Local Wildrose Party candidate Shayne Saskiw and leader Danielle Smith received the endorsement of a political heavyweight as former Beaver River MP Deb Grey endorsed both, in a phone interview with the Journal from B.C.
“These are just fine young folks putting their name forward for public office and I think that's great to see," Grey said.
Describing the constituency as her “old stomping grounds" and where her heart is, she said she knows Smith, Saskiw, Fort Saskatchewan - Vegregille candidate Shannon Stubbs and Wildrose senatorial candidate Raymond Germain well. The Beaver River riding split into two neighbouring ridings in 1997.
Calling the Wildrose Senate nomination candidate a “good, solid guy," Grey said she hopes to see Germain in the Senate.
Grey said Alberta “has swung every few decades" and expects to see the Wildrose make big gains on April 23. “Something old is dying, but something new is being reborn, which is what we saw in Reform at the federal level. I think that the Wildrose is doing this in large measure at the provincial level."
Alberta history establishes a party “like a dynasty" but slowly people decide it is not meeting their needs, she explained. Like when Social Credit went out in the 1970s and the PCs came in, “I think you're seeing that groundswell now."
“For a young woman in politics, Deb Grey was one of the heroes I looked up to. She just had such a battle and such a fight when she first went to Ottawa as the first Reform MP," Wildrose leader Danielle Smith said as her campaign tour stopped in St. Paul at the curling rink to meet with seniors on Wednesday.
Smith said Grey “paved the way for women to take on leadership roles in politics."
“I'm delighted that she has endorsed our party. I think that is fantastic news."
Grey's former campaign manager, Margaret Modin from Elk Point, has decided to vote for Saskiw and the Wildrose after a lifetime of voting Progressive Conservative. “We're at a time where we're seeing the same kind of unrest we saw when the Reform Party came forward," Modin told the Journal last month. “People are not happy with the way things are going and it's time for change."
She said the Wildrose is the only party that could bring that change “because they're organized." She added it's important to listen to all the candidates.
“One of the important things that I see in Shayne (Saskiw) is that he's a listener. I think we're finding that people in power are not listening."
Modin's biggest concerns leading up to the election are health care in Alberta and the Education Act, which failed to pass before the dropping of the writ. The proposed Bill 2 would have brought home schools under the act and forced home schools to teach the Alberta Education curriculum and “respect" the Human Rights Act, home school groups have said.
Modin said she's concerned money is spent “on anything pertinent to the people in government," which could be better spent on arrangements for seniors care. “That's a huge, huge issue now and it's going to get bigger."
Grey made history by becoming the first Reform Party MP in Canada in 1989 in a byelection, a job she held for 15 and a half years. She was also Canada's first female leader of the official opposition. Born in Vancouver, she taught high school at Frog Lake and Dewberry. In 2004, she retired from politics and authored a book about her experience called Never Retreat, Never Explain, Never Apologize. On the 1989 campaign, she said she did not suspect she would win until national media showed up at her office.
Leading up to the 2012 Alberta election, Grey said she sees people wanting to put “their trust and hope in something new," adding “that's why you see (Wildrose) coming up steadily in the polls."
“I don't think anyone has seen anything new or energetic coming out of the old PCs … I think (Albertans) are ready to make that change. There's that void, and somebody needs to fill it."
Smith agreed with Grey on the political tides turning in Alberta. The Reform Party rose because the federal Progressive Conservatives became out of touch, overspent, raised taxes, increased debt and “stopped being conservative," she said. “We're seeing the exact same thing playing out at the provincial level, a government that is spending out of control, blowing our savings, blowing our resource revenue and now talking about increasing our taxes, but doesn't want to have the conversation until after the election."
“I think most people are coming to the conclusion that the PCs absolutely do not deserve another majority government."
