Cody Ray Both: The Independence Party of Alberta

I had my Son at 21, as a “rough around the edges” youth. Started my IT Career the same time, as a JR. Data Tech at the Medicine Hat Hospital. Eventually, after a few jobs in leadership, management and Technical repair, I took a chance at becoming a self-taught Entrepreneur.

2020 was a crazy time.. Coven Tech was born from me losing my Job due to the Covid Mandates.

A silver lining to the madness, and I grew from a home based business, to my own independent shop, voted 3rd best in Medicine Hat in the category of Computer Repair Services for 2022 in the “Community Votes” contest.

Unfortunately… I had to step away from Coven in Nov. 2022.. many tragedies seemed to happen at once, and I became quite burnt out and overstretched my personal limits every day. This ended up resulting in my social reclusion for several months until this spring of 2023.

And now currently I live happily, as a father, a business owner, a prairie boy, and an IT / Cyber Security specialist, attending online college level courses for ethical hacking and cyber security for businesses and/or personal online safety. Ensuring the future of Coven, and Our ability to protect you from the ever rapidly expanding world that is the Internet.

Why did you decide to run in this election?

Huge question & Answer: I am running in this election to prevent the further downturn of this great and beautiful place we all call home. I am doing this for my son’s education, who already can beat me in chess at age 6, I would like to see every other kid reach their potential in life.. not just the ones who fit the curriculums.

Also, for people that I know that have lost loved ones and friends to internal battles that nobody can see. In a fashion that could have been prevented with some proper guidance, and to the chance to exist in a world that they did not feel inclined to escape from, in the form of opiod and drug abuse.

But Honestly the biggest reason: The hope that is rekindled in a hopeless person’s eyes when you lend them your ear, confidence, and give them some faith in themselves.. truly the most beautiful thing in life is helping another person in their time of need.

What do you believe is the biggest issue facing the constituency right now?

Not in any prioritized order, but:

1) the amount of money Alberta loses to the federal government via harvesting and selling our natural resources. Roughly 50% of this revenue is sent to Ottawa annually, when it could be used to fund so many things that we need desperately, like Healthcare and medical aid for starters..

2) the concept that a Facility (Not naming) uses roughly two-thirds of the amount of energy generated by our energy facility. The one that our Taxes and our parents taxes paid for, just to turn a pretty minimal profit, considering the amount of resources and energy consumed in the process.
The Medicine Hat 55-megawatt (MW) operating gas-fired power station, using 20 year old Gas Turbine technology is out dated, and should be seriously considered for upgrading from the LM6000(s) which only has an efficient rate of 40%, (Sourced from the instruction manuals and Medicine Hat news.)

3) Astonishingly in the 2023 Cypress County budget plan, they reduced the amount of finances allocated for Travel, Training, and sustenance to a measly $70,000 county wide. When Year after year we have wildfires that affect almost all of Alberta and our surrounding provinces. Furthermore on thebtopic, around 13,000 today people have been displaced from their homes due to the wildfires in our province. These are rumored to be “controlled fires for training gone wrong” by certain media outlets.

How do you plan on addressing that issue?

Let’s look at number 3) Increase the government’s contributions to individual fire halls across Cypress County to more than a very low $5,000 annually.
And that money would be coming from the money that Albertans will save by reducing federal influence on our municipal and Provincial government’s decision making in funding and distribution of wealth in the province, which should be in the hands of the provincial government and its citizens in its entirety to begin with. We will be pulling the hands of the federal government out of the pockets of the small business owners and farmers in Alberta for good.

If elected, at the end of your first term, what do you hope to have accomplished?:

I would like to have improved the overall quality of life in this constituency as much as humanly possible. I have personally (and will continue) to volunteer downtown in Medicine Hat to combat the opioid crisis and homelessness issue in our city.

That is not my only priority, but it does seem like the most rational and feasible within this next fiscal year! My intention here is to feed “two birds with one scone”, as the kids say. It would keep people alive (very important) and it would help stimulate the downtown economy back to its former glory by providing A safe environment for those both stricken with addiction, and those who are not.

If you could have dinner with three people living or dead who would you choose and why?:

1) Issac Newton. We would discuss philosophy, art, culture, and most importantly, inquire about the passion he felt while writing the Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (1687)

2) Nicola Tesla, around his later years. The concepts for energy… the efficiency of his engineering.. the man was to “Wi-Fi” the planet before the first AND second world War kinda got in the way.

3) John F Kennedy. 35th president of USA. The man was undoubtedly the most charismatic, driven, and inspiring leader of the past century that has had influence over me personally. To me, he was more than just a Figure that stood out against the entire world, and defied all odds.. he was a legendary a man I look up to, and aspire to be anything near as inspirational as he was.

Oilers or Flames?:
Neither. Go Tigers Go! (Shout out to my Billet Brother #7 and the rest of My family!)

by Submitted

Cody Ray Both: The Independence Party of Alberta

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