Municipal Election 2025 city councillor candidate (Ward papastew) Q&As : Terrie Holgerson

This article is part of The Gateway’s Q&A series with the 2025 municipal election city councillor candidates in Ward papastew. Ward papastew is home to the University of Alberta’s North Campus.

Terrie Holgerson is a small business owner running to be a city councillor for Ward papastew. Holgerson sat down for an interview with The Gateway about how she would address student issues.

The following responses have been edited for length and clarity.

Why are you running in this election?

Terrie Holgerson: There’s three answers to that. I spend a great deal in one of our city parks, and after nine years of frustration with the amenities and the vandalism of the amenities and the push and pull of city government and the province and everything, it’s time for someone to stand up and work on these projects and these problems and fix [them]. They might be small problems, but they have a big impact on the well-being of our city, our public reputation in the province and the world, and the happiness of our citizens.

Second answer, I had a granddaughter in January and I want her to have a city that she can call home, that will provide her with opportunities and an environment to live, grow, be educated. It would be nice if her parents could afford a house before she’s 30. The third one is much more selfish. I’m in a marketing career right now that is not fulfilling, and I want to do something meaningful with my life.

What would you say are three main takeaways from your platform?

Holgerson: Definitely fiscal responsibility. We cannot keep spending and putting pressure on businesses and homeowners to fund our ever-growing list of projects, and a big aspect of that is reducing waste. We need to be less wasteful for sure, and wiser about how we spend the money that the homeowners and the business owners pay to us to manage their city and provide them with services.

The other thing that is really hit hard in Ward papastew is the blanket infill bylaw. That caught a lot of people off guard, and despite a lot of attempts by the city to communicate. So obviously, there’s a communication failure between the city government and the rest of the city. Yes, we need to grow. We need density. We need places for everybody to live, be comfortable, safe, and happy. However, we cannot do it in neighbourhoods that are just overwhelmingly against this added density. We need to find smart ways to deal with that. And there are cities out there that have managed it, and absolutely we can find solutions to this problem.

The third one would be just quality of life. I looked around about a month ago and I thought, wow, Edmonton, you know, we really complain a lot. We are not exactly happy people. And one of the reasons, I think we’re not happy is we’re surrounded by bad, antiquated design, and we have every opportunity going forward to put in place good design elements that can be built on. [I will] really focus on quality of life, because in the end, that’s what matters, is if we wake up every morning and we’re happy.

If elected, you would be responsible for representing many of the students who attend the U of A. What would be your priority in representing those students on City Council?

Holgerson: Alleviating the traffic of Belgravia [Road] every morning. Just improving transportation, even if it’s a radical idea, to help these students get to university. The idea of housing downtown, converting a lot of buildings downtown to student housing, is key. That will benefit not just the U of A but the other schools in the downtown area, and we need to accelerate that project.

I know that there are some students out there that are living in their cars. [I’ll] work with whoever is available to work with to make sure that students are housed so that they can focus on their education. They’re spending a lot of money go to the U of A so let’s not be a waste because they are struggling in the other aspects of their lives.

Affordability is a big issue for students. How do you plan to advocate for students amidst the cost-of-living crisis?

Holgerson: I think this is a shared responsibility. We need to hold landlords accountable. I have walked through all of Parkallen and a great deal of the rest of the ward, and there is a lot of substandard housing that I wouldn’t want my family member to live in. [I would] make sure that the standards are being met, so that you’re comfortable. We have to maybe change our idea of what housing should look like. [This could include] more higher density availability, maybe spread the housing out along the current existing transportation paths, that being the LRT system, so that there are options further from campus, but still affordable and convenient.

Transit access and transit safety are other big concerns for students. How would you work to address these issues?

Holgerson: We’ve got to get it finished first, so I would look at the timelines for some of our LRT projects that would extend the range where students could live. It’s frustrating for me to see these projects go on and on for years. Many students will have started their university education and graduated long before these trains are up and running. In the meantime, let’s bring in some more bus rapid transit to get these young adults to campus, if that’s what we need to do.

[When it comes to transit] safety, the more we use the system, the safer it will become. Ridership is key to making our transit system safer. In the meantime, while we’re building that volume that we so much need in our public transportation, [we need] officers, but officers with real ability to deal with the situations that they come up with. A dedicated team of [Edmonton Police Service (EPS)] and public patrol officers is what we need, and it’s probably not going to mean forever that we have to do this.

We as citizens need to just stop letting stuff happen. I know it takes a lot of courage to intervene in a bad situation. [Tim] Cartmell says he wants a better Edmonton. Well, one man and his 12 possible elected people aren’t going to make Edmonton better. The only way we’re going to get better is if we all put the energy in, whether we’re a landlord, and we keep up our property, [or] whether it’s the people riding the transit system who offer their seat to those that need the seat. The police can’t do anything if we don’t tell them where the problems are. We all need to speak up. We all need to take our fair share of responsibility for our city.