WESTLOCK — The first candidate to submit paperwork and put her name on the ballot for the Oct. 18 election in Westlock County says she’d like to bring balance, the voice of the people and new perspectives to council chambers.
Christine Wiese is a 45-year-old farmer and mother of five in Division 7, currently held by Coun. Dennis Primeau, where she’s been living for the past seven years.
“I’m a taxpayer, we have acreages and we have farmland in Westlock County. I am very aware of the issues that are affecting our community,” Wiese told the Westlock News in a phone interview June 17. “I feel like I am fair-minded that I have lots to contribute and I just feel like I would be a good voice to be here on behalf of county residents.”
Before farming, Wiese worked as a registries supervisor at Drayden Insurance Ltd. for 11 years, an experience she says taught her about leadership.
“I feel like being a leader isn’t just about being a dictator. I am a strong believer that we need to raise everybody up to a certain level, you need to delegate certain things, and that together we can move forward on different situations. I think that’s a better way to run. If you have just a certain mindset, it can’t just take over. You have to be open-minded, you have to be unbiased.”
She says one issue she’s noticed, both at Westlock County and in municipal politics in general, is that the “voice of the people” is sometimes not present, which also drove her to run for the seat.
“I think the voice of the people needs to be heard and I think all councillors need to be unbiased and fair and just realize that they’re there to be the voice for the county. You're not there for your own agenda. Your job as a council member is to be there, to be listening to the people of Westlock County and bringing forward their ideas into chambers,” Wiese said.
In a clarifying e-mail sent to the News after the interview, Wiese added: “I have faith in our current council, I'm excited to work with the other councillors to address concerns and improve the county. I love full-time farming but I really miss helping my community.”
Wiese will also be one of the few women to run for a seat at the county council table — only one sitting councillor is a woman, although most of the admin side is spearheaded by women, including the top CAO job.
“I think it makes a big difference, I think it’s inspirational. It's not the 1950s, we’ve come a long way as women,” she said.
“I think women are very good at bringing balance, so I understand that we need essential services and I understand that we need leisure activities. Being where I come from raising our family, you have to make a good balance of that. But I also understand that there has to be hard decisions. We need to be living within our means, there has to be a balance and I think women are very good at bringing balance to any situation, so I think it would be great to have more women in the county.”
So far, reeve Jared Stitsen has told the News as early as January that he does plan to run again this year, although he has made no official announcement yet. Primeau, who holds the division seat sought by Wiese, has not made his intentions public either.
Nominations have been open since Jan. 1 and will remain open until Sept. 20.
