By Conner Toffan

Brooks-Medicine Hat MLA candidates making last campaign push

Apr 14, 2019 | 9:14 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — The six candidates of Brooks-Medicine Hat are making their final push for constituents votes as Tuesdays election draws nearer.

Michaela Glasgo (UCP), Lynn MacWilliam (NDP), Todd Beasley (Independent), Jim Black (Alberta Party), Jamah Farah (Alberta Liberal Party) and Collin Pacholek (Alberta Independence Party) are the six candidates in the new riding.

Candidates were going door to door, making phone calls and talking to as many people as possible to garner every vote they can.

Glasgo, Beasley and Black were also at the Brooks trade show throughout the hectic weekend.

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Glasgo says that having a booth at the show allowed her to talk to thousands of constituents that showed UCP support.

“Everyone who walks by is talking about how excited they are for a United Conservative government and Jason Kenney as premier. I know I’m excited to hit the ground running for the constituents of Brooks-Medicine Hat and show them what positive local representation looks like,” said Glasgo.

Glasgo believes she could help her constituents be heard at the legislature.

“It’s imperative that Brooks-Medicine Hat has that representation and has somebody that can get the ideas out of this area to people that make the decisions and make sure that the powers that be know how important our area is and that we’re not the forgotten corner anymore.”

On the NDP side of things, Lynn MacWilliam hopes that voters will realize the work Premier Notley has done over the past four years.

“I think she’s done a great job. She’s got us through this very difficult time. I’m hoping that she’ll be able to continue to go for another four years because I think that the province in the end will be in great shape,” said MacWilliam.

She believes that her work throughout the past three weeks could pay off on election night with a win.

“We’ve got two conservative candidates that I hope will split the vote and I’ll just come right down the middle.”

A distant third behind the UCP and the NDP in the polls are the Alberta Party. Brooks-Medicine Hat candidate Jim Black says that with a full slate of candidates this year, his party has had the chance to grow to a new level this election.

“I’m really hopeful that we’ll be well beyond four (seats). We’d be in a position to put policy together in the legislature and offer people an opportunity to take a look at what we have for policy,” said Black.

With his party polling at just under nine per cent, he believes there’s still lots of time for things to change prior to the election.

“I know what the pundits are saying but I ran the last election and quite frankly I didn’t have any idea until probably the Friday before. That was after Rachel Notley came to town and the whole vibe changed. I’m not getting any sense of that in this election. I don’t know that any one leader has taken charge.”

In Brooks, Liberal candidate Jamah Farah was finishing up his door-knocking. Farah believes that with the strong immigrant population in Brooks, he “has a lot of hope to win on April 16.”

“Most of the people in Alberta believe in the Liberal Party because they see attacking and negativity between the NDP and the UCP and the only alternative this election is the liberal party of Alberta.”

Meanwhile, Todd Beasley is running as a conservative independent. He was disqualified from running for the UCP after he broke party rules however he still says that a vote for Beasley is a vote for the UCP.

“I fully intend to support the UCP until they do things that I can’t agree with or they do things that are not in the best interest of Brooks-Medicine Hat.”

He believes that his experience throughout multiple industries can bring a diverse knowledge to the Legislative Assembly.

“What they want in the Legislative Assembly is they want a voice that is going to be able to speak for the people in Brooks-Medicine Hat. That’s a significant benefit of being an independent-conservative.”

In Redcliff, Alberta Independence Party candidate Collin Pacholek says he’s seen growing support for his revived party in his riding along with their policies, the largest promise being a seperation of Alberta from the rest of Canada.

“The more people learn about us, the more support I seem to be getting.”

Going forward Pacholek hopes his party can continue to grow so they can be a bigger threat in the next election.

“We’d like to see all 87 riding’s have a potential MLA candidate in them.”

One sentiment that all candidates carried was that Albertan’s need to go and vote. With just under 700,000 hitting the advance polls, they’re hopeful for a good turnout on Tuesday.

“I’d like people to vote for me but I don’t care I just want you to get out and vote. This is your right. Do it,” Said Lynn MacWilliam.