Troy Wason

Brian welcomes Troy Wason to the Porch. He is a first time candidate for city council but he has lots of experience in provincial and federal politics. Troy says he is against party politics in the municipal arena. Troy hits a soft spot with Brian as he is a history buff he has been on many boards while living here. He says the biggest issues are safety and affordability.

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Transcript

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I've been involved federally and potentially in politics and, and then gradually started to realize that the more of the issues that are important to us come to us at the local level, at the municipal level, and the things that are really important to us. And and I'd even argue that, you know, the school trustees are probably even the more important role because the, the most important asset we have is our, our children. This episode of Bring Back the Porch, brought to you by Bernie Leahy, River Street Realty. Let's get you home. And this time on the porch. Our guest is Troy Wason and I wanted to make sure I get your name right because people see your signs around town. The trying??? I wonder how he speaks his name. And there's a story behind that. Yeah, there is, there's, our family back forth from Saskatchewan, of course. And, you know, Wason Wasson. And, what I find interesting is that I'll have people put a tea in because they want it to be Watson. And you think back to yours, I was like, no, I didn't write a T in there. But they're they they want they want it there. So that's what they do. Yeah. Well, I when I first looked at it, somebody misspelled the name. So yeah. I'm glad we got to destroy Wason That's right. And if people go to vote on the 20th of October, they're going to find you at the bottom of the ballot. Second last. Yeah. Yes. And we'll talk about that as we get into the conversation. But, it's something that people need to keep in mind as they get into the ballot box. And what brought you to civic politics? Well, it's been interesting. I have, well, since I was 19 years old, actually. I even go back to when I was seven years old. But that would be a longer story. But, when I was 19, I, after the 84 election, I put my hand, I walked into, my, I call it the Universe Gallery. And I was, I was really intrigued because of the federal election of 84. And so I walked into a meeting room and I put down my $3 for membership, put my hand up, volunteered, and here I am 41 years later. So, it, so I've been involved federally and provincially in politics and, and then gradually started to realize that, more of the issues that are important to us come to us at the local level, at the municipal level and the things that are really important to us. And and I'd even argue that, you know, the school trustees are probably even the more important role because the, the, the most important asset we have is our, our children. And so, but, municipally, I've just, just gravitated towards it and, you know, having been involved, involved for about 40 years, I always felt like I was defending party and leader. And this time I get to go. I'm the only one. If I make a decision, I have to defend it. And I, you know, if so, if if it's good or bad, I'm the one that, stands there. So I really, when we moved here, you know, I wanted to get to know the community, which I did. I got involved, at different in different associations and, such. And then when this election came up, I thought, you know what? I've been doing this for a long time. People have asked me, are you going to ever, ever run? And I've always said, no, I'm not ready, I'm not ready. And one day I just woke up and I said, I'm ready. For those who heard that you've been involved with two different, political organizations, maybe the red flag went up. Oh, no. We're bringing party politics into civic politics now. No, I, that's the beautiful part. I don't hold a membership in any party right now, federally or provincially. I made that effort, a number of years ago to just step away from it. People said, oh, yeah. And when I announced I was going into municipal, I said, I thought you were leaving politics. And I said, no, I'm leaving party politics. So no, that's actually I'm really, the, I'm, I'm against, Partizan politics within the municipal, arena because it just really, how do I put it? I just don't feel it's a place for it. You're there's nine people sitting around that horseshoe, and, you know, you don't want people of all the same, beliefs. You want to have different views, you want to be able to debate. And I think that's the thing about, you know, the beauty of this is you don't whip. There's no need for whipped votes. It's a place where you have those discussions and debates. And so I'm, Yes, I have shed the skin, as they say. You've left the ideology at the door 100%. Tell me a little bit about your life experience, after the university and and how you, what your work experience is like. Well, you know, when I left university, I like everyone else. I was trying to find out where I was, where I was and what I was doing, and I got involved in nonprofits in the development area and raising money for Heart and Stroke Foundation, Theater Calgary, the United Way. And then I moved on to, other areas, in, I went back academically to finish up a, graduate degree and traveled the world and then, decided to start my own business. I then proceeded to find myself being the executive director of one political party, and then I became the executive director of another political party. And now I'm back with, running my own, small business here, Medicine Hat, which, I just really love doing and, you know, bringing, bringing my business acumen to, the city feels really good. And it's, you know. A local level. It sounds like you've looked at life from both sides. Now, to quote the old, Joni Mitchell song. Yeah. You've