Lyle Williamson

2026 Election Candidate

Environmental

Policies in the Armstrong Official Community Plan "direct future growth strategically to protect ecological and agricultural areas, offer more housing and transportation choices, support economic prosperity and diversity, prioritize sustainable municipal infrastructure planning, enhance community wellbeing, and support our transition to a more sustainable and climate resilient community." Please give local examples of 'good' and 'not good' building development in Armstrong, and state why. Do you support the downtown revitalization plan for Armstrong and why/why not?

In the right locations in town for good development, we could use some more affordable type housing, like in the way of row housing or condo style building. Something more affordable to younger generation. We do not have enough at all. There is currently is so much new single family houses in the last few areas developed that are not affordable for many people to buy. Placing houses in correct locations that will blend in well, like more architectural control of the style and look of all future builds to make sure they blend in better to the existing surroundings.

The downtown rebuild. The underground utilities were past the life expectancy and needed to be replace, the road surface was destroyed. The current look of the new road does not make sense for this town, many people drive full sized vehicles and they don't fit well on that street. People do not walk far to get to stores, so if parking is so far away or across the tracks, they will just go someplace else. The road will need to be finished as no stopping it now, and then look at how to fix it later

Armstrong has experienced significant climate impacts for the last few years. How do you propose to address these crises, both in preparing ahead for disasters like drought, wildfires, heat domes and floods, as well as reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that lead to climate change?

We are seeing more drought like conditions with less rain. We can not control the environment, we just need to learn to adapt to this as a more normal. Wildfires and drought, every homeowner can help prepare there own properties to handle both better. Planting things that do not need as much water, and prepping yards to have better chance to survive a fire that is running very fast when the wind blows. Being more smart with water all the time, every year we seem to have less available

Do you support the use of public funds to contribute to acquiring natural lands for environmental conservation purposes? Under what conditions would the perceived need for more housing, businesses, roads and other infrastructure prompt you to trade away natural lands with high ecological value for urban expansion?

Everyone knows the taxes are getting very high and getting not affordable for many. So acquiring more natural land would have to be done more privately and then possibly donated to the city to maintain. Most tax payers do not want taxes to go higher at this time. Nobody wants to see lands go away that are wetlands, most of the town is in original flood plane, so it is part of the town. Making it work is a delicate matter that would need consultation with many experts that deal with preserving high value areas and to see if any can be developed that would work around preservation. Create a new style of living

Drought, contamination, increasing demand are just some of the water issues. What actions would you prioritise to protect our creeks, lakes, aquifers, and groundwater for home and agricultural water sources, habitat for fish and wildlife, and human recreation?

Our town runs of higher altitude man made water reservoirs. The snow pack in these areas have dropped a whole bunch in last many years. So they fill up, but they also have to maintain water flow into creek for fish and wildlife even at risk of lowering water the town needs. It is possible we need to look at trying to add more water storage so that during summer when creeks are low and no rain we will have some backup. Not sure if this means open or closed storage, but either way will not be cheap at all to try to complete. There is groundwater wells but the aquifers down deep are not endless either. There is no easy or cheap way to expanding water storage, and protecting what we have now is also important

Social

In smaller communities we need to be creative in how we help one another; how do you see the role of local government in this?

Growing up the community areas used to help each other out way more often, today society is more busy than ever and this has been lost. Small towns still have better than larger cities when it comes to helping your neighbors, but it is still not like it used to be. Not sure how government could help this out, but can be looked into. I am not on council yet so do not know all the ins and out of certain things that can and cannot be done to help.

How do we tackle misinformation and growing distrust in local government as well as uncivil behaviour on social media and in person?

We need to make sure the information gets out in front of people before things get out of hand. These days of social media things get blown way out sometimes and the wrong information is quite often easier for people to find that the correct info. The city will need to figure out a way to get more info out to people and correct wrong info quicker than is currently happening. The trust needs to be earned again as it is a little tarnished the last couple years

What personal and/or professional experience has most shaped your understanding of Truth and Reconciliation, and how would it influence your decisions as a municipal elected official?

Every resident is treated equally

Cultural

How do you personally engage with arts, culture and heritage in Armstrong, and how do you think local government should support these features of our community?

I am a 4th generation person in this town, heritage is important to protect. Arts and culture are important feature in any town. Local government has a heritage deal already in place, but more possibly could be done to improve some of it.

Economic

What is your understanding of how small local governments can support our economic development, including the success of our small local businesses?

Small business in this town. Many seem to be either around a long time or a short time. Seen many new things come in but soon are gone. We need to attract more small business to town, it is what people like to see if wandering around town. I am not up on how all the internal rules work in the city, but I used to own a business in town for a while a number of years ago.

What is one action the municipality should take to strengthen our local food system and improve access to healthy, affordable food? Why that action?

not sure. There is a decent sized farmers market in town now, and many roadside stands around Spallumcheen. Keeping these going is important as supports the local growers and farmers directly.

Health

As Mayor / Councilor, how would you work to support access to medical services?

There is a good group that run the local medial society, important that these guys keep on going so that having local doctors in town is very important.

How will you ensure that our planning of our built environment, our programs and our policies support the diverse physical and mental health needs of our population?

To me this is not just a local matter, it is all over and these programs need to be set at a standard and supported by much larger government body.