With the 2011 federal election now in its third week, candidates running in the Wild Rose riding have laid out some of their post-election plans.
The Wild Rose candidates are incumbent Conservative Blake Richards, NDP challenger Jeff Horvath, Liberal challenger John Reilly, and Green Party challenger Michael Macdonald. The vote goes May 2.
The Wild Rose riding includes Olds, Sundre, Didsbury, Carstairs and Cremona.
Richards says working to ensure the economic recovery continues, both nationally and in West Central Alberta, will be his top priority if he is re-elected.
“Obviously the last two and a half years we have been through a time where we have mostly dealt with the recession and the economy has been the main focus and it still needs to be,” said Richards. “We are seeing signs of recovery but we still have to see that through and that's going to be my main focus if I'm re-elected.
“Obviously for a large part of the riding agriculture is an important part of the economy. We have been doing a lot of work to open up new markets for farmers and that holds a lot of promise for farmers in our area.
“If voters chose to re-elect me I'll carry forward with that. I'll be working to promote economic recovery both nationally and in Wild Rose.”
Richards said he also plans to make the promotion of victims' rights one of his priorities.
“People want to make sure that they feel safe in their communities and safe in their homes,” he said. “We need to deal particularly with the dangerous and violent and repeat offenders, to protect victims and keep society safe.”
Richards said while he would like to see the Conservatives win a majority this time around, whatever the outcome he plans to make the promotion of Wild Rose his job one.
“Obviously I would be hoping for a majority government. However, whatever the voters decide, whether it's majority or minority or another party in government I'll work to carry forward the concerns of my constituents,” he said.
For his part, Horvath says if he's elected he plans to focus on promoting environmental awareness at the national and provincial level.
“I think we really need to bring climate change back to the forefront,” said Horvath, who is seeking election in Wild Rose for the third time. “It's something that is getting more and more serious and something we need to address, at the national level and in the riding.
“Somebody has to take a stand. I don't believe our current government takes it seriously or has the political will to do anything about it.”
Horvath, who is a teacher in Canmore, says fighting poverty in the region will also be one of his priorities.
“The Conservative government talks a lot about prisons and fighter jets. If we look at the root causes of social problems, it's poverty. We have to invest in education, including in our region. If you look at the Stoney Nation, there are high rates of child poverty.
“Of course we have to punish criminal behaviour but we also have to be preventative.”
Green Party candidate Mike MacDonald, 41, says if he's elected he will push for what he calls a “new direction” when it comes to the environment, the economy and other issues in Wild Rose.
“The Conservatives are saying stay the course and that this is not a time for change,” said MacDonald, who is an early childhood mental health consultant with Alberta Health Services. “I'm thinking it is a good time to look at new ways of doing things, for us to steer in a new direction.
“You can't really talk about the environment without considering what the impact would be on the economy or health or public safety or any of these public policy issues.
“Obviously the 2008 economic collapse happened for a reason and if we stay the course are we still on the same path?”
MacDonald said he is prepared to work with all stakeholders, including industry in Wild Rose.
“Steering in a new direction definitely does have something to do with the environment, but it can't be done in isolation,” he said. “It needs to be one big approach that makes sure we have a sound economic base for it.
“I don't want to sleep in the cold any more than anybody else, but that being said I think we can move in a direction that addresses these concerns that fossil fuels are having on the environment.”
Liberal candidate John Reilly, a former provincial court judge said he will be making justice issues his top priority if he is elected.
“Justice and effective Aboriginal policy is the reason I'm running,” said Reilly. “I think that the Conservative justice policies are simply wrong. I think their minimum sentences for numerous sentences are going to put thousands of people in jail who don't necessarily have to be in jail.
“The cost of those programs is going to be in the billions of dollars, and of course the reason that we are having this election is because the Conservative government wouldn't tell Parliament how much those policies were going to cost.
“I feel that the Conservative justice policies are designed to take away the power of judges to decide who should go to jail and who should not go to jail and I want to see that trend corrected. I think judge should be the ones who decide who goes to jail.”
Richards, MacDonald, Reilly and Horvath all said they would participate in forums and debates in Wild Rose during the campaign.
