Born in Red Deer and raised on a cattle farm, Mason Sisson has strong ties to Red Deer and the surrounding area.
Sisson, 21, said those ties are one of the reasons he is choosing to run in the upcoming federal election.
The other reason is he is tired of being a spectator to the political games going on in Ottawa and equally tired of a government that is not getting things done for the people.
“We have a minority government (with parties) that are stonewalling each other and won’t work together to get things done for Canada.”
Sisson is representing the Green Party in the federal election because he said it is really the only party looking into and planning for the future of Canada.
“The Green party has plans 20 years into the future. Every year the Green Party releases its platform with their plans for Canada and they are the only party that does that,” said Sisson, adding the greens are one of the only parties that gives their candidates the freedom to speak out and get things done in their riding.
While Sisson has come from a long line of conservative supporters and has even had family members who were members of the Conservative Party he says that he thinks the party has greatly lost its edge over the years.
“I think they have lost a lot of their progressiveness and a lot of their reform sensibilities,” said Sisson.
One of the plans outlined in the Green Party platform he believes would most benefit the citizens of the Red Deer riding is the plans for high speed rail connecting the major corridors in Canada.
“One of those corridors is Calgary to Edmonton with Red Deer being the stop in the middle. I can’t even describe how much this would benefit the region,” said Sisson.
However, regardless of party policies, Sisson said he doesn’t expect to win this election but hopes that people will start to keep a closer eye on what goes on in Ottawa.
“I don’t expect anyone but Earl Dreeshen to win this election,” said Sisson.
“But what I do want is for people to start to be upset about how politics are run in this country, and I want people to be upset about what goes on in Ottawa and hope they want change.”
While most of the votes in the province still go to the conservatives Sisson said people are getting fed up of being ignored and are tired of the lack of federal money going into the region.
This is the first federal election that Sisson has ran in although he has participated in past school politics while attending Red Deer College where he studied political science.
Currently Sisson is a production manager at the Drummond Brewery in Red Deer.
