Craig Elder, the Sun City Sentinel, the Cypress Club, and City Politics
- allardkg
- Aug 20
- 17 min read
I was disappointed recently (but not surprised) at the venom spewing out of a local “wealth advisor”, Craig Elder after we met publicly August 2 2025 for an “off the record” conversation. (I will honour that but I will not be offering that so easily in the future.) We found common ground which was encouraging, I thought we had come to an understanding.
I am suspicious of most people, I am very slow to trust. (I’ve gotten quite cynical in my old age). Mr. Elder and I had been having some very civil conversations; I was hopeful for continuing that in the future. I like to hear from people with opposing views, that’s how I learn.
Then he made the mistake of showing his true colours.
I saw a different side of Mr. Elder that I did not like; I was quite frankly, very disappointed. I started digging, to see why he had sought me out to extend an olive branch. The more I dug, the more things seemed to fall into place, the more I realized he had tried to feed me a pile of bullshit.
As indicated on Elder’s Linked In, he does have a degree in political science and history in addition to his financial training. I find this very interesting - those working in the political field are usually masters at manipulating public opinion.
I believe Elder has been instrumental in manipulating politics in Medicine Hat. I believe he and others were so upset with the results of the 2021 election and the unceremonious ouster of so many incumbents that he had a hand in creating a discord with this council. If Elder and others could make this council appear ineffective and chaotic, they had a chance to weasel their way back into the Glass Palace.
History
Sept 5 2021 Mr. Elder started up a group on Facebook about the October 18 2021 election; he was one of the administrators. It did not take long for the group to boast over 3000 members, I was one of them. After I advocated for better transit, Elder private messaged me advocating for a recreation centre. I said "people have to be able to get to work before they can play." He conceded the point. (More info about this page later.)
After the 2021 election I went through the candidate disclosures to find out who their backers were. I found $1000 donations to each of the elected councillors Cassi Hider and Darren Hirsch. That got my attention. I started looking at the relationships between various city players.
The Sun City Sentinel and City Politics
The Sun City Sentinel, a mysterious online “news” source came into existence in 2023, it disappeared around the end of 2024. Fortunately, I know how to use the Wayback Machine - nothing is ever lost once it's in cyberspace.
The Sentinel created a Facebook page in May then the website was published on July 26 2023. This “news” source came with the following warning to not rely on what it publishes, saying
No Reliance
The content on our Website is provided for general information purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely. You must obtain more specific or professional advice before taking, or refraining from, any action or inaction on the basis of the content on our site.
Drew Barnes was a frequent contributor to the Sentinel.
Councillor Sharps was listed as a contributor but has denied any involvement; no articles were ever published under her name. However, this screenshot speaks volumes.
Note that her official City of Medicine Hat email was being used.
The Sun City Sentinel listed no editorial authors, using only “Sun City Sentinel” to sign articles. This platform was used to spew venom against the mayor, citing mostly anonymous sources and no specifics.
Generally speaking, journalists only protect anonymous sources when they are in danger of losing their job or it is a matter of their safety. We do not protect disgruntled people with vague accusations. Media outlets let you know who the editorial writers are. We journalists verify accusations before we go public. There’s been plenty of times that I have received tips but I did not publish because I could not verify anything.
July 2023 - The Overt Campaign Against the Mayor and Council Begins
Procedure Bylaw 4725 changes first came to council July 4 2023. It was on the July 17 agenda for 2nd and 3rd reading but then council members asked for a delay to add no less than 14 amendments (item 10). Mayor Clark and Councillor Robins were absent from that meeting; it was passed on August 21 2023.
The changes to Bylaw 4725 stripped the mayoral position of a lot of the powers. Some of the questions by council members were a little insulting and perhaps even a little misogynous.
Eg - Councillor Hirsch wrote - My ask is that council vote to adjourn AND to take a recess. Rationale: a Mayor could declare a “recess” if the trending/direction of a debate is in a direction the Mayor supports, they could use it as a tactic to filibuster/reduce the momentum of the debate. The deputy mayor can take the chair if the Mayor needs a bio break. We should not be breaking for recess. Never happened prior to this council.
