Lakeland Conservative candidate Shannon Stubbs believes that because of the oil and gas in the region, her party would be best for the job.
“The other parties are talking about keeping oil in the ground,” she explained. “They're talking about a moratorium on oil sands development and they're opposed to all of the pipelines, which would mean devastating economic consequences, not just in Alberta, but right across the country for all of the people who are employed by or do busy with our energy industry here.”
Stubbs has been involved with the Conservative Party – or one of its founding parties: the Reform party – for quite a long time. She volunteered for the Lamont MP when she was growing up, worked for the leader of the opposition Preston Manning’s office when she was in university and worked in MP Deborah Grey’s constituency office for a number of years.
“I think that our party reflects the values and the best approach to government and to public policy,” she said. “I believe those principles and that approach are best for the communities in Lakeland and best for the country overall.”
She’s lived most of her life in the Lakeland region – growing up on a farm near Chipman and currently living near Two Hills on a family farm.
She continued, “I think my combination of my rural background with my work experience focusing on heavy oil and oil sands and promoting investment in skilled trades and apprenticeship and job opportunities for skilled trades in the oil and gas industry position me well to understand the unique challenges and opportunities that communities in Lakeland contend with due to our key economic drivers of agriculture and energy throughout the riding.”
She believes those opportunities and challenges are what make it important to vote for her party during the election.
“I believe that Lakeland is one of the most important economic regions in the country,” she said. “Because of the key economic drivers in our constituency we're a large part of the economic engine of Alberta, but also we make an outsized contribution to Canada and to Canadians overall.”
To her, the other parties are being “anti-Albertan” and “anti-energy” by talking about shutting down the oil sands and the pipelines.
“They don't value the contributions that Albertans make to Canada,” she explained. “I think that the people of Lakeland should be proud of all the work that they do here and all the benefits that we provide the entire country.”
