By JULIE BERTRAND
Independent Reporter
Alberta Party acting leader Sue Huff visited Stettler Tuesday, Feb. 8 to share her party’s municipal plans with town, county and school board members.
She met with Greg Switenky, assistant CAO for Town of Stettler, town councillor Malcolm Fischer, James Nibourg, councillor for Erskine-South Warden of County of Stettler, and Peter Simons, trustee of Clearview Public Schools. Malcolm Walters, Alberta Party provincial organizer, was also present.
Huff is gearing up for the upcoming leadership race as well as well as the provincial elections. She has been meeting with town councils all over Alberta to get feedback on the party’s municipal affairs policy draft.
“The aim is to get the document as refined as possible before we bring it to the members to vote, probably in the spring,” Huff said.
“When we have our leadership race, we’ll have another round of policy for members to look at and vote on and give amendments.”
The Alberta Party’s policy wants to redefine the relationship between the province and the municipalities and make it more collaborative and respectful. The party wants municipalities to have more of a say in how things go.
“So far, most of the councils that I’ve met with are very, very happy with this document because it respects their role and it really is about providing stable funding for them so that they can do the job, have long-term planning and be able to serve their community,” said Huff.
The Drumheller-Stettler constituency association still has not been organized, and the party is looking for members and possible candidates. Interested people can contact Michael Walters at michael@albertaparty.ca.
When talking about the provincial elections, Huff thinks that Albertans are going to be passionate about their vote this time, because of all the changes that happened in the last few years.
“We now have five parties and there were three important resignations in one week at the end of January,” she said.
“I think there’s a real sense that your vote in the next election is probably going to count more than in any other elections before because there will be some really good choices there and people will be able to find something that truly fits with their beliefs rather than just picking the least of all evil.”