been around the circle and seen, how things go from different angles. Very much so. And it's been, you know, it's I think that's the rounded experience that I bring to the table is you know, I've also worked in Ottawa. I worked in, Edmonton. So I see myself at the federal level and the provincial level, not in not inside of government, but more inside the political side. And in that, I've also learned a lot about, how government works and, and such like that. So it's just bringing, that bring that rounded experience, to that I feel I'm bringing to the table right now. And how did life bring you to medicine that. Well, that's actually a great question. I, but seven years ago, I had a client that, wanted me to come and talk to city managers and and, being born in Regina, living in Calgary most of my life, I spent a lot of time on that number one highway and passing through Madison at. But I really didn't get the flavor of the city because I really hadn't come in and and viewed it. And so when we came to visit, to, to, to meet with these managers, they asked if we'd like a tour of the downtown. And I said, certainly, that'd be great. So we got a tour of the downtown. And as we were going home, I, I was in the passenger seat. So I sent my wife a note, said we ever thought about Medicine Hat, and she said I could do that. Well, that means life goes on. And we forgot about it. And then at the beginning of Covid, a friend of ours from has now said, are you still if you're still thinking about moving? Yes. That is we've kind of forgotten about it. And I said, why? I said, well, I've got a house on Southwest Hill you might be interested in. So yeah, we were like everyone else had nothing better to do. So we got on the highway, came down. It turned out it wasn't what we're looking for, but we did something that I think would only have happened during the pandemic because we got back home and decided that we should see what, what our house would be like if we put it on the market. 26 hours later, we were homeless. Oh. So we turned around and, called a friend of ours who's who is a realtor here. And I said, you've got a thing we can look at. And as it turned out, she had three that she had in her, in her inventory. So we came back on the Wednesday and turns out we bought the first, second house that we looked at. And within six days, we had sold and bought a home. And we are now, hatters. So you have experienced Medicine Hat from the outside. You've seen the attractions it brought you here, right? We translate that into other experiences for other people to bring them into Medicine Hat and get them here in getting paying taxes and building jobs and community. Well, it's interesting because I've actually have brought people here. We do talk about it and we do, I, I like to think I'm an ambassador for the city because, I mean, living in a city with a million a half people, and you feel anonymous a lot of times I, you know, I've often said that I felt like a very small fish in a very large pond. And as I've come here, I feel like a small fish in a small pond. And it's it's a great place to feel. It's feels, you know, you put your hand up and you want to volunteer. People accept you and they'll let you. They'll let you in. Standard of living. Superior. You know, the idea of, you know, being able to get across the city in less than 20 minutes and you have one of everything. I mean, you know, the city of, you know, the such as Carrie, we got, you know, 12 of 12 owners and 12 of this and 12 of that. And. Okay, so it just means you, you know, you have to go further and further and further to get these things. And here it's like, you know, if you have to stop at one place and go to another and you can still be home,

you can leave at 830 and be home at 9: 9:09

00 and still pick up everything you need. So it's really simple to say to people, you know, what are you looking for like particular? You know, when you get up in a little bit in your life and you start to say, what kind of lifestyle do you want? And this is a lifestyle that I think if people experience it and they they're told of it and they said, what are you looking at? It really works. Well. So you say you're an ambassador for medicine, that that would continue if you were elected as a member of city. Council, that you would that's, that's what I'd love to see is just to be able to say that you're proud of of a place. And again, when you come to, you know, medicine, I think you you do. You sit back, you know, this is a place where, yes, there are issues. There are, there's always going to be issues, but there are issues that, I think you can certainly, work at. And yet when you say to people, what's your biggest problem, Gary? Well, I can tell you there are some very big ones. And just watch what's going on in their civic election. This one here is about things affordability, about safety, about, you know, the ability to, you know, feel like you're council is is open and transparent. But those are things that we can work at. And really I think we can solve most of them. And then we'll figure out what the next thing is. Reading some of your, biography material on your website. You have a heart for history. I have a very big heart for you. We share that. Oh. Very good. Yes. I'm, I have a master's in history at the university from the Evers Gallery. And, So when I got here, one of the first things that I did was, I had a discussion with a certain individual that you probably know very well, Malcolm Sissons. And, he suggested that I apply to the, for the Heritage Resources working group with the city, and, I was, second time around, I was chosen to be on it, and which I'm still him. And I love it. Absolutely love it. And that might be one of the things. Should I get elected, I might have to leave because it'd be hard to be an advisor to council if you're already. Yeah, yeah. Conflict. Conflict