One way or the other the residents of Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock will have a new MLA for the first time in decades on April 23.
With former MLA Ken Kowalski retiring after more than three decades in office, the race for the riding has been thrown open with five candidates vying for the spot.
Progressive Conservative party candidate Maureen Kubinec said she hopes she will be able to make a strong case to have the PC party continue to represent the riding.
Kubinec said she believes people are looking for something different, but argues they’re getting that from Premier Alison Redford.
“I think Albertans are looking for a change and we are seeing that change happen with our new premier. She has implemented a lot of things that Albertans have asked for,” Kubinec said.
A former school trustee and county councillor, Kubinec said she believes she has the right experience to represent the region.
“The fact that I have good experience in government and have been a resident of this constituency for 20 years, I think I can take the issues forward,” she said.
Wildrose candidate Link Byfield agreed that Albertans are looking for change, but disagrees with Kubinec about whether they are getting it.
“It is going to be whether people believe this government has in any meaningful way changed or reformed at all,” he said. “The answer most people are reaching is no, it hasn’t changed.”
Byfield, a former magazine publisher and senator-in-waiting, has had his party’s nomination for more than a year. In that time he’s been out door-knocking and hosting events. He said that will make it easier to win the election, but he is under no illusion about the challenge.
“I think it helps level the playing field a bit. I am up against a party that has been in place since 1968 in this riding,” he said.
NDP candidate Trudy Grebenstein, a former accountant with Edmonton Public Schools, said the government long ago stopped listening to Albertans.
“We are counting on the current government to be in touch with ordinary Albertans and I am not convinced that the Stelmach government was and I am not convinced that the Redford government is,” she said.
She said ears are open in the riding and people are willing to try something new.
“What I am hearing is that all of a sudden people are interested in change, because they believe change is possible,” she said. “They didn’t believe change was possible before.”
She said electing an NDP opposition would help ensure the needs of working class and middle income Albertans are met.
“I do believe that we need to have more seats in the opposition because it keeps government more on guard, more honest and more accountable,” she said.
Evergreen party candidate Lisa Grant will also be running in the race. The stay-at-home mom and school bus driver said her party is the only one that speaks to her.
“When, for a couple of elections there was nobody to vote for, I was disappointed and I decided someone had to step up to the plate,” she said.
Grant has run both federally and provincially for the Green party before.
She said her party is about a long-term plan for the province, not short-term political wins.
“We are not your traditional political party. People are getting really frustrated with modern politics and we are an alternative to that,” she said. “We focus on long-term goals rather than just the next election. We look for co-operation among the parties.”
The Alberta Liberal party has nominated Leslie Penny to run in the riding again. Penny, who lives in Barrhead, was the candidate for the party in the 2008 election. The Gazette was unable to contact Penny before press time.
