COLD LAKE – The City of Cold Lake awarded the full $7,500 Municipal Election Forum Grant to the Grand Centre Lions Club to help cover the cost of organizing a municipal election forum ahead of the 2025 fall municipal election.
Two applications were submitted for the grant, one from the Grand Centre Lions Club with a proposed budget of $2,242, and one from the Bonnyville and District Chamber of Commerce with a proposed budget of $7,500, according to information from the City of Cold Lake.
The decision was made at the July 8 regular council meeting.
The Municipal Election Forum Grant supports groups in organizing public candidate forums, which are required to be livestreamed and broadcast online. Typically, an advisory committee recommends a recipient to council, but this year no volunteers stepped forward to form a committee, leaving the decision directly to council.
While administration noted that both groups met the policy criteria, some council members raised concerns about the eligibility of the Bonnyville-based Chamber of Commerce.
“How does the Chamber of Commerce from Bonnyville put on our election in Cold Lake?” asked Coun. Vicky Lefebvre.
Andrew Serba, manager of Economic Development, Communications, and Strategy responded, stating that although the Bonnyville Chamber does not hold a local business license, they have Cold Lake businesses among their membership and work in partnership with the Cold Lake Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Serba noted, “We thought that council would still like to consider the application on those merits.”
City of Cold Lake Mayor Craig Copeland voiced concerns about forum logistics, particularly the sound setup.
“The audio for any forum is going to make or break it,” he said, noting the Lions Club has sourced audio services from a local company.
He questioned the proposed forum format, especially with the potential for a large number of candidates. “They really need to dive into that much more thoughtfully . . . but I support trying to give them a chance here.”
Following discussions, council opted to award the grant to the Grand Centre Lions Club.
“Council felt it wanted to keep the funding with a local organization,” Copeland said. “It’s a difficult decision to make. Even though the Bonnyville Chamber has a lot of experience hosting forums, we wanted to give the Lions Club a chance to show the community what they can do.”
The municipal election will take place on Oct. 20, 2025. Nominations remain open until Sept. 22. No date has been set for the election forum.
