Thank You and Alberta Party's Growing Strength

I would like to thank everyone who had helped out on my campaign.  Without your support I would not have been able to put a campaign together.  I also want to thank the 57% of voters who came out to vote last night and I would like to see that number greatly increase next election.   I would like to say thank you to all the candidates who ran in Edmonton - Mill Woods, it was a pleasure to meet all of you.  You all ran excellent campaigns and I look forward to seeing you again next election.

My oldest daughter asked me this morning "why would Albertans who wanted change vote in a party they have had for 41 years?"  My answer to her was that Albertans did not want change for the sake of change but what they wanted was a positive viable alternative to vote for which was not there.  I told her that we cannot sit back and complain for the next four years but instead we have to get involved, be heard and build that alternative that Albertans want.

As you know, the Alberta Party was not able to win any seats this election but we ran a positive campaign, all 38 candidates did an outstanding job during the election representing our party and support for the Alberta Party has grown.  Before this election not many people have heard of the Alberta Party but after four weeks of meeting people on their door steps, presenting our platform at all the forums and getting our message of Dream Bigger out to voters has made us stronger then ever.

When I was out collecting my campaign signs, I had a constituent ask me for one of my signs.  People were stopping me to ask me about the Alberta Party and the results from the election.  People were impressed to see that we captured over 17,000 votes when votes splitting was evident in last nights election results.  I have had offers from people, who are not Alberta Party members to help set up Big Listen meetings as they want to be more involved with the Alberta Party.  The biggest complaint about the Alberta Party this election was that we were not able to run a full slate of candidates and people wanted to vote for the Alberta Party.

The Alberta Party is growing.  Get involved and be heard!

Your Vote Will Make a Difference

Your vote this election will make a difference.  You have the power to choose who is going to represent you in the legislature.  I know that one vote can make a difference and I know this because my vote helped change the political landscape of our province.

In 2009, the Alberta Party Board of Directors  had a choice to make, become a new party or accept an offer from the Wildrose Party to merge our two parties.  I had just joined the Board of Directors that day and I was serving as acting secretary for the meeting.  It was a long debate and when the time came to vote I counted 5 votes in favour of the merger and 5 against.  The room was silent and I was advised by the Board that I have yet to cast my vote.  My vote was the tie breaking vote that changed the future of the Alberta Party.  One vote. One Person.

I heard a similar story from a friend who helped me get my signs and flyers printed for this election.  He is a card carrying PC member who decided last minute to attend the PC Nomination Meeting for his riding.  It was a tight race between the two PC candidates and in the end it came down to one vote.  It was his vote that helped his candidate to win.  One Vote.  One Person.

This election is very important and your vote can determine who wins.  I urge you to vote for the candidate that you feel best represents you in the legislature.  By not voting or by spoiling your ballot on purpose, does fix the problems that we have in our political system.  The only way we can change the system is when we stand up, get involved and vote.  If you do not stand up for something then you will fall for anything.  This election Be Heard!  

Radio Sur Sangum Interview

I was given the opportunity to have a spot on Radio Sur Sangum (1440 AM, www.w1440.com) tonight from 9:00 PM to 9:20 PM to talk about the Alberta Party and my campaign.  This election is very important and Sur Sangum Radio is having all the candidates come out from the Edmonton - Mill Woods Riding to share their platforms.

It was a great discussion, I was asked about the my platform on Health Care, Post Secondary Education and Oil & Gas industry.  One message I wanted to get out to everyone was that the voters need to get out and ask the questions that matter the most to them.  Email your candidates and ask for an answer.

What amazed me the most was the discussion that happened after the show.  I met up with NDP candidates Sandra Azocar and Evelinne Teichgraber after my segment on the show and started having a fun political discussion.  After the show, we all stayed and chatted with Independent candidate Carl Benito and campaign volunteers and the staff of the radio station.  It was a good discussion on the lighter side of politics and the issues we have been hearing from voters during this election.

All in all to was a great evening.  I would like to thank the staff of Radio Sur Sangum for hosting this forum.

McKernan School Visit April 18th

Yesterday morning while on the campaign trail, I was asked if I was available to meet with some elementary students at Mckernan School yesterday afternoon.  The students at McKernan School were studying politics and were learning about the different parties and their platforms and ill be participating in a mock election come April 19th.

I met with the grade five and six students who were doing a presentation of the Alberta Party for their class.  I was impressed by the presentation as they focused on our Big Listen campaign, Dream Bigger Election Platform and what our party stood for.

I gave a brief history of my party and how we do politics differently.  I told them about the Big Listen and how we developed our party platform from the voices and ideas of all Albertans.  How we believe that politics needs to leave the mudslinging out and focus on a positive campaign.

The students bombarded me with lots of questions, such as, about the environment, what campaigning was like, what will be the first thing I would do should I become a MLA and so on.  We also discussed bit about the other political parties and their platforms, signs and party colours.

I had a great time and the students and staff at McKernan School were wonderful.

Questions from Constituents on the Campaign Trail

I have been asked some very good questions on the campaign trail by my constituents and by the Students of Edith Rogers School and McKernan School.  The two questions below are the most common I have been asked.

1. If you could do one thing while in office to leave a legacy, what would you do?

My legacy would be to get people to be more involved in politics.  It is clear that our democracy is dying when we saw in the last election where only 40% of Albertans decided to vote.  I would like to create a system where the MLA's have to actively engage their constituents on a regular basis and have MLA's be held accountable for their actions by having a yearly performance review done.

2. If you were elected MLA, what would be the first thing you would do?

I would follow the example set out by the Alberta Party. I will listen to my constituents, support good ideas in the legislature no matter which party has brought it forward and put my constituents first before my party.

I appreciate all the questions I have received and there are no silly questions.  Please share your views with me and ask the questions that matter to you most.  This goes for all candidates in this election.  Stand up an be heard.  

All Candidates Forum at Edith Rogers School

I attended the first and only All Edmonton - Mill Woods Candidate Forum at Edith Rogers School yesterday.  This forum was hosted by the students at Edith Rogers School where all the candidates were allowed to make a 10 minute presentation about themselves and their platforms followed by questions from the students.

The questions asked by the students were:

What is our platform for post-secondary education?

Why is our current MLACarl Benito running as an Independent Candidate?

What is our platform for Primary and Secondary Schools?

After the forum was completed the students came and chatted the candidates to ask more questions from the candidates.

I was asked:

What is my platform on the funding of programs for special needs students?

What legacy would I leave behind if I was elected MLA?

What is my platform for funding for Seniors?

This was followed up by the Rock Star treatment of the students asking for our autographs.

It was a great time to meet face to face with the other candidates in Edmonton - Mill Woods and share ideas.  I was disappointed that the Alberta Liberal and Wildrose candidates were unable to attend as these students would have like to hear the platforms of those parties as well.

I would like to thank the staff and students of Edith Rogers School for putting this forum together and I hope it was very educational.

Below is the link to the Global News coverage of the forum ( starts at the 5:38 mark).

http://www.globaltvedmonton.com/video/early+news+apr+13/video.html?v=2222789359#earlynews/video

The Signs are Ready!

Fresh off the press and assembly required

 I would like to thank everyone who has donated time, money and resources for my campaign.  Without your support, my campaign would not have gone very far and I would have been forced to make my signs from scratch again, which was very labour intensive the last time I ran.  We are half way through the campaign period and the momentum for campaign and the Alberta Party keeps growing.

Finished Product 

Downloadable Window Signs