Councillor Hirsch has been on council three times - I find it interesting that he never raised these issues before about recesses and adjournments.
Excerpt - The blatant personal attack by the Mayor on the CAO, regarding corporate staff restructuring, showed that things are fraying between the Mayor, administration and the rest of council.
Oct 11 2023 Former Mayor Ted Clugston goes to the media calling this council a train wreck; suggesting Mayor Clark should resign.
Clugston had the opportunity to show how much he cared for this city, he could have acted graciously and offered his assistance but it seemed as if he was gleeful at the "train wreck".
Nov 14 2024 Clugston again goes to the media saying that he was the subject of a recall petition, he would sell every piece of property he had and move to Mexico.
A number of people told me they would put up the $500 for the recall petition if Clugston was elected again.
The Attacks Ramped Up in 2024
March 8 2024 Clark Drama Only Inflamed Further by Release of One Sided Documents | Sun City Sentinel | Medicine Hat
Excerpt - Clark’s release of redacted documents questions her integrity as far as the “whole truth”, transparency regarding her behaviours and actions beyond the August 21st council meeting at the centre of the code of conduct breach.
Mar 21 2024 Council imposed ridiculous sanctions on Mayor Clark
Mar 22 2024 Former councillor Phil Turnbull went to the media saying the mayor should resign.
Except - It was a hard lesson that you'd hope Mayor Clark would learn...humility.
…
As stated when the Sentinel published the outcome of the special council meeting to decide Mayor Clark's fate, sources that wished to remain anonymous for a number of reasons, said there has been an ongoing pattern of behaviour by Mayor Clark inside city hall that needed to be addressed.
The Sentinel has been told that Clark has continually disrespected city administrators at multiple levels of authority, from the CAO on down, when it came to policy or procedures she felt should be changed. This is even after the code of conduct incident that occurred in August 2023. It was mentioned to the Sentinel that she has been trying to do the CAO's job, which is outside her job description as Mayor, nor is she qualified to do.
Again, vague accusations, no names. It sounds like the crap my children used to pull.
April 1 2024 Council put out a statement (on April Fool's Day no less) about the mayoral sanctions because people were so outraged. They refused to explain, insisting that the sanctions were only about the August 21 2023 between Mayor Clark and City Manager Ann Mitchell as indicated in the Kingsgate Report. Very few people believed them.
Written by Ian Parkinson
I'm guessing council started getting a lot of angry e-mails and phone calls about the sanctions
April 9 2024 Clark and her Supporters Continue to Fan Flames of Discontent and Conspiracy | Sun City Sentinel | Medicine Hat
Just because there is policy and protocol for council to follow does not mean that there is some conspiracy regarding sanctions for Clark or dealings at city hall. Usually when it's 8 with one view and 1 with another view of the issue, more rational thinking would say there has to be more to the story that we are not privy to and we should trust those we elected to do the right thing because we are not privy to the information provided them and we are not in their shoes.
Clark and her supporters fail to realize the longer they continue with these tactics and not act with a level of decorum, the more the public will lose any sympathy there may still be for Clark. But alas, there will always be conspiracy theorists and internet trolls and those that believe there is no side to their story but their own. Clark is not a victim in this but the architect of her own demise. Best to ignore their rage, smile at their self inflicted wrongdoings and move on.
Hmmm, given the Judicial Review and subsequent events, it's starting to sound like there WAS a conspiracy...
April 12 2024 Clugston once again runs to the media saying of council "they're done". He muses on what was happening behind the scenes.
April 15 2024 I wrote this article Monday Morning Musings on the Medicine Hat Municipal Mutiny Because no names were published anywhere on the website, I did a corporate search for the owner which resulted in the following article.
I discovered that Elder was behind the Sentinel, hiding behind anonymity. The editorial writers were never identified, the venomous spew was merely signed “Sun City Sentinel”. I find that cowardly. If you have something worth saying, then have the courage to put your name on it.
