Brian Deheer made the announcement on his Facebook page Feb. 17 — he’d previously run for the party’s top spot in November 2017 and September 2018 and has run on three occasions to become an MLA. He was also the party’s deputy leader from November 2017 to March 2018.
The 59-year-old Lac La Biche resident has served on the AWC since 2014 and became chairman a year leader.
Deheer first moved to Lac La Biche almost 27 years ago to serve as the old Town of Lac La Biche’s development officer and then was business manager for the Portage College Students’ Association.
He currently works as a music instructor, teaching on a contract with Wandering River School and École Sainte-Catherine in Lac La Biche.
“What I hope to do if I win this time is to help build up the party,” Deheer said. “The party has been growing from being re-established (in 2011), but we still need to fundraise and build up our membership.”
He added he would like to be able to represent the party’s voice on the Alberta government’s decisions.
“I was really impressed with the Green Party of Canada in October’s election in that they really forced the other parties to make firm commitments on climate change and Indigenous reconciliation,” Deheer continued. “That’s the kind of leverage a Green party can bring in any context, and we are very well positioned to do that here in Alberta.”
He also said the party’s polices relate very well in rural Alberta.
“In the agricultural field there’s lots to do with stewardship of the land, and farmers are good stewards in this regard,” he explained.
“The north has lots of industrial activities, and some forestry polices reflect the forest stewardship policies that we have in our platform. We would also try for good stewardship of our watersheds, and that’s something our party would be able to advocate for.”
He said he hopes that when it comes to the vote, the third time will be a charm.
“The person I am running against is Jordan Wilkie (of Edmonton),” Deheer said. “I don’t really know that much about him, but the materials I’ve seen him sending out for his campaign shows that he’s energetic, capable and a good candidate. We’ll just have to see what the party members say on March 28, when they make up their minds.”
This will also be the last time the party elects a single leader, with the Greens voting to adopt a co-leader format at their annual convention Nov. 19 in Red Deer.
“That’s a model that’s in use by other Green parties around the world,” Deheer said. “It’s very often a way of having some balance in the leadership, and it’s usually based on gender. In Alberta, it could be based on northern and southern Alberta, or urban versus rural.”
He added the first phase is the present leadership race happening right now.
“We still elect the current leader. But once we are ready to implement the co-leadership model, each leader will have terms staggered two years apart,” Deheer explained. “The person elected in March will be the single party leader for a couple of years, while another leadership race will take place in 2022 for the other spot. Leadership terms for each person will be four years in length.”
Bryan Taylor, TownandCountryToday.com
Follow me on Twitter @BryanTaylorNews
