This is an article about Chris Austin, our candidate for Spruce Grove – St. Albert published in the Grove Examiner at http://www.sprucegroveexaminer.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3508349
The Alberta Liberal Party has selected its representative for the Spruce Grove – St. Albert electoral riding for the upcoming provincial election.
Chris Austin, a military police officer at the rank of corporal, has represented the Liberal Party before at a federal level but after Alberta Liberal leader Raj Sherman approached him to run provincially, Austin felt it would be a good opportunity.
“This gives me the chance to help the people in this community,” Austin said. “I live in this area and I feel it’s important that we are represented well. It’s important we bring services back to Spruce Grove, our current government has not been spending enough money on families.”
Besides his experience in running for Parliament twice, Austin feels his career in the military has garnered him traits that he believes the ideal MLA has.
“In the military there is a strong emphasis on to seek and accept responsibly,” he said. “That and the leadership qualities that are formed while in the military are important aspects for elected officials.”
While door knocking in the area, Austin said he has been hearing discontent about many aspects of the current government, but no area more predominantly than healthcare.
“We have an underfunded healthcare that is being shorthanded while more and more funding goes towards the private sector,” Austin said. “You can see this in our current system. There are senior citizens that need help out there and they’re wondering what happened. People feel that there isn’t a lot being done by our current government.”
In addition to more support for the healthcare system, Austin feels the same should be done to increase youth programs and families that can’t afford to enroll their children in organized sports.
It’s these proposed increases in public services and that Austin believes makes the Alberta Liberal Party the one that best fits his own ideals.
“The Liberals believe in capitalism but also in having proper support programs in place,” he said. “Alberta has been a boom and bust economy for years and obviously when it’s bust it’s bad for everyone. There needs to be support for when this happens.”
Austin also stated that there needs to be a larger focus on keeping workers and industries inside the province and that many former P.C. supporters have been at Liberal Party meetings lately voicing their need for chance from the status quo.
In the last provincial election the Alberta Liberal representative for the Spruce Grove – St. Albert riding was Ray Boudreau, who came in second behind Deputy Premier Doug Horner.
Horner will again be representing the P.C. Party for the upcoming election while Travis Hughes will represent the Wildrose Party and Rev. J.J. Trudeau will represent the NDP.
The provincial election is expected to take place around the end of April.