there. Yeah. Which, you know, be okay. But I really love that, group. Also in the historical, society of, state and district and also the president of the Cyprus Club Preservation Society. So there is my sort of rounded, view of it. And, you know, again, to see, you know, like, I'm very much about the future, but I'm also very much about the past. And this is a beautiful past about how you build a city, you know, on the prairies, but, you know, from business, ranching, farming, you know, it's come together and it's in such a way that, you know, it's got a glorious past. And to preserve it and be a part of it, I mean, when I, when I, you know, when I came into the downtown, I went, this is what I would love to, you know, life. And yet there's others, there's other things about the city that's great as well. But this is the part that I think is worth preserving. What have you been hearing from people as you've been, attending some of the campaign events? What are the issues that are uppermost in their minds? Affordability. Affordability has been a part of it. And, safety, definitely. Those are the two big issues. And, it keeps and I've been I've been at the doors, you know, north and south, east and west. And I constantly get the same, questions. And, you know, there's certain things that are, you know, particular but really overall, it's, and I think it's it's not necessarily, it feels like it's brand new. It's not like it. When we came here five years ago, it wasn't I didn't hear as much about that. But I think in the last five years, particularly the safety and particularly the affordability, and I mean, that's just, you know, when we had two years of Covid that the 0%, taxes, you know, and then we then we had to catch up. That's hit people. It's hit them very hard. And then, you know, that's also included some of the, the other it brings brings up the other issues and stuff. So I think at the doors, it's not, how do I put it's not a anger thing. It's just a really this is something that's created anxiety. It's a concern. Concern? Absolutely. Yeah. One of the things that the new council is going to have to look at is that, three letters MCC, Inslee controlled corporation, where they might try to put some of the onus of running the utilities, the energy division. Yeah. On an arm's length corporation as a business person, what do you think of that idea? Well, it's interest, because I just had this question this morning at the door. And, and I've had it over and over again and, I can be in story historian. I'm honest, I can be honest. And I've been living in Calgary all my life. I've never worked in energy. But I am a researcher, and one of the things that I, tend to do is, you know, if you tell me this is on the table, that I'm going to find out everything I can about it, I'm going to research it to death. And when I have to make a decision on it, I will do my best to really understand it. But right now. And I just remember a couple weeks ago, sitting in council and listening to the, the councilors around the table and, I think one of the answers was, you know, we've been studying this for two, 3 or 4 years. And they and this was the councilors were, you know, I know this much about it. I feel right now that it's off the table, I think they've left it there. It could come back. I think that's probably where you're coming from. And at that point, I think I'd look at it and say, okay, where is it at? You know, I've listened to people on both sides, particularly people that are all their lives and said, we've read it pretty well for the last 100 years. Why now? And I guess that's a good question. To start with. Why now? Do we have the expertise in City Hall in the administration to administer this? So these are the questions that we need to continue to ask ourselves. And I think, you know, we've got to look at costs. We've got to look at how it's going to be administered. We've got to look at who has final say. These are things that if that gets brought up, can now interesting. It might not get brought up again. Every council has their own priorities. And just because this was a you know, KPMG comes back with a report and says these are three sort of off. Here's your three options. Maybe that's not coming back to the table because the nine they get I mean this is kind of that really the you know game of roulette. Roulette where, you know, you just shake it and there's these nine people and they sit down and go, actually, that's not a priority. So I guess, you know, if I'm there, I will work with whomever. And if we decide that's priority, then I'm going to learn about it. Another big ticket item is the same as solar. Yes. Which, already has seen some money expended on it. And they're trying to decide what that is going to look like in the future. Have you given any thought to that? I wrote a little bit about it, on my website, and there's a piece on it, and I, you know, I have to believe that there is something about having solar. I mean, it comes down fairly, fairly significantly in the city. And the city. Sonny city. And I've been, you know, I bet the doors, pretty much since, Labor Day. And as you can tell from my color, I've, I wasn't this, dark in, August. Let me put this way, but it's there. How do we, you know, we maximize it if that's the case. And really, to understand if this is worth expenditure to do this, or can it be, you know, sold off to someone else to take it on? So I really again, another issue of which we own it, we're going to have to decide what we're going to do with it. But when that moment comes, then that's sort of the thing I want to sit down. So I think sometimes to just say, I would do this, this or this. I as a research, I always hold back because my clients always ask me, you know, to give the best advice. Well, if I don't have all the information, I'm not giving you the best advice. So I, I tend just and it's not because I'm