May 3 2024 - No author listed but says they are a lawyer A Legal Perspective on City Council | Sun City Sentinel | Medicine Hat
As a legal professional specializing in employment law, I believe it is imperative to address the recent events that transpired in the Council Chambers on August 21. There has been extensive discourse surrounding this incident, leading to a growing division within our community. I have observed individuals expressing opinions that not only exonerate the mayor of any wrongdoing but also cast doubt on the actions of the individual who intervened.
…
It is apparent that a large portion of our community lacks an understanding of the essence of the Municipal Government Act (MGA) and the decorum expected of council members in their interactions with the administration.
Once again, this is BS. When we journalists quote a lawyer, we print their name.
Councillors Hider, McGrogan and Sharps slamming mayor.
A t least this time their names were published.
The Cypress Club
Elder is the past president of the Cypress Club; 2025 Council Candidate Troy Wason is the current president. (BTW, Mr Wason is a private investigator.)
“The historical significance of the Cypress Club building in Medicine Hat lies in its role as the main social club for men in the district and thus its representation of a typical element of social life in Alberta's pre-First World War urban communities”
Did you Know?
The Cypress Club gets a 50% property tax break because they registered as a charitable society called the Cypress Club Preservation Society which saves them about $3,000/year.
The above screenshots show that the other surrounding businesses must pay 100% of their assessed taxes. It also shows that the Cypress Club got a tax break in 2024; they did not register as a charity with the Canada Revenue Agency until January 1 2025.
Their charity is defined as “Other purposes beneficial to the community”; this covers a lot of areas including the preservation of historic buildings. They have it listed as historic both municipally and provincially. They even have a donation page set up to support these poor, poor club members who are struggling financially. A June 19 2025 FB post says they installed a TipTap terminal in the club to help with fundraising needs.
Their Facebook page describes it as Medicine Hat’s premier private social club. New members are welcome to join. This Club is not cheap to join, they have reciprocal memberships with private member clubs all over the world (but it’s a “charity”, right?). To obtain charity status they have been forced to allow the public inside.
Their website says as of Aug 15 2025 “We are closed for the summer to address some renovation needs and operational changes”. I spoke with current Cypress Club president (and council candidate) Troy Wason about the club when he was taking signatures for the Forever Canadian Petition in front of City Hall on Aug 14. He said they are trying to keep a 120 year old building going. I said a lot of members are wealthy, why haven't they pitched in? Wason says they have. I asked about the club being closed for the summer, he said they are trying to restructure. (I mentioned about how long it took to allow women in, he said he could not speak for all of his gender.)
Cypress Club and City Hall
In 2018, former Medicine Hat Mayor Clugston claimed Cypress Club membership fees as part of his travel/training expenses. Clugston broke it up into two payments - office supplies and, food and beverages.
None of the other available expense reports list the Cypress Club, the reports only go back to 2017.
Primary Memberships are now $1200/year, I’m guessing they were $960 in 2018, either that or he purchased 2 memberships that year. Now half of the membership fee is a donation which gets you a tax receipt, the other half is for membership privileges.
Black Hat Gang member and Sun City Sentinel scribe Ian Parkinson is a Cypress Club member, he is also on the Municipal Planning Commission.
He's been photographed at a number of council meetings speaking with City Manager Ann Mitchell, they indeed seem to have a special relationship.
Parkinson also has access to city hall staff for interviews which are published on the city's Youtube channel.
Above - Ian Parkinson and City Manager Ann Mitchell Nov 18 2024
Left - Ian Parkinson emceeing the separatist rally in Redcliff April 9 2025
Former Cypress-Medicine Hat MLA Drew Barnes and MP Glen Motz were in attendance at the April 9 2025 separatist rally.
2017 Wason was a former executive director of the Progressive Conservatives in Alberta; he quit the party when Kenney was chosen as leader. Elder and Wason served on the constituency board of the Alberta Party together.
2021 Wason was hired as the executive director of the Alberta Party
2021 - Craig Elder gave $1000 donations to Cassi Hider and Darren Hirsch for their election campaigns.
