An Okotoks town councillor is hoping residents will engage with candidates before the election arrives.

Tanya Thorn says she'd like to see more policy based discussions take place, not why other candidates are not suited for the role, and that they have an understanding of what issues are important to the riding.

One topic Thorn says she'd like to see discussed is water.

"Water is probably the number one issue that you should be asking any candidate that shows up at your door. One, do they know what the issue is? Two, what is their plan to help us get it solved? Those would be the one-two questions. Do you know what the issue is and how do you plan on helping us out?"

The Municipal Sustainability Initiative is another topic Thorn feels needs addressed in terms of infrastructure.

"MSI, what is the long term funding? Infrastructure deficit in this province is huge." she explains. "Okotoks is lucky. We've got fairly new infrastructure and we do a great job of maintaining our infrastructure, but we have some projects that are coming from a maintenance and upgrade perspective that need to happen, and what is the risk if we don't do that maintenance or don't have the money to do it?"

Thorn says she is also interested in hearing candidates take on the EPR.

"Every other province across Canada has an Extended Producer Responsibility, so basically that's if you're the company that creates the plastic bag or the packaging, you have a responsibility to pay for it through end of life. In Alberta, we do not have a policy around that so in essence we're paying for it twice. So, you're paying as a municipality or as a tax payer for recycling so that municipalities can do it, but you're also paying for it in the product that you purchase because those producers have to deal with it every other province so they've already factored it in to the price of the product. So we're paying for it twice here in Alberta."

The Okotoks and District Chamber of Commerce is holding a candidates forum at the Trade and Lifestyle Show on Apr. 12.

For more information on the forum and to submit questions to candidates ahead of time click here.

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