sitting on the fence, not because I'm, I'm afraid to answer things, but I want to make sure that I know all the pieces and, where we're going with it. And the South Side recreation Center is. Another big that's the I knew you were coming to that. And and I've been looking forward to that. But, you know, I'm, as, as a, as a sign of a single mother. One of the things that I grew up in downtown Calgary, and I was very, blessed to have access to pools around. Except I didn't realize in the day that they weren't very accessible. They were actually in far away. But in the 70s, we were allowed to walk 12 blocks to a pool and such. But when I've seen sort of like they because they just got the, preliminary, the go ahead to do the preliminary designs. I've been, nobody knows what it's going to look like. Nobody knows the cost. So things. But from what I understand, hatters want this. But the caveat how much, how much and what are you willing to give up for it? If, I mean, there's probably a way to afford it if you take away some other things. Well, are you willing to do that? And I think those are the things that every council needs and every councilor needs to bring to the table is, you know, telling people this is what you get. But this is what you have to give away. And, I mean, I think it's a wonderful idea if, I mean, is it an indoor, is it out or is it got, is it a hybrid? I love the idea of, you know, giving different things, but again, to, is this going to be something that is going to be 25, 50 years or is it something scary? Be, you know, 15, 20 years? Then we got to talk operations. And that's the other shoe that's. You always got to say you're building it. Great. There's your cost. Now, how much is it going to cost you every year. And you know, that's going to go up. You know, all these things. Plus you have the fact that it's going to need, fixes on it throughout the year, maintenance and throughout the years. So again, we have to be open about that. We have to be honest about it, talk about it and say, you know, oh, this is lovely, but what is it going to cost in the long run? And is it is it we mean, does that mean we have to close down other facilities? Well, the people living next door, the facilities that are open today, might say that's not that's not on the table. Well, here's, there's the questions. And so honesty, transparency I mean we've overused that word. But honesty in, in the public realm to say is are you willing to give this up and are you willing to take three, 4 or 5%? We don't know what obviously, the different levels of government would provide to it, but there is only one taxpayer. That's what I keep saying. There's only one taxpayer. And so you've got to be able to say, is this what you really want? Because I remember as a child my mother had said, you want that those pair of skis, you have to save half. Well, by the time I saved half is like, well, I got all this money in my pocket. Maybe I don't want skis so much in. Priorities change, priorities change. And so these are things that, you know, as, as all the three projects you just talked about, the three different things you just talked about are quite important. And I think over time we put ourselves into a place where it's like, okay, but let's talk about them. Let's get these out there. And when people, you know the earlier question, what are people saying? The door, we want to know what's going on. I'm not talking about people's salaries. I'm talking about the things I'm talking about. Just the general information to say, this is what you this is what it costs, this is what you're going to pay, and this is what you have to give up. But you get something nice and shiny at the end. Transit. Has anybody approached you with ideas about what a transit system needs going forward? So I had this conversation last night from, a lovely person at the, Viner center who said, and asked about that and, said, you know, you really have to be able to, I mean, to understand it. You have to be on it. And, here I haven't been on, on public transit. And so but they explained to me what it means to so many people to be able to go for grocery shopping, to the doctors, to the hospital, to these things. And when you sit back and you think about, like, every time I see one, it's empty. You. But for the 2 or 3 people on or that may be their only way to get to and fro. So again, questions that need to be discussed and it is not been one of the priorities, not one of the ones I hear a lot. But having said that, most of the places I've been to probably have 2 or 3 cars in front, so there probably that isn't a priority. But to the people that it is, I think that's what we have to consider. And again, you know, there have been ways to solve the problems in other cities. So how do we do it? And, I'm sure smarter people than myself have have investigated or looked at it, but, to the people that use it, it's a priority. And so when they do talk about they, they talk about it very passionately. One of the visible issues we see just about every day are the people who are on the street. You medicine that particularly downtown, the Mustard Seed has been trying to find a place where they can offer services to those people. And yet it's Nimby. Not in my backyard. Any thoughts from Troy? Waste lots of thoughts. And believe me, NIMBYism isn't medicine. That's, we. Don't have that corner. No, not at all. And, you know, it's so the the I guess the northwest corner has been taken off the table. But, I mean, these are, again, things that, you know, I wrote another piece on, you know, compassion for the folks that are on the street, the safety of the people that want to visit downtown, and then also the, you know, the ability of people that run businesses to be able to do it in a manner of which it's not affecting their day to day lives. So we have three different prongs to their to that issue. And, but I think