Lac La Biche – St. Paul Liberal Party candidate, John Nowak, held his first meet and greet in the constituency at the St. Paul Legion on Thursday.
Since chosen as the Liberal Party candidate in December, Nowak has put together a team for the association and the campaign.
“Up until now, we've just been basically planning our strategy on how do we cover as much ground in as short a time as possible," he told the Journal.
Nowak plans to run his campaign from a holiday trailer. “We're doing this campaign as economically as possible because I believe the government should also run as economically as possibly," he said.
Nowak says he's gained a bit of “notoriety" as an outspoken councillor for Lac La Biche County.
“I believe at this point, this early in the game, it truly is anyone's race," said Nowak, adding he plans to run a clean campaign. “I think I've got a good mix of experience, a background in community service. I think I've got the kind of ethics and morals that people can put their trust in."
While the constituency may be a Progressive Conservative stronghold now, “things change," contended Nowak.
Nowak defines a liberal as “socially responsible and fiscally conservative. It's the best of both worlds. It's a little NDP and a little PC." The Liberal Party is the working class party, added Nowak.
Nowak dropped out of high school, went back to school and opened his own business and works three jobs. He works for CPI Service in Lac La Biche as the northeast Alberta sales rep. “I'm the epitome of working class and this party will take care of me."
The Liberal Party calls for a progressive tax on income over $100,000 between three and seven per cent, which Nowak said would affect three per cent of the population.
“The tax hikes we're looking at are fairly insignificant in the grand scheme of things," he said.
While tax hike opponents say increasing taxes hurts the economy and can reduce jobs, Nowak said the amount would be unlikely to hurt small businesses or reduce jobs.
Nowak said he has a hard time seeing Alberta's resources developed by other countries with profit leaving Canada.
“I'm seeing American companies moving in to Alberta, purchasing Canadian owned companies, and consolidating them and laying off good Albertan workers in industries that were operating just fine. So I have a really hard time with this unchecked growth and development."
