In a supper-time social media post on Sunday night claiming victory in the constituency's UCP nomination, Brian Jean gave some food for thought to area voters.
"Albertans are looking for hope and change and the UCP members in Fort McMurray – Lac La Biche voted for renewal this weekend," said Jean following two days of voting at the Fort McMuray-Lac La Biche provincial constituency UCP nomination event. Jean was up against Fort McMurray businessman Joshua Gogo. Both men were fighting to be the UCP candidate in the as-yet-to-be announced by-election for the vacant constituency MLA seat. The seat was vacated in August when Laila Goodridge left provincial politics to become the area's federal MP.
Although no specific numbers can be found on UCP association websites or social media accounts from Sunday's final vote tallies, some close to the nomination say Jean took two-thirds of the ballots. In Jean's own social media statement, that includes a photo of him with a sign saying: "Thank You Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche Something Must Be Done!" there is no reference to vote counts or percentages. He does say that more than 2,000 paid members from the constituency were eligible to vote. Despite the lack of some details, his message was that the support was good for the party, good for the riding and good for Alberta.
"I am humbled by everyone's support and enthusiasm," Jean noted. Fort McMurray's ridings now have the largest membership of any ridings in Alberta ... The members of Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche have given me a mandate to push for renewal of the UCP and I expect that soon my constituents will give me a mandate (sic) get Alberta back on track."
The suppertime message was shared 165 times, liked by 2,000 and commented on more than 400 times through the night with most respondents offering support.
NDP ready for riding battle
Ariana Mancini, the newly nominated NDP candidate for the Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche riding sent out her own comments on the reported UCP vote outcome, congratulating Jean, while taking a shot at his well-publicized attacks on current Alberta Premier Jason Kenney.
“I want to congratulate Brian Jean on being nominated as the United Conservative Party candidate in the coming Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche by-election," noted Mancini in an NDP press release on Sunday night. "Mr. Jean has made it clear, even this evening, that he is running because of his rivalry with Jason Kenney. I am running for the people of Fort McMurray and Lac La Biche."
Gogo plans
Social media and website links for Gogo did not have any new information about the nomination outcome.
Gogo's site did contain images of sticky-note sketches of his future plans for the region. The images showed projected population boosts over the next 30 years into what he called the "North Economic Region" of Fort McMurray, Peace River, Grande Prairie and Cold Lake. The sketches show a future highway directly linking Fort McMuray and Cold Lake, but bypassing Lac La Biche.
Neither Gogo nor Jean were reached for comment before the initial publishing of this article.