there is there's, there has to be, I mean, the number I was given and maybe you've heard different bodies, 104 individuals, they've sort of identified as that. So around that changes. Yeah. Changes obviously. But when you're looking at that number and you look at the amount of resources we put into it, policing, government, nonprofit NGOs, and we think we should be able to find a solution. And, I like some of the stuff that's being done. I love to talk about it. But on the other hand, if you know, homelessness isn't just about being homeless, it's also about supports once you get there. And, and, and I have a little bit of that in my background as well. And so, you know, when I, when I sit there and I look at the people in there, it's like, what can you do to make their lives, safe and, and, and, you know, the ability to give them dignity and then also have a compassion for it, but also remembering there's also other parts of society that coexist. And so I think it's all in the best interest of all, haters to work towards this. But for 100 people, I really think there should be a solution. And and I think that's just one of the things I'd like to work towards. And you've been, campaigning and, interacting with the other people who are on the ballot. Does it give you hope that we have a good pool of people to choose from on the 20th of October, that you can work with those people? Absolutely. I have this is so the can take it full circle. I you know, I've done this a lot in my life and, I have interacted with pretty much all 39 of the councilors. I've also had sat down with the members running, the folks running for, mayor and I. Look, I'm going, these are a group, good group of people. I could work with a lot of them. And it's been fun because, you know, again, back, staying out of the party politics is that, I'm not running against anybody that's running. I'm running against being number nine. Yeah. You know. That's a crime. That's the part that. But so there's no it's not really competition. It's more of this is all of us with our ideas and, the, the, the folks that I've interacted with, I've had conversations with them and I've had, even just even a little bit of debate with them. And I realize I would like to work with, you know, if I picked eight right now and I said, these are the eight, I could tell you that they would not be, from the same demographics. They wouldn't be same philosophically, politically, but we could find consensus. And what's really been I that I've really enjoyed about this campaign is, as we go to the meet and greets, in a lot of cases, we're probably outnumbering the amount of people that are showing up. So we tend to have these little conversations and yet going, I could really work with this person, or I really like this person's thoughts or on this or whatever. And, you know, a couple stand out in my mind and I'm thinking, I hope when this is over, when place or show that we stay friends and, you know, if I'm not on council, I'd like to be able to work with these fellow, you know, ladies and gentlemen that are, on council and say, well, now I know you. And let's, you know, if you're looking for some extra advice from the people that didn't make it, we'd be, you know, we're there for you. It's all about relationships. 100%. I'm going to go back to my, what we started. Okay. Troy Wilson is second from the bottom on the ballot on October the 20th. Here's your chance to tell people that don't spend your eight votes before you get to the bottom of the list. Well, actually, I just say, why don't you start do something radical to start from the bottom that there's still young, there's Troy Lisa, and there's Brian Varga, and then work your way up just to, you know, maybe turn it over. And I know in a lot of, in a lot of municipalities or in constituencies, they, they will randomize the ballots. But in this one, we know that it's, it's Ada who does that. And so, that's the lot and, you know, I know in high school I was, you know, they name up the names at the graduation and there would be me at the back. So, I, I'm used to it, but, I really do hope that people, you know, do, go through. And I know it's really difficult because there's so many names. And that was important for me to go, you know, I'm going door to door putting, door hangers on the doors. I've had wonderful conversations with folks, that are, doing mowing lawns, having their coffee out in the front, whatever. But I've also tried to stay away from being intrusive in that. But, you know, it's just as we were going through. I just want people to know who that I'm on there, that I have, experience in, in governance and, you know, I'd be the first to admit an operations. I probably wouldn't be your person. But in governance, I've. I've learned a little bit about it. And, that's why I feel that, you know, probably never going to be inside of City Hall in administration, but I would definitely, you know, from a standpoint of going in and working with people on the, you know, where the face of government in the city and, we have to we make decisions. These are people who have day jobs. They have their own businesses. And, they do the best they can. And I mean, you know, aside from what people have said about the last four years, they're just people and they're the people in your community. They're your friends, their neighbors or every relatives, and they're doing their best. And that's what I hope to bring to the table, is just bring my best. And to, say to that is that, you know, I'm here. If I'm not elected, I'm still going to be here. And I'm going to be involved in the community. I'm also a member of the, southeast, Alberta Chamber with my business. And so, you know, this is just a place where I think that I could add a little bit more. Troy Wason candidate for Medicine Hat City council on October 20th. Thank you for your visit. Thank you very much for having me.