INNISFAIL – The long race to be Innisfail’s new mayor is now a battle between two highly public contenders with distinct visions.
Both were council newcomers when first elected in 2017. Glen Carritt, who declared his mayoralty intentions last November, resigned his council seat amidst controversy on Jan. 11 but continued aggressively alone on a nine-month run to the mayor’s chair, to be left vacant in October by the retiring Jim Romane.
But as of today, that changes. Coun. Jean Barclay has announced she’s challenging Carritt to succeed Romane.
While Carritt is a successful businessman, and outspoken – recently for greater provincial flexibility on COVID restrictions, especially when it comes to supporting small businesses - Barclay is enormously popular in town with the elderly, the young and socially progressive citizens. She also has an impressive business background.
“I think we have to be innovative. The environment is changing so rapidly all the time. We need to prepare Innisfail for a different kind of future than what we see today,” said Barclay.
“We need to think outside the box, and we need to think 10, 20 and 30 years down the road.”
Barclay, 63, was raised in Innisfail, and was a sports star, especially with hockey and golf.
She left the town for 25 years to live in Edmonton. She found success in both golf and business. Barclay was a club golf professional who later owned her own school. She also toured professionally both in Canada and the United States. She won three women’s Alberta PGA championships from 1992 to 1994.
She later found success with investment banking, real estate and financial services. She came back to Innisfail in 2003 to work at the local RBC as a financial planner, but more importantly to be closer to her aging parents.
In 2017, Barclay decided to run for town council. She ultimately won a council seat with the most votes of all 11 candidates.
Her first three and a half years has seen her champion the needs of the elderly and vulnerable, better healthcare access for all, improved economic development, and on the compassionate side of controversial issues, including her strong support last June for the highly publicized anti-racism rally.
“We just can’t just stick our heads in the sand, and say, ‘we don’t want to deal with this. Let some other community deal with it’. We need to listen to the community as a whole,” she said, adding the rally was ultimately a triumph for the community.
As for the controversy surrounding provincial COVID restrictions, she “totally” understands the financial difficulties small businesses face but firmly believes the safety of the community is paramount.
“We have to listen to the experts, and need to keep our community safe. I don’t agree with the stance Glen Carritt has taken on this issue,” she said.
“I look at all the businesses in this community that are complying and I know many people will support businesses that are complying. The lower the risk of COVID in the community, the better our community will do.”
But there’s also Innisfail’s economic health at stake. Barclay, mindful of Innisfail’s current zero debt, said she will focus on building the town’s economy with a more strategic and deliberate plan of building that out, including looking at hiring an economic development officer.
However, she insists the town’s vulnerable, especially those slammed financially by COVID, will not be forgotten.
“They need to have a voice. They need to know that the mayor is here for them, and the social initiatives in this community have been a top priority. Those programs will continue to go forward,” said Barclay.
“Innisfail has so much potential, and in the last three years we have seen business growth. I think with the leadership from Todd Becker and administration, Innisfail is gaining a lot of attention in many good ways.
“We have been through a very tumultuous time since COVID hit. I look forward to leading the community out of this."
