Councillor Tina Petrow has lived in Airdrie since 2012 and says that she instantly fell in love with the community. She has been a member of City council since 2017 and says she is running again because she has enjoyed her time representing Airdrie residents and “there is still a lot of work to be done to get us to where we need to be.”
Q&A Portion:
- Why are you running for office?
I am seeking re-election because I love this job. I love this city and the residents that make it so special. It has been a great honour to meet so many of you, listen to your stories, your concerns and your hopes for the future.
- How will you help to make Airdrie a better place to live, work and play?
I will continue working on a robust and complete affordable housing strategy and working with our planning department to ensure that we are creating housing that suits every resident’s lifestyle and budget. I will work with City departments and community partners to ensure we are supporting local businesses to grow and prosper and creating the most attractive community for businesses to come to, with well-designed industrial/commercial areas that integrate well into the community.
- What is the most important issue in this election and how do you plan to address it?
Every resident has different concerns and ideas of what that “one issue” would be. As elected officials, our job is to listen to those concerns and then try to address them in the most responsible way. Top concerns that have been brought forward from you are: better communications, better transportation planning, supporting and growing our local economy, health care in Airdrie, more amenities, enhancing arts and culture opportunities and housing that suits every resident. It will not be an easy task to tackle all of these issues, but if we look at these issues from a proactive and long term, whole community focused lens, it will allow us to achieve more, while keeping our budget in check.
- How do you plan to be transparent and accountable to your constituents?
I have always made sure that I am accessible, approachable and accountable. If you have reached out to me, you will have received a response from me with as much information and detail as possible. I have visited with you, and always made time to sit down and have conversations and respectful debate. Moving forward, I plan to continue using my platform to share information with you and to listen and respond to your concerns and suggestions.
- Why should residents vote for you?
Four years ago, you took a chance and “Invested in Airdrie” with me. Together we have achieved so much, but there is still a long way to go. Throughout the years, I have been a relentless advocate for you. I have listened, been open and honest and dedicated my time to you. My work ethic and attendance records speak for themselves. I work hard, and I work hard for you. I enjoy taking on extra boards, committees and more to ensure that your voice is at every table that it needs to be.
Your Questions
We asked our readers/followers on social media what they wanted to know from City of Airdrie candidates and came up with three questions.
The answers for each candidate will be listed here and posted to airdrielife‘s social media channels on Sept 22 (question 1), Sept 29 (question 2) and Oct 6 (question 3).
Editor’s Note: The answers below are completely unedited and appear here exactly as they were sent to airdrielife via email.
1. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action published 94 “calls to action” urging all levels of government — federal, provincial, territorial and aboriginal — to work together to change policies and programs in a concerted effort to repair the harm caused by residential schools and move forward with reconciliation. Which of the Calls to Action do you believe the City of Airdrie council should focus on?
While I believe that we always have the ability to advocate for all calls to action through other levels of government, we have great opportunities at the municipal level to work on calls to action #14, 57, 62 and 79 by creating educational opportunities for both public servants and residents in our city organization, open public spaces and civic facilities. These opportunities can be offered in the form of educational programming or cultural/ historical visual representations and should be done in consultation with our indigenous peoples.
We also have opportunities in the way of policy making. Call to Action #43 is something that our council could adopt and would help us to ensure we are acknowledging and supporting our indigenous neighbours appropriately. We can also leverage census data to help with reporting for the National Council for Reconciliation through call to action #55.
2. How would you work to improve arts and culture infrastructure and opportunities in the city if you were elected?
I will continue working with our creative and cultural agencies on building an Airdrie Arts Council or Arts Chamber, to ensure that our organizations know where to turn for support, where they can collaborate and how they can leverage the community infrastructure to their advantage. This can also create a centralized communications strategy to ensure the public is engaging with and supporting our creative offerings.
I plan on continuing work on creating usable spaces for our arts & culture organizations. Spaces that are right sized for their needs and budgets. We need to work together to support and enhance these industries, as they are paramount to the vitality of the community.
3. What is your vision to help progress Airdrie’s economic growth over the next 10 years?
In collaboration with Economic development, the chamber and the business owners we can create plans and policies that continue to support and enhance our local businesses. I will continue to advocate for our community to ensure that any new business areas integrate well with the community, so that they have increased success. I plan to continue working on creating a high quality of life for our residents to create the strong, healthy workforce and customer base that new businesses are looking for.