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Grande Prairie man running for mayor

A Grande Prairie man is putting his hat in the mix for a spot at the city council table. Kris Arcand has launched his campaign for mayor as the only one running against the current Mayor Bill Given.

Arcand has been interested in leadership before, but this is the first time he has thought about running for the position.

“It all started when I was over at a friend’s place and they were talking about the election coming up. They had ideas about what should be done with the city and some things they weren’t happy about. I said, “you know what, maybe I should run for mayor”.”

The 25 year old is a Safety Coordinator for an oilfield company. If elected, he would be the youngest mayor the city has ever had. He says he would be the perfect fit for the city with his leadership experience at work and his passion for some of the issues in the city.

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“I have been telling people, I want to voice your concerns to council. I want to be the one that says these are issues current people want to address and these are the things they want to fix. I want to represent them as best as I can.”

Some of the hot button issues for Arcand have to do with infrastructure. He says ending homelessness in the city is a focus for him as well as creating a more efficient way to do snow removal. Road construction has become a major focus of conversation during campaigns.

“I would honestly like to hold contractors liable. For example, downtown in front of Better Than Fred’s. Last year, they did some maintenance where they repaved the road and the sidewalk. This year they are doing the same thing except with the sidewalk, they are laying stone which is nice. I don’t know where the money is coming from.”

He gives big props to fellow candidate Dylan Bressey for putting together GP Round Table events throughout the year. He says it has given him a chance to get conversation going on hot topics in the city.

On top of Bressey and Arcand, Clyde Blackburn, Tyler Bulford, John Croken, Eunice Friesen, Rebecka Keyes, Jill McCue, Cooper Morrison, Timothy Nesbitt, Wade Pilat, Rony Rajnut, Tyla Savard, Morgan Suurd, Dylan Thompson and Michael Wolfel have all made it official that they are running for council. Councillor Jackie Clayton, Councillor Kevin McLean, Councillor Chris Thiessen, Councillor Kevin O’Toole, and Mayor Bill Given are candidates again this term.

Councillor Dwight Logan, Councillor Helen Rice and Councillor Lorne Radbourne will not be running again.

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