From the mess of campaign slogans, we know that the NDP is about healthcare and education, and the UCP is about jobs, pipelines, and economy, but where do the other political parties stand in this election?
We chat with candidates from the Alberta Party, The Alberta Liberal Party and the Alberta Green Party from the riding of Calgary-Buffalo to learn first-hand what the other parties are offering Albertans.
The Alberta Party’s Omar Masood
Omar Masood is from the United Arab Emirates, and moved to Canada at 18 to take engineering at McGill University. After graduation he moved to Calgary, and worked in the tech and the oil and gas sectors as a young professional. He was so grateful for the opportunity to build a life here that he decided he wanted to pursue politics.
“I thought, if a kid like me with no money or connections can build a life and have a career here, it’s a place I want to give back to,” said Masood.
After Masood gained citizenship, he saw then-Alberta Party leader Greg Clark speak during the 2015 election, and felt like Clark was someone he could get behind.
“For me it was about people before politics, and the province before politics,” said Masood, who felt the Alberta Party best reflected his vision of the province.
Masood identified the Alberta Party as a group of young professionals who were interested in helping the province. They were different than the established parties that used division and cynicism to get elected.
“Alberta was always about how hard you were willing to work and it never mattered who you knew or where you came from,” said Masood.
Masood believes that the Alberta Party can offer Albertans an exciting array of forward-looking policies that would benefit Alberta.
“All of us are going to be inheriting the problems and the opportunities of Alberta in the future,” said Masood.
“We want to have the broadest incentives to attract different types of industries,” said Masood, who thinks that enacting similar business-friendly incentives used in Austin and Nashville would be effective in Alberta.
Masood also highlighted the Alberta Party’s healthcare platform, which is more outcome-based rather than cost-based.
“Our priorities are making sure that Albertans have access to good services in a way that spends their money wisely,” said Masood.
The Alberta Party has pledged $1B for child health and dental care, which Masood believes will help save the health system money in the long run.
He also believes that making our system more conducive for women in the workplace will also be a future driver of economic success in Alberta.
“I think the best new idea we’ve bought to the election is our childcare plan,” said Masood, adding that “in Quebec, women’s participation in the workforce increased by almost double digits for the time that their program was in place for daycare.”
The Liberal Party of Alberta’s Jennifer Khan
Jennifer Khan is the sister of Alberta Liberal Party leader David Khan.
Since childhood, the two were engaged in politics because their household has always been a very political one.
While David worked for political parties throughout his youth, Jennifer found herself volunteering with non-profits. Jennifer Khan found that working with non-profits was not explicitly political, but advocating for causes to decision makers offered much of the same experience.
“Personally, I don’t want to be someone who’s not informed, who doesn’t have an opinion. I strongly feel like if you’re not part of a solution, you’re part of a problem, because you’re not putting in the effort to care about what’s going on,” said Khan.
Even if she can’t agree with other candidates on policy, she has a tremendous amount of respect for her opponents, as being a candidate requires a huge personal investment of time and money in something they believe in.
“For those parties that don’t have large corporate donations, you’re putting more than just your time and name on the line,” said Khan.
Khan has lived in the community of Calgary- Buffalo for 13 years, and feels like she has a good sense of the community and the diversity of those living there.
“I think It’s an interesting microcosm of different parts of Calgary because it is so diverse in terms of backgrounds, professions, cultures, and age groups.”
When it comes to policy, Khan believes the Liberal platform tackles the most pressing issues of our time.
“Our platform is quite detailed, well thought out from start to finish,” said Khan.
The Alberta Liberal Party raised some eyebrows this spring when the party proposed an 8 per cent HST as part of their election platform. Advocating for a provincial sales tax has long been considered political suicide in Alberta, the only province without a sales tax.
“It may not sound popular, but when you do the math and you really look at the situation we’re in, we have to get off the roller-coaster, and this helps stabilize our revenue,” said Khan, noting that several prominent economists have praised an HST as a solution to the boom and bust nature of Alberta’s dependence on resource revenue.
Outside of the HST, the Alberta Liberal Party offers a number of other social policies protecting vulnerable groups, combatting climate change, and addressing the gender pay gap.
“I think the realization is starting to hit that major things are happening, and we need to get in front of it, or we’re going to be left behind,” said Khan.
The Green Party’s Heather Morigeau
Originally from Red Deer, Heather Morigeau has lived in Calgary for the past seven years.
In addition to having a 13-year career as a jewelry designer, she also runs a social enterprise called Foodscape Calgary, which focuses on creating regenerative landscapes using an indigenous ethics approach.
Morigeau, who is of mixed-Metis heritage, volunteers for a number of community outreach organizations and addictions counselling groups including Freedom’s Path, and the Indigenous Wellbriety program in Calgary.
Morigeau was pressed into service by the Alberta Green Party leader Chereyle Chagnon-Greyeyes, whom she knew personally through the Calgary Indigenous community.
“I always had an intention to get into politics, but it’s about ten years before I anticipated doing that,” said Morigeau.
Morigeau has always been politically active, and had previously worked for the NDP, but in the last four years she has felt ideologically closer to the policies of the Alberta Green Party.
“During this past year of NDP government in Alberta, I was quite disappointed to see them focus more on a pipeline instead of focusing on the diversification of the economy,” said Morigeau.
“I’ve also really enjoyed watching Chereyle Chagnon-Greyeyes come into the leadership role at the Green Party, and the opportunity to learn from her,” said Morigeau, “she is a strong Indigenous woman leader in our community, and I aspire to be that.”
“I really encourage people to consider the Green Party, because it is an ethical platform in ways that I don’t feel the other parties represent,” said Morigeau.
The Alberta Green Party is calling for a transition away from the oil and gas industry, while recognizing this will need to be done in a slow and organized manner.
“The oil and gas sector does have an important role to play in our community, and I am not of the camp we should just shut it all down and be done with it,” said Morigeau.
Morigeau also believes that existing energy infrastructure in this province could be used to ramp up new industries like recycling, transportation, and hemp.
“I think that hemp is a huge industry that is relatively untapped in this province,” said Morigeau, adding that “it is a regenerative crop and can replace a number of the petroleum-based plastics, textiles, paper, and wood that we currently export.”
Morigeau feels like this election represents a strong choice between ethics and fear. Most of the rhetoric of the top two parties represents a fearful narrative, and Morigeau hopes that people will instead look at the platforms and vote based on ethics.
“If you’re voting based on your own personal ethics, then whatever the decision is, you know you did the right thing,” said Morigeau.
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Featured image: Mark Wiseman