Boyle’s Colin Piquette decided to run as the NDP candidate because he thought it was time for a change.
Piquette was selected earlier this month to run under the NDP banner against Jeff Johnson in the Athabasca-Sturgeon-Redwater riding. He previously ran for the party in the 2001 provincial election in the now former Athabasca-Wabasca riding.
He was 14 years old when he joined the NDP and is attempting to follow in his father Leo’s footsteps, who was the Athabasca-Lac La Biche MLA from 1986 to 1989.
“We’ve had the same group in charge, more or less, for the past 44 years. I’m 45 years old. I’d like to see a different government before I die,” said Piquette. “This is not to say that I don’t think there are a lot of well-meaning people within the Progressive Conservatives; I know they’re doing their best. The problem is their best isn’t good enough.”
Piquette is currently the manager of the Co-operators Insurance offices in Athabasca and Boyle. He is also the vice-president of the Boyle Betterment Society, a Boyle Agriculture Society director and Boyle Chamber of Commerce president.
Piquette believes that the PC party has lost touch with their roots and the public.
He said the best example of this was Premier Jim Prentice’s comment earlier this month, telling Albertans to “look in the mirror” to find out who is to blame for the current oil crisis.
“When Jim Prentice and the people around him look out at what they think are the average Albertan or what they think are their people, they see reflections of themselves,” he said.
“They’ve been in power for so long that they’ve simply gotten out of touch with everyday people.”
This disconnect has trickled down and caused issues, he stated, in rural communities – including rural health care.
“It’s nothing unique to our area, but for a government that used to pride itself on having strong rural roots, we’ve seen a real chronic neglect of rural communities under the Progressive Conservative government,” said Piquette.
This and the mismanagement that he believes led to the current financial situation resulted in him putting his name forward.
However, most importantly, he decided to be a candidate for the area because he thought people needed a choice.
“People in the riding right now have the choice between right wing and right wing. That’s just not how democracy’s supposed to work,” he said.
“There are many, many people in this riding that have a different sort of philosophy and approach to things.”