Scott Tibballs seeking place on Fernie city council

Scott Tibballs seeking place on Fernie city council Published 9:13 am Thursday, July 16, 2026 Former Free Press editor Scott Tibballs is vying for a spot on Fernie city council in the upcoming election this fall, after years of writing about and following...

Scott Tibballs seeking place on Fernie city council Published 9:13 am Thursday, July 16, 2026 Former Free Press editor Scott Tibballs is vying for a spot on Fernie city council in the upcoming election this fall, after years of writing about and following politics. Tibballs has spent the past decade working as a journalist for a variety of Canadian publications, where he reported on politics and local government. The more he learned about it, the more his interest in taking up public office grew.

Originally from Australia, Tibballs moved to Canada in 2018 and he lived in many different cities, but Fernie felt the most like home. “I’ve lived in quite a few communities over my career, and nowhere has really captured me as much as Fernie has. Every time I’m back in this valley, I know that I’m home,” he said.

Tibballs thinks Fernie is a unique community with many economic and social strengths that contribute to making it a great place to live. “This is a really resilient community that knows how to make change work. It’s got a lot of strengths it can lean into,” he added.

“It’s got a really robust mining industry that supports high wages in the Elk Valley. It’s got natural beauty that draws in millions in tourism dollars every year, and that supports jobs and pays for amenities. It’s also got community groups and volunteers that make Fernie better for everyone every day.”

Tibballs has a vision of making Fernie liveable for everyone; making it easier to do business by supporting commercial development and broadening Fernie’s tax base to reduce the tax demand on businesses that currently operate in the community. “We need to be realistic about taxes,” he said. “The same cost of living pressures we all face are forcing up the cost of providing services and replacing infrastructure in Fernie.”

Strengthening local infrastructure by fixing old water pipes, and making the City’s delivery of services more efficient by continuing to improve permitting, are at the top of his priorities list. Moving forward, striking a balance between delivering services and reducing taxes is important to him. “We have to be open to discussing what effect minimizing taxes would have on service delivery.

Making it easier to live here involves ensuring that our tax dollars can deliver the services that we expect,” he said. He said he’s an advocate of strengthening partnerships with various community groups and providing them with freedom to initiate projects that are within their scope to improve the community, leaving the City to focus more on delivering government-specific services like infrastructure. He’d like to make it easier for families to raise children in Fernie by preserving greenspace and lobbying for more provincial investments in schools to ensure the community is safe and well cared for.

He’d also like to see more community involvement in the local political scene and decision-making process. “We all pay our taxes and walk on these streets and have a contribution to share. Everyone who spends minutes in this community has something to contribute,” he said.

Tibballs is a journalist whose articles have appeared in The Free Press, Pique News Magazine in Whistler, and Squamish Chief. He formerly wrote articles for the mining investment industry, and studied politics and public policy in university. He said living in various communities across Canada and Australia has given him perspective.

“Fernie’s problems, they’re not unique to Fernie. That teaches me that there are solutions to the problems that we face in this valley,’ he said. “Fernie is my home.

I want what’s best for this community and I want to help ensure it’s a welcoming and attractive place for everyone that finds their home here,” he said.