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Tuesday October 13 2015 3 POLITICS FEDERAL ELECTION The Fort Smith District Education Authority will hold its Annual General Meeting Thursday Nov. 19 2015 700PM at JBT Room 113 Delegates wishing to address the authority may do so by contacting our office in writing 72 hours prior to the meeting at P.O. Box 131 or by fax at 867-872-2448. The public is welcome to attend. Dennis Bevington TGIF Barbeque 500 - 700 PM Friday October 16 Conibear Park Fort Smith - Weather Permitting GET READY TO VOTE I SUPPORT By CRAIG GILBERT AnewridingisupforgrabsinnorthernAlberta. Five candidates a Conservative Green Libertarian Liberal and New Democrat will battle in the first-ever vote in Peace River- Westlock situated between Grande Prairie- Mackenzie and Fort McMurray-Cold Lake. It was created during a boundary redistri- bution in 2012 out of parts of Peace River Fort McMurray-Athabasca Westlock-St. Paul and Yellowheadandifthe73627eligiblevotersthere elect Libertarian Jeremy Sergeew on Oct. 19 it wont even have a politician representing it. Sergeewwasthefirstcandidatetorespondto four questions circulated to all candidates via email. Liberal Chris Brown and Green Sabrina LeeLevacfailedtorespondbeforepressdeadline. I am not a politician and if elected I prom- ise to remain not a politician Sergeew an oil field worker said there are too many ca- reer politicians on the Hill. The married father of five who does one crazy thing a year to remind himself of who he is said the fed has to pour more back into the region. We are taxed too high with no real help coming back to us he said. New Democrat candidate Cameron Alexis a former Assembly of First Nations Regional Chief for Alberta has addressed the House of Commons the Senate and the United Nations in both New York and Geneva. He said in a short email his primary concern if elected would be to spend time understanding the new riding and making sure hes accessible to the public in part by going to peoples com- munities and setting up systems to consult with the public on critical issues. growth are chief among the ridings concerns and that is about where the similarities end. An auto mechanic with a family to raise Viersen said the Tories are the only party that can be trusted to keep taxes low and keep the economy growing. Over the last 10 years the Conservative government has signed nearly 30 free trade agreements he said. This ensures that there are customers for the products that are pro- duced in northern Alberta. Our farmers log- gers oil field workers and manufacturing rely on global markets to survive. We need to con- tinue to encourage trade around the world. He said infrastructure is important to get those products to market and the provinces bones have improved since the Conservatives took power in 2006 and there is still more we can accomplish. He said the NDP plan is fully costed and addresses critical aspects of Canadian soci- ety highlighting the partys plan to create 15-per-day child care across the country reduce the small business tax rate to nine per cent spend an extra 1.5 billion on infrastruc- ture creating a cap-and-trade greenhouse gas emission reduction system repeal Bill C-51 and call a national inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women. In the past Ive been able to work with big industry to move projects forward with heightened environmental standards Alexis said. That way we create good jobs for future generations and leave them with a healthy environment as well. I plan to apply this skill and philosophy when Im working in Ottawa. ConservativeArnoldViersenagreeswiththe othercandidatesthatjobcreationandeconomic By CRAIG GILBERT James Friesen and his wife have a blended family of 10 children and they raised all but one of them for a time as a single parent be- fore meeting. Now the Green Party candidate in Grande Prairie-Mackenzie a grandfather of 38 and a great grandfather of six he still remembers what it is like to live paycheque-to-paycheque and he believes that experience would inform his work if elected MP on Oct. 19. The two top issues in the riding of Grande Prairie-Mackenziearethecurrentoilcrisisand downturninoureconomythathasresultedinjob lossesformanypeopleandthecostofrentand foodinthefaceofjobslostisacauseofconcern toaneverincreasingnumberofpeopletoohe said. It is our duty to leave this world a better place than it was when we entered it. That can bestatleastformebeachievedthroughpolitics. Frieseniscurrentlyself-employedandspent most of his career working in agriculture. He notes the Green Party is the only one that be- lievesinparticipatorydemocracywhichempha- sizes the broad participation of constituents in thedirectionandoperationofpoliticalsystems. We in the Green Party believe that only by governments working together with Canadians can we make this country into all that it can be. LiberalcandidateReaganJohnstonisgrate- ful to have grown up in Wild Rose Country. Ibelievewithmyenergyandpassionforthis greatprovinceandthefactthatAlbertahasmade a man out of me should attract voters he said. JohnstonwouldtaketheAlbertamentality to Ottawa and work to get this great country backonitsfeet.Hesaidthetemporaryforeign workers program needs fixing so small busi- nessownersinnorthernAlbertacanstafftheir storefronts and that the federal government should work with the provinces not against them to address regional doctor shortages. Weareahard-workingpeopleandweneed our voices to be heard in Ottawa he said. I believe the Liberal party has a leader and a great plan to help Canadians today not in 5-10 or 20 years from now like our competitors. Incumbent Conservative Chris Warkentin hasrepresentedPeaceRiverforalmost10years since the 2006 general election and told the Journal he is running again because he would be honoured to continue to represent and de- fend the regions interests like the economy. I believe that the Conservative Party is the only team that has a balanced plan to weather the international market uncertainty that we are facing today he said. Our team knows that we must continue to expand market ac- cess for the product that we produce here in Canada and ensure that the infrastructure is in place to reach these new markets. We will continue to advance a low-tax plan that will support local families small businesses and local employers. He said the other parties only have unre- alistic promises of spending billions of dollars with no plan to pay for it other than stripping Peace Country families of their benefits and raising their taxes. Those benefits should include private op- tions for health care and insurance accord- ingtoLibertariancandidateDylanThompson. The Libertarian party is against this un- warranted vilification of the oil industry and advocatesallowingprivateoptionsforcareand insurance which would alleviate the public wait times and the growing fiscal burden on our public healthcare he said. We want the provinces to be free to choose the healthcare system that best fits their needs. Thompson who is running for the first time and said he listens to podcasts and on- line broadcasts about politics economics and philosophy in his spare time said voting Libertarian sends a message to the growing party that there is support out there. VotingLibertariansendsamessagetotheworld thatapartofourcountryspopulationvaluesan absence of social and economic interventions he said. I agreed to be a part of the Libertarian PartyafterIdiscoveredthattheirmaingoalwas nottochangetheworldbygettingintopowerbut insteadtoadvocateandadvertiselibertarianism toCanadians.Thatcanincludehavingyourvoice travel farther by holding a seat in Parliament. We are a hard-working people and we need our voices to be heard in Ottawa. Liberal candidate Reagan Johnston Five fight new Alberta riding of Peace River-Westlock Economy top-of-mind in northwestern Albertas Grande Prairie-Mackenzie riding POLITICS FEDERAL ELECTION