St. Paul and area residents have a golden opportunity tomorrow afternoon to get involved in helping to pick the province's top political spot. Progressive Conservative candidate Doug Horner will be on hand for questions at the Ag Corral at 4:30 p.m., after touring through Vilna and Lac La Biche, to try to earn local party members’ support to become the next premier.
Horner is the first candidate to announce his visit ahead of time to town and has the support of local MLA Ray Danyluk. Danyluk expects to see all the candidates pass through town, so for the next three months until this leadership race wraps up, it's grilling season, but also open season for asking tough questions to politicians.
The list of provincial issues snagging local interest is long and growing. From Alberta Health Service 's menu, superboard and recent restructuring, to the land use plan for the Lower Athabasca region, transmission lines and education funding, the pages of the Journal these past months show an engaged electorate keen to dig deep into complicated problems. Some leadership candidates have raised concerns with the land use legislation they previously voted for, certainly an ironic twist fitting for an election of this much importance. Other candidates will be stuck explaining their support for unpopular legislation or decisions made through the years of Progressive Conservative government. The province's next premier will have some tough calls to make and needs public input now.
The winner of the contest will become the next premier of Canada's economic powerhouse, the most important premier in Canada, economically. What this next premier does or does not do will affect the province's well-being as well as its place in federation. The province has a lot to lose. We hope to see lots of area residents attend leadership race events to ask those tough questions and demand answers.
