With the provincial election now in full swing, the four Lac La Biche-St. Paul-Two Hills MLA candidates have been out and about in Lac La Biche County.
Here’s a recap of last week, as the PC, Liberal, NDP, and Wildrose candidates battled for votes.
To see Ray Danyluk, John Nowak, Philippe Johnson, and Shayne Saskiw talk about the most pressing issues of this election, come to the candidates forum April 3, 7 p.m. at Portage College’s McGrane Theatre.
Shayne Saskiw – Wildrose Party
Two Hills-based lawyer Shayne Saskiw was at several events last week, including the Portage College Sports and Education dinner, the Hylo Quad Rally and the grand opening of the Kikino Community Hall.
Saskiw said the Wildrose are campaigning on a promise to tighten the belt on government spending. He said a few things would be on the chopping block: MLA salaries, the $16-billion Heartland Transmission Project, and the $2 billion the government committed to spend on carbon capture and storage technology for the oil sands.
“We’d get spending in order,” Saskiw said, adding that the Wildrose are promising to do that without raising taxes. “It’s important to get Alberta back in the black.”
Saskiw was critical of Danyluk’s recent announcement of a full-time dialysis unit coming to Lac La Biche, saying the promise is mere campaigning.
“He’s had 11 years to get dialysis for Lac La Biche – and he hasn’t done it,” Saskiw said. “It’s not coincidental he made another promise right before the election. In the meantime, there have been people who have left Lac La Biche because they couldn’t get the treatment they needed.”
He said the Wildrose have a “ground game” approach to this election, which means he’ll be out knocking on doors and spending time in Lac La Biche and other communities in the riding in the coming weeks.
Philippe Johnson – Alberta NDP
Philippe Johnson, who was born and raised in Lac La Biche County, said his campaign energies are more focused on the re-election of Edmonton-Strathcona NDP MLA Rachel Notley – as Johnson is a paid staffer on Notley’s campaign.
“To be honest, my own campaign is super low-resource,” Johnson said. “But it will be a learning experience.”
While, he admits that he won’t have a lot of time and money to commit to his own bid for provincial politics, he said he’ll still attend political debates as a forum for spreading NDP ideas – the biggest of which is improving the province’s health care system.
“The Tories haven’t built the long-term care beds that are so badly needed,” Johnson said.
“The Tories don’t want to have strong public health care – they want to chop it up and privatize it piece by piece.”
Like the Wildrose, the NDP say they want to make major changes to Alberta’s electricity sector.
But unlike the Wildrose, the NDP say re-regulating the market is the answer.
“That means that companies would need to ask an independent commission for the permission to raise power costs,” Johnson said.
“And that commission’s job would be to keep electricity rates as low as possible while still guaranteeing a level of profit for the power companies.”
Johnson said the NDP are campaigning by releasing a platform promise a day – then showing how they would pay for it.
John Nowak – Liberal Party
Local Councillor John Nowak has taken an unpaid leave from council and has fully dedicated himself to campaigning. Nowak has been out in the area, knocking on doors and meeting residents to hear their concerns. He’s also been attending events like this weekend’s quad rally in Hylo and Kikino’s ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new community hall.
“I’ve been meeting a lot of people, making contacts, and hearing a lot of stories,” Nowak said. “They run from stories of concern to stories of neglect.”
Based on what he’s hearing, Nowak says that he is focusing on three major provincial issues — health care, education and land-use. First off, he says he is committed to improving the quality of public healthcare, and says he is 100 per cent against privatizing the service.
“People don’t want to see a public healthcare system destroyed. They want to see healthcare that is accessible,” Nowak said. “Our public healthcare system needs to be the best, we should not be putting a price on people’s health.”
As for local healthcare issues, he says that the dialysis bus is not an adequate service at all, and says that the MLA’s announcement that the hospital is getting a permanent unit has “interesting timing.”
“I remember hearing that announcement six years ago,” Nowak said. “Everyone has good ideas, but [we need to see] results.”
He says he is also concerned how the closure of the Municipal Airport in Edmonton will affect air ambulance services.
“Our provincial government needs to be reminded that it has to be responsible to Northern Alberta,” Nowak said. “I expect the government to, without a doubt, solve our air ambulance crisis and find a truly viable alternative.”
For education, Nowak says one of the initiatives the Liberal Party is putting forward is having a hot-lunch program in schools.
“We do know there is an issue where children are coming to school hungry,” he said. “And a hungry child isn’t going to learn.”
And for land-use, Nowak would like to see the new bills put forth by the PC government completely revoked.
“There is no reason for them to even introduce [the bills],” he said.
Overall, Nowak would also like to see a review of government spending, to ensure that it is “efficient.”
“The whole system needs to be reviewed top down,” he said. “In our government right now, we have a thick layer of bureaucracy.”
Ray Danyluk – Progressive Conservatives
Putting an emphasis on continued infrastructure, Ray Danyluk's campaign centres on fiscal responsibility. His mandates include a no tax increase and he has no plans to introduce new taxes on Albertans. His 'Rural Roots, Real Results" message stems from a commitment to continue his three-year budget plan. Danyluk wants to continue to put his best foot forward in establishing the creation of more infrastructure for small communities like Lac La Biche.
"If we don't continue to strive for the best, if we don't continue to push for new schools, new roads, and new businesses, the community won't grow and we won't see the results we deserve. Lac La Biche has a lot to offer to Alberta and to Canada," said Danyluk.
At a community open house on Friday, in Lac La Biche, Danyluk took the time to meet with representatives from the community, and talked to a mostly older crowd about continuing care for seniors, and caps on prescription costs. Danny Smaiel, a school board trustee for the Northern Lights School Division prides Danyluk for his relationship building an open-door policy with the school system in Lac La Biche.
“What I’ve done in the past gives me the credibility to move forward in the future, I take a lot of pride in representing this community,” Danyluk said.
Although Danyluk says he has strong support in the area, and has previous experience the region’s MLA, all of the major parties agree that this will be one of the most intense and tightest elections to date.
"People know who I am, they understand what I represent, and how hard I fight for this community. I am not rolling over," Danyluk said.
