The man selected to take the place of out-going Wildrose representative Shayne Saskiw had some reservations when the Wildrose Party first approached him to run in the upcoming provincial election. But after giving the possibility some more thought, St. Paul resident David Hanson, a political newcomer decided to throw his hat in the ring.
The man selected to take the place of out-going Wildrose representative Shayne Saskiw had some reservations when the Wildrose Party first approached him to run in the upcoming provincial election. But after giving the possibility some more thought, St. Paul resident David Hanson, a political newcomer decided to throw his hat in the ring.
“My initial reaction was ‘absolutely not’ , but then I gave it some reflection and decided ‘why not?’ ,” he said. “I’ ve been following politics. I never entered into it because I’ ve been busy. Anyone who has worked in the oil patch over the last 10 or 15 years knows that it’ s normally pretty tough to get a day off.”
Hanson has lived in this constituency nearly his entire life. Born and raised in Two Hills, he has lived on a farm near St. Paul for the last 22 years, where he raised two kids - one is now a registered nurse at the University Hospital in Edmonton, and another entering their final year of med school at the University of Alberta. Having two children in the medical profession makes healthcare one of his top priorities.
“I’ m proud of them, and it also brings concerns about the state of the health care system and over-stressing our front line workers as well,” he said. “That’ s one of my priorities.”
He also worked in the oil and gas, and construction industries for a combined 36 years, working his way up from apprenticing to his current position as an inspector and consultant for Canadian Natural Resources Limited. His professional background has given him some ideas as to what he thinks the constituency needs - namely improved infrastructure.
“A few of the highways desperately need some work,” he said, adding that highways aren’ t the only infrastructure he thinks needs improving. “As the population grows, hospital facilities and school facilities aren’ t growing as rapidly as they should be.”
The early stages of Hanson’ s campaign are underway, and he is excited to see where his foray into the political arena takes him. He’ s going to start by travelling around the constituency to meet the residents.
“It’ s pretty exciting, we’ re just getting rolling. I haven’ t had a whole bunch of time to think about it, but so far it’ s been pretty good,” he said. “I’ m looking forward to getting out and meeting the people.”