Elder and Wason certainly have the necessary experience to manipulate local politics. And here I thought everyone had the same chance in our elections. I'm not that naive anymore.
The Election Page Con’t
I only mention this because I think some people were upset the page didn't belong to them anymore.
April 2024 I decided to look up the page just for fun and discovered the following.
Sept 8 2022, someone named Smith unarchived the group and made themselves an administrator. Over a year later on Oct 7 2023, they removed themselves from the group.
Apr 15 2024 I unarchived the group and made myself an administrator, issuing invitations to Thomas Fougere and Community TV to become administrators which were accepted.
May 13 2024 I renamed the group Medicine Hat Shitshow. It was used to highlight the BS going on at City Hall.
Jan 26 2025 Tom renamed it to Medicine Hat Election 2025.
Jan 26 2025 A new election page was created with an almost identical name, calling themselves Medicine Hat 2025 Civic Election | Facebook There is now a third one, also called Medicine Hat 2025 Civic Election.
The Cypress Club and Influence on City Politics
The Cypress Club boasts that “many of the decisions that shaped the future of our city were made within these walls.” Given that the City has been struggling to balance the budget for a decade and the club itself has been forced to seek charity status in an attempt to keep it alive, that does not bode well for the future of Medicine Hat.
In 2023, Councillor Darren Hirsch (remember, Elder gave him $1000 for his campaign) told the media that by 2025, the City would not need to rely on reserves to balance the budget. The 2025-26 budget says otherwise.
On pg 31 of the 2025-26 budget Managing Director of Corporate Services Jilian Campbell says
Between 2025 and 2034, the City is forecasting to draw down a combined amount of $18.0M more per year from its capital and operating reserves than the amount is contributing from free cash flow, leading to an overall decline in capital and operating reserves of 180.0M (70.3%) by 2024. If efforts are not made to balance the reserve requirement and free cash flow, there is a risk the city could deplete its reserves in the long run.
It was not until 2024 that the city established two financial reserves to be put towards our asset retirement and abandonment obligations as well as the energy transition - they are seriously underfunded. Past decisions by councils have ignored these obligations leading to a suggestion of selling off our power assets in 2021.
If these are the sort of decisions that are being made at the Cypress Club then we must make sure the power stays at City Hall. It is obvious the club did not manage their finances well enough to maintain their own building. This is similar to what happened with the Moose and Crestwood Pool. The City pissed away nearly $6,000,000 for the Aurora plant which gained us little or nothing, meanwhile our recreational facilities fell into such disrepair that they shut the doors. It sounds like the Cypress Club did the same, not setting aside enough funds to maintain their own building. That seems to me like piss poor planning.
Did You Know?
For about 80 years of the Cypress Club’s existence, women were not even allowed within those walls without an escort. It was not until the 1990s that women were actually allowed to join. Not just anybody can join, according to their membership application, you must have a sponsor (but it's a charity open to everybody, right?).
A member was actually quoted as saying “Generally what goes on in the club, stays in the club.”
I'm Suspicious of Anybody Who Says "I'm Here to Help", or "I'm Extending an Olive Branch".
I'm reminded of a couple of movie quotes
If you're part of a crew, nobody ever tells you that they're going to kill you. It doesn't happen that way. There weren't any arguments or curses like in the movies. So your murderers come with smiles. They come as your friends, the people who have cared for you all of your life, and they always seem to come at a time when you're at your weakest and most in need of their help.
Goodfellas
Look, I know these people... They're all rich and they're mean.
Dirty Dancing
Elder Epitomises These Traits In Spades
Elder had me blocked on Facebook so I did not see the following exchange until my daughter pointed it out. I don't care about the insults, that comes with the territory. What astounded me was the sheer childishness of the exchange, I thought it had been written by a surly, petulant teenager.
On social media Elder had accused me of sending my daughter to stick up for me, we talked about it in our Aug 2 meeting. I explained to him that my children and grandchildren were under specific instructions to ignore the insults and nasty comments, that they were NOT to defend me. They are not the ones in the public eye, they do not need the hassle or the headaches. I dismissed these online comments as we seemed to come to an understanding. Things that he said after our meeting inspired me to screenshot them and post them as it shows a disturbing pattern of behaviour.
