Brent Rathgeber will face off against two fresh faces and one familiar one this week as the race for Parliament Hill begins.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper was expected to visit Gov. Gen. David Johnston on Saturday to ask him to dissolve Parliament and call a federal election. The move follows a vote Friday where opposition parties said they had lost confidence in the government's ability to run the country.
Edmonton-St. Albert voters will have four candidates to choose from on election day, with the NDP, Conservatives, Greens and Liberals all fielding candidates.
Running for the Conservatives is the incumbent, Brent Rathgeber, who first took office in 2008 with about 62 per cent of the vote.
Rathgeber, a 46-year-old lawyer, says he decided to run again to keep working on law and order issues. "We've accomplished many things, but left a great deal of our agenda on the table." He's been an active member of the justice and public safety committees, and hoped to keep working on both if re-elected.
The Conservatives have done a remarkable job of managing the economy during these tough times, Rathgeber said, with some 480,000 new jobs created since 2009. He and his party also brought considerable amounts of infrastructure money to this region, funding connectors to the northwest Anthony Henday Drive, renovations to the St. Albert Curling Club and the Castle Downs spray park.
In addition to Bregg's Bill, legislation he introduced this year to address violence against transit drivers, Rathgeber hoped to help pass other bills to toughen up the parole system if he is re-elected, especially for young offenders. "Those who are offside of the Criminal Code need to take responsibility for their actions and pay the price."
New challengers
Taking his first run at office is Liberal candidate Kevin Taron, a 29-year-old reservist and seniors' health care worker. He replaces Sam Sleiman, who netted 15 per cent of the vote in 2008.
Growing up in Edmonton's Castle Downs region, Taron said he decided to run due to his long-time passion for politics, public service and his community.
He criticized the Conservatives as being out of touch with Canadian families, saying that their recent budget was heavy on cash for prisons and fighter jets and included corporate tax cuts, but had nothing to strengthen public pensions, education or health care.
That budget also did nothing to reduce the burden of payroll taxes on small businesses, he continued, and added billions more to the national debt. "This is a government that's in contempt of Parliament and in contempt of Canadians."
Flying the NDP flag is Brian LaBelle, a 32-year-old child-and-youth-care student at Grant MacEwan University. He previously ran for the party in Sherwood Park in 2008, where he garnered about 13 per cent of the vote.
A community support worker and frequent volunteer with local Boys and Girls Clubs, LaBelle said he decided to run for politics after about 15 years of working with youth and families. "I think I can advocate to make the change families are looking for."
The Conservatives' recent budget would not have helped Canadian families, LaBelle said, and should have done more to boost the Canadian Pension Plan and the Guaranteed Income Supplement. "There is definitely room [in the budget] for us to help Canadians."
Edmonton-St. Albert is a traditionally Conservative riding, LaBelle said, but he was confident that he'd do well in the coming days. "I think most of the people in this constituency are New Democrats but just don't know it."
Johnston back again
Back for a third kick at the can for the Green Party is Edmonton's Peter Johnston, a 65-year-old home renovator with a wife and four kids. Johnson netted six and eight per cent of the vote in the last two elections, respectively.
When asked why he wanted to run again, Johnston joked that his wife asked him the same question. "I'm the only person I know who's willing to do it," he explained.
The Conservatives are taking this country in the wrong direction, Johnston said, particularly on climate change. "Our reputation has gone from being one of leadership of the international environmental situation to actually being obstructionist."
Johnston freely admits that he won't win, but hoped to bring some "sanity" to the debate by participating. "I'm not going to give up my day job, but hopefully I'll get over 10 per cent this time."
