Alberta Party leader Stephen Mandel was back in Grande Prairie on August 16 to talk about his party’s plans for the future. Mandel says he was happy to be back in the city for the first time since his campaign.
“I am absolutely thrilled to be up in Grande Prairie. It’s an incredibly important part of our province and it’s grown so substantially with the new hospital, Grande Prairie College and all the other things that are happening in this community.”
Mandel spoke to a group of residents and supporters at Centre 2000 for a fundraiser to benefit the Grande Prairie and GP Wapiti constituency Associations. One of the main things Mandel spoke about was his party’s belief in having decisions on things like healthcare and education made by communities themselves and not by larger cities.
“Some fundamental things we believe in is decentralization. We believe in moving things out to communities. We don’t believe that Edmonton and Calgary should have the right to make decisions for places like Red Deer, Grande Prairie and Medicine Hat.”
Mandel has been touring the province talking to residents to find out which issues affect them the most. He says the biggest issue he’s heard from people has been about the lack of jobs.
“People want to get back to work. The oil industry is struggling. We need to push more pipelines…If we can’t get the oil out of this province, even this area here will slow down because if you can’t move, it why find it.
The four-time Edmonton Mayor was elected party leader on February 27 following a three-way race brought on by the resignation of former leader Greg Clark. Mandel says he is currently looking towards the 2019 election.
“In 2019, we want to be ready. But we want people to start thinking now about the Alberta Party as a party they can place their vote for.”
While in the city, Mandel also met with regional municipalities, the Grande Prairie Chamber of Commerce, and Grande Prairie Regional College.