Here are the screenshots; click on them to enlarge them. The last screenshot is of a comment that was edited multiple times. It's pretty obvious he was allowing his emotions to rule him.
Elder talks about setting up a slate in our community. This is concerning given his attempt to influence our local election.
August 18 2025 Council Meeting
Elder was sitting up at the top with Former Councillor Brian Varga and Troy Wason, carefully watching the proceedings re the mayor's legal fees.
Varga wagged his finger at me, I assume he was trying to tell me that I was not allowed to take photos.
Section 2b of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms says I can take all the photos I want at a public meeting in a public place. I can watch the meeting online, I go in person to get the reaction shots.
Elder seemed to be keeping his eye on Cassi Hider, one of the people he donated $1000 to for their campaign (Councillor Hirsch was absent). All three were seen nodding and looking pleased with themselves as the bulk of the mayor's legal fees were denied. An unidentified man was pretty upset at council's decision as you can see in the video.
After Our Meeting - Elder Loses Control of His Emotions
I saw some posts that Elder had posted using the anonymous function; they were awful. I do not allow people to hide their venomous spew behind the anonymous function. If you are going to throw insults, you do it using your own name; to do otherwise is cowardly.
This is our conversation after he removed the comments and after I told him that everything was now on the record. The first screenshot is to show that he identified himself.
Transcript
Me
(Nickname redacted)
I have recently discovered who you are. As of now you can consider every conversation we have to be on the record. You do not get to hurl insults under an anonymous name. That is cowardly and beneath you. Frankly, I expected better of you. You have disappointed me.
Gas City Ventures
I have taken them down and apologize for their nature. You don’t know Ms. D--- like I do and I took offence to her comment that everyone (poop emoji) on Lindsay (sic). As we discussed Lindsay created some of her own problems. Lindsay did create some of the (poop emoji) that was supposedly put on her. D---’s comments made me upset and I reacted. If you are going to make all posters accountable for every word then as admin remove the ability to post anonymously.
Me
Thank you for taking them down. I have changed the anonymous posting so that they now require admin approval. I may end up removing the anonymous posting altogether, but for now I will do this. I do not like to do anything as a knee-jerk reaction, I try to keep my emotions out of things like this. I am not going to make every commenter accountable for every word, nobody has enough time for that. What I will do is make them show their name. At least one of your comments was potentially libelous. I understand some of the comments made you upset, a lot of the comments make me upset. However, I try not to get emotional. If I am angry, I will wait for an hour, maybe even a day to see if I’m still angry enough to comment. You are a grown man with a fair amount of intelligence. It is fine to get upset about things, but you are the one that is in control of your actions. If I allowed everybody who insulted me to manipulate me like that, I would not have any peace at all.
Gas City Ventures
Take out anonymous all together and then you don’t need to manage it and all are on the same playing field. Again if you are running this page and running for council you need to be seen as impartial as possible. Just my two cents. And yes I’m a grown man that can lose control of his emotions at times.
Me
You should probably work on that.
Gas City Ventures
And so can everyone else. I’m human.
As you can see, he cut off communication after that.
That's the sort of response I expect from a surly and petulant child, not a grown man with grown children.
Elder has stated that sometimes he is incapable of managing his own emotions. People often say women are emotional but he does not even have the excuse of PMS hormones or menopause.
Many First Nations tribes look to the Clan Mothers as leaders. Before a tribe could go to war, they had to consult with the Clan Mothers; men were considered to be too emotional. I think they were very wise.
I might get teary when I'm upset or tired but I'm not going to hurl anonymous insults or punch a wall or a face. I'm a grown woman. I don't make decisions in anger, I wait until I calm down.
Mr. Elder should work on managing his emotions instead of acting like a whinging and whining man-child. Losing control is not conducive to good decision making.
Choose your candidates carefully, make sure they are the same person behind closed doors as they are when it is on the record. Make sure you get ALL the receipts.
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