Sheldon Day Chief says focus is ‘regional approach’ if elected mayor

Former Blood Tribe councillor Sheldon Day Chief is running to be the next mayor for the city of Lethbridge. He has lived in southern Alberta for 30 years, and says that a collaborative approach is the key to solving both social and economic issues in the city.

“My plan reaches out to our surrounding municipalities, our surrounding colonies, our First Nations neighbours,” says Day Chief “how we can help our most vulnerable, and those that are trapped in the cycle of drug and alcohol abuse”.

Back in 2004 southern Alberta’s Blood reserve was the murder capital of Canada, 18 times the national average. During this time, Day Chief worked alongside Chief Charles Weaselhead into 2006 to create a strategic plan to combat these social issues.  The blueprint included mayors of Cardston, Fort Macleod, and Lethbridge.  He says that in 2021, that same vision applies.

 Day Chief previously worked in corrections, and says collaboration also needs to be done to enforce drug related crime.

“Having a coalition, or having a region strategic plan will definitely decrease that trafficking, or (those) drugs from coming into our community,” adds Day Chief.

The municipal election will be held on October 18.