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Your LOCAL Media since 1918! VOLUME 108: ISSUE 08
www.tofieldmerc.com
Tofield Golden Club award ~ story inside
Wednesday, October 15, 2025
Tofield Chamber hosts All Candidate Forum Kari Janzen Staff Reporter
About 120 people attended the All Candidates Forum hosted by the Tofield and District Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday, Oct. 7 at the Tofield Community Hall. All 14 candidates were present. David Williamson, founder of SDI Group and former president of the Chamber was the moderator of the evening. Each candidate was asked the same four questions, and one custom question for each group; those running for Tofield mayor, councillor, Beaver County councillor, and Battle River School Division school board trustee. At the end, questions were taken from the audience. The first question was, introduce yourself and tell us why you’re running for office. Adam Hall, running for Tofield mayor, said he and his family have lived in Tofield since 2000 and he served as the minister of the Tofield United Church for 13 years. “I strongly believe that volunteerism is crucially important, and I've modeled that in my life, most recently with the Tofield Minor Ball Association and the sea cadets. I'm running for this office because I love this community and I want to see us thrive into the future. I have the skills, training, and the experience to lead and to support the work of this council
Seated L-R: Zsuzsanna Hemperger, Lyle Albrecht, Harold Conquest, Jennifer Durrant, Brenda Chehade, Dustin Terpstra, Darren Erickson. KARI JANZEN PHOTOS
Seated L-R: Adam Hall, Elaine Taylor, Larry Tiedemann, Samantha Giegold, Clayton Roe, Nora Abercrombie, Kevin Smook. but importantly, I won't just work for this community, I'll work with this community every step of the way,” Hall said. Darren Erickson, also running for mayor, is a pharmacist who has lived and worked in Tofield since 1988. “I'm a prescribing pharmacist, entrepreneur, and a 37-year Tofield business owner. I married Gayleen Neufeld-Erickson in 1993 and we raised our amazing sons here in Tofield. I'm running because I care about the future of Tofield. I see projects in Tofield that have been stalled, like the Golden
Club expansion, and I believe my experience would be helpful in bringing this project to completion. I believe the needs of the seniors in the lodges are not being recognized, and I want to help connect the two facilities by a sidewalk. I'm fiscally conservative. I want good value for dollars spent, and believe in keeping expenses at reasonable levels. I will strive to be responsible with your hard-earned tax dollars, as I have been over the years in my own businesses,” Erickson said. One of the universal questions was, what distinguishes
you from the other candidates in this race, and Erickson said he is running on his experiences. “I'm running on what I have done and what I've accomplished in Tofield, not on promises of what I think I can get for our town. I understand the pulse of Tofield as I live it every day. I’ve been personally involved in many development projects in Tofield. I have built valuable relationships with politicians, business owners, and patients over the years. I believe this will help me move Tofield in a positive direction in the future,” Erickson said.
In response to the same question, Hall said he has spent the last 25 years as a public figure and is extremely comfortable in public speaking and understands what it means to represent an institution or community in a professional way. “I'm willing and able to engage in conversations with crowds and with groups and individuals, and I approach every moment as a chance to learn and grow. I'm not afraid to face conflict, tough situations, different opinions. Continued to page 17