Progressive Conservative (PC) leadership candidate Doug Horner visited Bonnyville this past Wednesday, greeting local politicians, party members, and supporters at an early morning breakfast at the Centennial Centre.
Horner is originally from Barrhead, and has worked in banking, international trade, and was a soldier in the Canadian Forces.
He was elected to the legislature in 2001 as the MLA for Spruce Grove – Sturgeon – St. Albert, and held the post of minister of agriculture from 2004-06, and minister of advanced education and technology from 2006-11. He was also the minister liaison to the Canadian Forces.
MLA for Bonnyville – Cold Lake Genia Leskiw invited Horner to the region, who during his visit, attended the breakfast in Bonnyville, visited with seniors in Glendon and Bonnylodge, and attended a fish fry in Cold Lake.
Introducing him at the breakfast, Leskiw said, “I don't make any bones about it, I am supporting Doug Horner. I remember when I first got elected many years ago, I said to him, ‘Doug, one day, you will become a fine premier.' I just didn't realize it was going to be so soon.”
Horner spoke to those in attendance, outlining his campaign platform and the importance of uniting the PC party.
Horner explained in his mind, during Peter Lougheed's time as premier, the PC party values were “compassion, innovation, integrity, commitment to excellence.”
Now, however, he said, “If you ask some young people today, or even some new members, to define our party for you, you're not going to get those as the answer. Folks, that's our number one problem here for our party.”
He said a student told him the PC party's value was “balancing the budget at all costs.”
He also spoke about the importance of positioning Alberta for the future as new markets begin to emerge, looking for innovations in health care and energy, as well as production of food, all of which can be found in Alberta.
“We have this tremendous opportunity in our hands right now, and my fear is that if we don't change the way we make decisions and unite our party, we will lose the opportunity that is being presented to you as Albertans,” said Horner.
“We need to bring new Albertans to Alberta. I don't want Alberta to be a place where you come, make your money, and leave,” Horner added. “I want Alberta to be the place where you come and you make your own history here, and you set down roots. That means we have to invest in things like arts and culture, we have to invest in things like recreational opportunities, we have to invest in things like the (agricultural) societies and help build communities, because that will attract people, and you're going to need people.”
He also addressed concerns that Alberta needs a new party in power, saying, “People say ‘Oh, you've been in government for 40 years … and that you're getting old and stale.' The reality is, the values and principles that we have do not get old and stale. We will, if we ignore them and move away from them, and we have been. I want to bring us back to that.”
Horner's platform includes uniting the PC party and improving Alberta's health care and education to make them among the best in the world, according to his campaign website. His policies include establishing a $50-million fund to help students from the province study or do humanitarian projects abroad, provide health supports to help students learn about healthy lifestyles and choices, and to use innovative funding models to help low population schools become more viable. He also wants a province-specific immigration policy similar to Quebec's, and to create a system to help support immigrants to the province. He also wants to assist develop programs for temporary foreign workers to qualify for full citizenship.
