Get to know your Alberta Election candidates

By Jordan Parker

The candidates for the Drumheller-Stettler riding are hitting the pavement and pushing for your vote in the May 29th, 2023, provincial election.

The central-east area includes Cereal, Consort, Hanna, Oyen, Youngstown and Dinosaur Provincial Park, and The Oyen Echo interviewed three to get to know them.

The United Conservative Party’s Nate Horner is the current Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for the Drumheller-Stettler constituency. Horner participated in the All Candidates Forum sponsored by the Big Country Agriculture Society on May 16. PHOTO BY KATE WINQUIST

Independence Party’s candidate Shannon Packham speaks with constituents after the All Candidates Forum at the Oyen Legion Hall last week. PHOTO BY KATE WINQUIST

The Independence Party’s candidate Shannon Packham is tired of broken promises from the Alberta government. Packham is a teacher and former athletic trainer, but the most important job to her in the world is taking care of her children and grandchildren.

“I’ve been here waiting for the legacy government to do something to save me and my family, and it wasn’t happening. I decided to become a candidate and do it myself,” she said.

Packham has travelled all over the riding, talking to constituents and hearing what priorities are. But she’s focused on mandates that have come in since COVID-19.

“When the COVID ‘narrative’ was ramping up, I wasn’t allowed to teach or into a school really because I chose bodily autonomy over forced injection,” she said.

“It was heartbreaking, and I know so many teachers and EAs who were in the same boat. From there, I started attending rallies against the mandates and government overreach, letting other Albertans know that they were not alone in the fight against the government overreach.”

Through advocacy, she’s discussed the need for separation between Alberta and the federal government and Ottawa and has moved from working in communications with the party to becoming a candidate.

She calls the mandates around vaccines as well as teaching about gender diversity and 2SLGBTQIA+ issues in school, part of a “woke agenda.”

“It’s getting out of hand. There’s no place for that in schools,” she said.

She is against the carbon tax, and the federal government doing things at the expense of Albertans, and also believes health care is a major priority in the area that’s not being addressed.

“There aren’t enough doctors, nurses, healthcare aides, ambulance workers or paramedics. They were forced out by the vaccine, and many had to not have a job. It wasn’t just in the health sector either,” she said.

She finds the idea that the two major parties in the province just keep changing hands of leadership to be frustrating.

“It’s time for this two-party system to end. People talk about picking between the lesser of two evils when voting, but why?” she said.

“People should be able to look at the candidate, their values, and vote that way, or nothing will change. I’m giving people an option of real Conservative values without the party whip.”

The United Conservative Party’s Nate Horner is the current Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for the riding, and he hopes that continues.

“If you look at things high-level, the main concerns for Alberta are affordability and health care. In this riding, those are top priorities as well. There are issues with electricity costs, distribution and transmission, and renewables,” he said.

“The two coal regeneration facilities were shut down prematurely. And rural health and the economy are big. Alberta has seen growth, but that doesn’t always reach and help the furthest corners of the province.”

There are many things he points to as high points over the past few years, including within education.

“There are many things I’m proud of, including changes I made to the education funding model. We provided support to rural schools facing declining or stagnant populations,” he said.

“We diverted money for student transportation because we recognized what rural schools are faced with as well.”

Horner launched the Agri-Processing Investment Tax Credit Program, negotiated a Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership, and has focused on irrigation expansion in east-central Alberta.

“We want to make sure money made from infrastructure goes outside the two major cities. We have a large potential irrigation investment, and we’re only a year away from finding out if that’s feasible in some regard,” he said.

“There’s also potential to extend the CN rail line west past Oyen. We are looking at routes now. There are just some big regional projects that could move the needle for the area.”

A big area where he sees a place for improvement and more investment is in the province’s health care system.

“We continue to invest in health care and want to grow how many nurses and doctors there are here. We have work to do, and we need more in small towns. This is systemic across Canada, and we just keep working,” he said.

Horner also sees issues with the prices of utilities, cost of living and other things and hopes to alleviate that for constituents.

“I want to acknowledge issues, be honest, and find strategies to fix them. We want to make a tangible difference. We had affordable power for years and are facing issues from the federal government on that,” he said.

“This province can’t change direction or leadership. We want to work with the people on a new mandate and keep going.”

NDP candidate Juliet Franklin says the Drumheller-Stettler riding is vast, and she’s seen some amazing people since she moved there three years ago.

“There’s a sense of community. To see people willing to give the shirts off their backs is something I appreciate. Seeing kind, giving and nurturing behaviour is amazing, but I’m frustrated our current political representation doesn’t match our values,” she said.

“People can’t afford their bills, put food on the table, and they have trouble getting a doctor. The cost of school supplies is large, and people are frustrated that their representation isn’t listening to their concerns. They send letters to their MLA and never hear back, and they deserve better.”

A pharmacist by day, access to quality health care is a huge thing Franklin is pushing for and would focus on if she was elected.

“People need a doctor; they don’t need to sit in the ER for eight-10-12 hours. We need to have proper staffing levels and have quality care from all types of professionals,” she said.

“The Alberta NDP is looking and planning for interdisciplinary care, and I’m really excited about that. Having access to teams of people like that would make a huge difference.”

She says Nate Horner has done a number of good things since being elected but that he’s also missed the mark in key areas.

“He increased funding for transportation for rural schools, which is amazing in a place where we are spread so far and wide. But the curriculum in place and health care are still major issues,” she said.

“And when people reach out, they hear crickets. It’s not helpful to have the person you elected not respond. Hearing nothing back makes people feel they put trust into someone who isn’t listening.”

That, she said, is somewhere the residents of Drumheller-Stettler can rely on her to be different.

“My patients, co-workers, and anyone who knows me is aware I am a good listener. I’ve leaned into that during this campaign and heard the concerns, feedback, and what people like and dislike,” she said.

“I want people to feel heard, listened to, and to know their issues will be actioned. I can make the people here finally feel heard.”

The election is May 29th, 2023. For more information, visit https://www.elections.ab.ca/elections/albertas-next-election/.