There will be at least a three-way race for the United Conservative Party nomination in the Highwood constituency. Current MLA Wayne Anderson is being challenged by Dean Leask and Carrie Fischer to represent the UCP in the Highwood riding. Anderson said he wasn’t surprised to hear about the competition. “Frankly, three-and-a-half years ago nobody wanted the job, and then I stepped in,” he said. “We had a floor-crossing and some leadership issues, but I stuck it out and I stuck my name in there and worked really hard, and I’ve lifted the heavy weights for the last three-and-a-half years. “Now all the hard work is done and everybody wants the job.” Leask said he’s inspired to run for the UCP nomination for the chance to step up during a time when Alberta is hurting. “I don’t really appreciate what the current government is doing to the economy, the amount of debt they’re taking on,” said Leask. “A lot of people I know are really hurting right now. It’s a really good time for me to take my turn in public service.” Leask has been involved in the provincial politics scene before, as a PC association president before joining the Wildrose party to work as a policy advisor. He also worked on campaigns for former Highwood MLAs George Groeneveld (PC) and Carrie Fischer, when she won the PC Highwood vote in 2015. He said his 20-plus years working at all levels of government and helping with various campaigns (he was recently campaign manager for MD of Foothills council candidate Llana Malmberg in the October 2017 election) bring him a wide array of experience. “Now that I’ve done all that footwork I feel very strongly it’s time for me to step up and take my turn,” said Leask. He’s operated a small business – Contain-a-Way Services – for 20 years. He said the company has become high-profile in the community and he’s had the chance to get to know a lot of people in the Highwood riding. If successful, he said he’d like to see the UCP eliminate the carbon tax and tackle the growing deficit, which he said will likely be close to $100 billion by the next provincial election in 2019. Fischer has similar interests in looking at the carbon tax and financial position of the Province. She would also like the chance to fight for local issues in the riding, such as finding a water solution for its municipalities. “The redistribution of the boundary and the communities in it means Okotoks, Black Diamond and Turner Valley are all suffering with water issues in Highwood right now,” said Fischer. She said the current NDP government has delivered three years of “devastating policies” that have harmed local businesses and families. As a former Okotoks town councillor, Fischer said she’s had a hand in dealing with some of those issues already – particularly water, rural crime and economics. She said it’s necessary on a provincial level to have a strong caucus and a conservative government ready to turn around NDP policies. Her family was directly affected by some government policies, she said. Fischer’s husband was laid off in 2015 after working in the oilfield for 17 years. “We’ve felt acutely in our family the pain that has been dealt by the NDP government, just like many other families in our communities,” she said. “We need people in place in government who understand what these policies mean to people on the ground, to help turn it around and make Alberta a place where people want to invest again.” Fischer lost the 2015 election as the PC candidate for the Highwood seat to the then Wildrose nominee Anderson. However, she garnered national attention when she knocked off former Wildrose leader Danielle Smith for the PC nomination. Anderson said he’s got the same goals for the next term, should he stay on as the UCP representative for Highwood. “We need to bring industry back into Alberta, so we need to have an environment that’s going to stimulate people from out of the province and out of the country to come into Alberta and invest,” said Anderson. The carbon tax, minimum wage policy, labour laws, change in unionization and increase in corporate taxes have all hurt Alberta industry, he said. He said he’d like the chance at another term to follow through and finish the job he’s started, working for the community and with the UCP. There are also new issues he’d like the opportunity to tackle, like helping the UCP fix the Trans Mountain “pipeline debacle,” addressing education and getting it back into the hands of parents, and looking into problems within the health care system. “I’ve got he experience, the expertise, the knowledge and the background. I’ve built myself on a good reputation,” said Anderson. “I’ve spent almost four years in Edmonton working hard for Highwood so I’ve got the experience and the background, and quite frankly I don’t think I did anything wrong to turn anybody away.” There is no date set for the nomination vote for the Highwood UCP. Its annual general meeting takes place June 23.
