Candidates for the three major political parties are getting into campaign mode for a May 2 federal election — the fourth in seven years.
The election campaign follows an historic motion in the House of Commons Friday, when the majority of MPs passed a motion that found Stephen Harper’s minority government in contempt of Parliament and declared that the House had lost confidence in the government.
That motion came just days after the government tabled Budget 2011, which Harper described as an essential step in Canada’s economic recovery.
As a result of the non-confidence motion, MPs will not have an opportunity to approve the budget until after the election.
Westlock-St. Paul MP Brian Storseth said he was “disappointed” that Budget 2011 will now be tabled, adding that he had spent two months this winter talking to people throughout the riding about what they wanted to see in the budget.
He said the Conservative government was successful in getting some of the items his constituents talked about into the budget as well as keeping out some of the items they didn’t want to see.
Storseth said he is looking forward to this election, adding that it will be nice to spend more time at home.
“It’s an honour and a privilege to represent this area,” he said. “I’m hoping my five and a half years of work (on behalf of constituents) will get me re-elected in Westlock-St. Paul, but you can’t take anything for granted.”
If historic trends continue, then Storseth is a shoe-in. He won the 2006 election with more than two thirds of the vote, and in 2008 he raised that proportion to nearly three quarters.
New Democrat candidate Lyndsey Henderson will replace the 2008 candidate, Della Drury, who earned second place with about 10 per cent of the vote.
Liberal candidate Robert Fox will replace that party’s 2008 candidate, Leila Houle, who earned nine per cent of the vote.
Henderson said a specific change she’d like to see in Westlock-St. Paul is more support for working-class and middle-class Canadians, who are the “backbone” of the riding.
She said the Conservative government fails to do that, as it is more concerned with giving incentives to and supporting corporations than to individual Canadians.
“People in Westlock-St. Paul, as well as across the country, deserve a government that is ethical and responsible to its citizens,” she said. “We certainly don’t have that.”
Henderson currently lives in Edmonton, but said she is familiar with the issues facing residents in this region because she has lived in Fort McMurray and Lac La Biche, and spent time in communities within Westlock-St. Paul.
Fox echoed the sentiment that it is time for a change from the Conservative government, but argued the Liberals are best poised to replace them.
“We can give a viable option, and I think a lot of people are disappointed with what’s happened with our member (of Parliament),” he said, adding he has spoken to thousands of residents in the riding who are “responsive” to the Liberal message.
The biggest issues facing this region will be agriculture and the economy, but that in such a large riding the big issues vary from region to region.
“I look forward to debating the economy with our member here,” he said. “I think he’ll have his hands full.”
Ultimately, he said, he is more concerned with hearing what constituents see are the issues than telling them what the issues are.
Fox said he currently lives on the same quarter section of land between Bonnyville and St. Paul that he was born on, and has a vested interest in this riding.
Westlock native Aden Murphy ran as the candidate for the Green Party in 2008, when he earned just less than seven per cent of the vote.
As of Sunday, no Green Party candidate has been announced for Westlock-St. Paul. Representatives of the party could not be reached for comment.
