The contest for Alberta Party nomination in the St. Albert riding has two well-known residents looking for the spot.
Tim Osborne, a local management consultant and vice-president of the Heritage Lakes Community Association, announced his intentions last week to run for the party’s nomination.
Meanwhile, Victor Fernandez, a local firefighter and founder of the charity Canadian Aid for Fire Services Abroad — a charity that supplies firefighting equipment to developing countries — is also seeking the spot.
Fernandez’s work with that charity earned him a spot as a finalist in the CBC’s Champions for Change competition that awarded contestants for their volunteerism.
Osborne said the Alberta Party has impressed him since its emergence on the provincial scene. He said he believes the party is trying to do politics differently.
“I really think it is time for a new way of doing things in the province,” he said. “One of the things that drew me in specifically to the Alberta Party is that I think the party is really committed to restoring the voice of the Albertans in the political system.”
Fernandez said his work to bring firefighting equipment to those who need it is very rewarding, but he wants to attempt to improve the lives of Albertans now.
“I am a humanitarian and I have been overseas a lot, but I am looking to do something here at home. It is time to do something here.”
Osborne said he has been frustrated that the current Alberta political parties are too attached to their old ideas.
“One of my frustrations has been that it just seems like there is a lack of ideas out there.”
Fernandez said he chose to run for the Alberta Party because he likes their balanced approach to creating policy and bringing about change.
“They are not to the left, they are not to the right; they are in the middle. And I am at an age, a mature age, where I want to find a good balance.”
Osborne agrees the party has taken a balanced approach and is going to do well by looking for the best ideas.
“I think, across the spectrum, there are good ideas and, for me, that is important, to get rid of this idea that any one party has a monopoly on good ideas.”
The Alberta Party has not yet elected an MLA to the legislature. Calgary Currie MLA Dave Taylor sits as an Alberta Party member, but was elected as a Liberal in the last election.
The party selected a leader, Hinton Mayor Glenn Taylor, earlier this year and has released some of its policy positions.
Osborne admits winning a seat in St. Albert or anywhere in the province is going to be a challenge for the party, but he said the party also isn’t encumbered by its history the way some of the other parties are.
“I kind of like the idea of a blank slate,” he said. “They all carry such baggage with them, if you will, and people have preconceived notions. I think the Alberta Party is building something new and that appealed to me.”
Fernandez said he would leave his position with St. Albert Fire Services to become an MLA and his work with CAFSA would also move to the back burner. He wants to improve the lives both of St. Albertans and of everyone else in the province.
“It is not just about St. Albert. It’s what St. Albert can do for the province and the rest of the world,” he said. “I have the energy. I am a very positive kind of guy.”
The party is scheduled to hold its nomination contest on Sept. 26.
