CASE STUDY / MUNICIPALITY
How Bashaw made it easier for every resident to be heard
In their words
“This program really provided those people who wouldn’t typically come to a public event an opportunity to provide a voice to what they wanted to say.”
Theresa Fuller
Chief Administrative Officer, Town of Bashaw
Before and with Candidly AI
Before
Surveys and town halls: hard to make the time, and hard to speak freely in front of your neighbours.
With Candidly AI
A full conversation about what residents want their town to look like, on their own time, by phone or online.
Situation
Bashaw calls itself a small town where big things happen, and few things are bigger than giving its people a voice. The central Alberta town of about 850 was heading into strategic planning, and council and the CAO wanted residents to shape it.
Challenge
Under section 216.1 of Alberta’s Municipal Government Act, every municipality must have a policy for how it engages the public. Living up to it is harder than it sounds. A town hall only works for people who can make that evening and feel comfortable speaking in front of their neighbours, especially when their view is different. And surveys create a heavy administrative load, and still struggle to get the participation and depth to be useful.
How the engagement ran
Design
We built seven plain-language questions with the Town on what residents value, what should change, and where Bashaw should invest over the next ten years. The Town approved every question.
Launch
Invitations went out through Voyent Alert, the town website and local Facebook groups. Printed materials around town explained what Candidly AI was and how to take part, and an open Q&A before launch answered any questions.
Listen
For one week, residents called a local number or answered online, whenever it suited them. No recordings, phone numbers or names were kept, and every conversation stayed in Canada on Candidly AI Sovereign.
Findings
A person on our team read every conversation, and the Town received a themed report in residents’ own words ahead of strategic planning.
Follow-through
We debriefed with the Town and provided a follow-up pack to share the results with residents and tie them to the strategic plan.
Why it worked
More residents could take part: any time that week, from home, by phone or online, without finding a free evening.
No one was cold-called.
Residents chose to call in when they had something to share.
Residents spoke freely.
One-on-one, with no name attached, people could share views that differed from their neighbours’.
It went deeper than a survey.
Residents had full conversations about what they want Bashaw to look like, often bringing their own ideas for solving the challenges they raised.
“This is a tool that is going to benefit a lot of municipalities. You have really created a great product here.”
Cindy Orom
Mayor, Town of Bashaw
Heading into strategic planning?
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Partners
CASE STUDY / CONSULTING PARTNER
Hearing from everyone at a client firm, inside a six-week AI Clarity Sprint
“Dialogue is at the heart of how we work, but making room for all voices inside a project takes a ton of effort. With Candidly AI, everyone at the firm who wanted a say had one, and the Strategy Sprint started from their input.”
Cassandra Caiger
Principal, Intelligent Futures