MLA Marie Renaud has announced her intention to run in the next provincial election.
“I am doing it this time because I know there's a better way forward. I know that Albertans deserve an ethical government,” she said in an interview Thursday with The Gazette.
The St. Albert MLA made the Feb. 9 announcement on social media and said she was “thrilled to announce her intention.”
The nomination meeting is scheduled in St. Albert on March 24, at 7 p.m. The location has yet to be confirmed.
In an interview, Renaud listed a few reasons why she made the choice to run again, including a need to rebuild trust in government.
“We've seen it eroded over the last two years,” she said.
She said economic security also needs to be worked on. She said oil and gas prices have escalated but that hasn’t translated into affordability for Albertans.
Renaud said the NDP wants a better relationship with municipalities and the way municipalities are funded, “to work with municipalities, not fight with them, and then just pass on costs,” she said.
Health-care security is another reason Renaud said she has decided to run. She said every week she hears from constituents who are concerned about whether they've had delays with diagnostic procedures and surgeries
“It's devastating to their lives and a lot of this was preventable,” she said
Renaud was initially elected to the St. Albert riding in May 2015 and was re-elected in April 2019. She has been the Opposition critic for both community and social services and Francophone issues since May 2019.
She said the time has flown by since she was first elected, and she feels it’s an incredible honour to be a part of the process to help constituents navigate complex government systems and advocate for changes in legislation.
“I feel like I learned a lot of lessons in our first four years and one of the things that I set out to do was to work even harder at listening to people, and that meant phoning people when we were in pandemics,” she said.
Renaud said she will work harder at listening to people and she feels confident she understands what the “vast majority of my constituents want in a representative.”
The next general election is slated to be held on May 29, 2023, unless an election is called earlier.
When asked why she chose to announce her intention now, Renaud said it was about timing.
“We feel ready to go. To have a nomination to sort of block it in that I'm the candidate and keep going,” she said.
