already been committed to Airdrie to build 900 homes, though he credited that to the previous Liberal government.
Both Sabine and Bell said the federal government should exit the housing market entirely. Sabine blamed red tape for blocking housing supply and said affordability had worsened under what he called "decades of government mismanagement."
Bell argued that taxation and immigration had overwhelmed local housing stock.
"We just can’t build homes fast enough for these people," he said. Bell also linked the housing shortage to demographic decline. "We don’t have enough housing because we don’t have enough families — because we aborted them. We cut off the next generation of builders, buyers, taxpayers."
Healthcare and education
In response to a question about healthcare shortages and federal responsibility, all five candidates addressed jurisdiction and funding. Although healthcare is managed at the provincial level, federal funding and workforce shortages kept the issue front and centre.
Secord, who has a healthcare background, said the Liberal platform includes $4 billion to construct and renovate community health centres and a renewed focus on 24/7 primary care teams.
"For every dollar you invest in primary care support, you save at least seven in a reactive health system," he said. He also proposed tying federal transfers to outcomes under a reformed Canada Health Act.
Zagoda emphasized federal leadership through pharmacare and dental care.
"Dental care is health care. Pharmacare is health care," she said, crediting the NDP for advancing both programs.
Richards pointed to the Conservative plan for credentialing reform, calling it a key short-term solution.
"We actually have almost 20,000 doctors in this country who are not able to practice as doctors. We have 34,000 nurses in this country who are not able to work as nurses," he said.
Sabine said Ottawa should exit the system entirely and called for repeal of the Canada Health Act.
Bell criticized the federal role in healthcare and called for increased privatization of general practitioners.
"Competition to provide medical care — like competition in the marketplace — creates the drive to perform better. That’s why we talk about privatization of general practitioners in the first place,” he said. he opposed the single-payer insurance model and said the federal government should not have the power to direct healthcare funds arbitrarily.
"They may direct all its funds to Ontario and Quebec and Alberta gets nothing. They could do that on a whim," he said. "So I would seek to privatize those parts of health care that are federally regulated and funded as a first importance.”
Bell also took aim at certain procedures funded under the public system.
"Defund those things which are falsely called health care, but are actually just homicide. Let’s be clear about that."
Water policy and resource management
Candidates were asked how their parties would support Alberta’s water security and manage energy development.
Audience-submitted questions also addressed water security and long-term infrastructure resilience, including how federal parties would collaborate with provinces to manage Alberta’s scarce water resources.
Secord described clean water access and rural irrigation as "interprovincial challenges" requiring federal investment. He backed Liberal policies to support sustainable irrigation, drought resilience and flood mitigation.
Zagoda criticized provincial coal mining on the eastern slopes, warning of long-term drinking water contamination.
"You’re going to poison the water with selenium," she said. She also noted that despite record profits, the fossil fuel sector now employs less than 6 per cent of Albertans and continues to cut jobs.
Richards said the Conservatives would repeal Bills C-69 and C-48 to fast-track pipeline and LNG development, reduce U.S. dependence, and "build the infrastructure needed to manage Alberta’s resources."
Sabine said water security should be handled locally, not federally.
"Governments just really aren't better at managing the commons than private groups, community groups, local townships," he said.
Bell rejected climate science outright. "The anti-climate change agenda is based on a faulty religious worldview and bad science," he said.
The exchange revealed one of the starkest contrasts of the evening — between subsidies, regulation and rejection of climate science entirely. Despite Alberta’s resource wealth, candidates split on whether federal policy should support fossil fuels, restrict emissions, or leave the market alone entirely.
Zagoda argued that profits aren’t translating to local jobs, while Richards said energy projects are key to rebuilding economic opportunity.
Old post office, new frustration
Candidates were asked how they would address the long-abandoned Airdrie post office, which has remained vacant since 2009.
Zagoda was the most direct. "I would transfer it to the city of Airdrie immediately. I would talk to whoever I need to talk to. I would advocate. I would get that done tout de suite," she said.
All five candidates agreed the federal government should transfer the building to the City of Airdrie, but Bell and Sabine floated selling the property outright.
Richards said he had pushed for action in the past, blaming the lack of movement on the Liberal government. "What’s going to be required is a change of government," he said.
Final words
Each candidate was given a final 30-second statement to close the forum.
"We fight for people," Zagoda said. "Pharmacare and dental care happened because we made it happen."
Bell reiterated his message throughout the evening. "We need to stop trusting in capital-G Government, and start trusting in capital-G God," he said.
Sabine reinforced his view that government must shrink. "We should privatize ninety percent of what Ottawa does," he said.
"I want to be the kind of MP that doesn’t just show up at ribbon cuttings, but actually creates the reason for them," Secord said.
"This country cannot afford another four years of the Liberals," Richards said.
A full recording of the forum will be available via the chambers’ websites.
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