The Interim leader of the province's Alberta Party will be getting up to speed on local issues this Sunday at the Winter Festival of Speed event.
Jacquie Fenske, a former Conservative Party MLA, and Strathcona County council member, will be meeting with community members and taking in the action at the annual ice racing event.
"The Lac La Biche area is a great place. I want to come a talk to the people and find out what they see as being of particular importance to their area and where they see Alberta going," she told the POST on Friday, adding that she recently go her motorcycle license — but has no plans to test her winter-time need for speed while she's visiting. "I"m hoping I won't have to bring my helmet — I'm coming up to basically listen. The biggest part of my mission is to listen."
And as the interim leader of a party whose mandate falls between the political right and left, she knows it's not just about listening, but who you are listening to.
"I'd like to think that we, as a party, like to listen to all voices," she told the POST "We look at each issue on its own merits and some of the answers will fall a little more to the left .... and others will fall a little more to the right."
Somewhere in the middle is the balance that Fenske thinks Albertans are now ready for. And using the ice races as a bit of a theme, she explained how her party plans to cross the finish line in first place in the next provincial election.
"We've been in the 'left' ditch, and we've been in the 'right' ditch. How about we chose now to drive down the centre of the road."
Fenske plans to spend her hours in Lac La Biche on Sunday between some arranged meetings with community members and watching the races.
The Alberta Party will be holding its annual general meeting in Calgary in April where its members are expected to announce their leadership race. Due to party bylaws, Fenske is not permitted to run for the leader's role.
"My job right now is to raise the profile," said Fenske.
In the 2019 provincial election, more than 170,000 Albertans cast a ballot for any one of the 87 Alberta Party candidates that ran in every Alberta riding. Despite the nine per cent popular vote, no Alberta Party candidates were elected to the Legislature.
