by Stephen Dafoe
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau officially kicked off the 2019 federal election Wednesday morning when he went to Rideau Hall and asked Governor General Julie Payette to dissolve Parliament.
Trudeau kicked off his campaign saying Canadians had a choice between the failed policies of the past or continuing to move forward. Conservative leader Andrew Scheer took the opportunity to hammer Trudeau as someone who has “lost the moral authority to govern.” Scheer was referring to the Globe and Mail’s Sept. 10 report that the Prime Minister’s office has blocked the RCMP’s investigation into the SNC-Lavalin affair by refusing to lift cabinet confidentiality for all witnesses.
While federal leaders make their pitches across the country, local candidates have 41 days to make their pitches ahead of the Oct. 21 election.
Five of Canada’s 16 current parties will run candidates in the riding.
Conservatives
In Sturgeon River-Parkland, incumbent MP Dane Lloyd is set to represent the Conservative Party of Canada in the riding.
Lloyd went to Ottawa following the 2017 by-election to replace longtime MP Rona Ambrose.
In that election, Lloyd won. In 2015, Lloyd won with 77.4 per cent of the vote.
Lloyd’s website is https://www.sturgeonriver.ca
Liberals
The Liberals have Ronald Brochu as their candidate.
Brochu is an accountant who has worked for the Alberta Treasury Board and Finance as a Senior Tax Auditor. He has also worked for the Canada Revenue Agency, and as a Credit Advisor for the Farm Credit Canada.
Brochu ran in Drayton Valley-Devon this past spring for the provincial Liberals and received just under one per cent of the vote. Before that, Brochu ran for the Liberals in the 2015 election in Edmonton-Goldbar, garnering 3.15 per cent of the vote.
Brochu’s website is https://ronaldbrochu.liberal.ca.
Green Party of Canada
The Greens have nominated Cass Romyn as their candidate.
Romyn, originally from Southern Ontario, lived in Edmonton before buying a home in Sturgeon County with her husband in 2016.
Romyn will be familiar to Morinville and area residents. She ran provincially this spring in Morinville-St. Albert. In that election, she received 198 of the 23, 484 votes cast.
Romyn’s website is https://www.greenparty.ca/en/riding/2013-48033.
Christian Heritage Party
Ernest Chauvet is the Christian Heritage Party once again this election.
Chauvet, a resident of Legal, first ran for the party in the 2015 federal election. In that contest, he received 2.9 per cent of the vote.
Chauvet’s website is https://www.chp.ca/candidates/ernest-chauvet.
People’s Party of Canada
Maxime Bernier’s People’s Party of Canada has selected Tyler Beauchamp as their candidate.
Beauchamp is a married father of one with one grandchild. He has an education in project management and human resources.
He is the past owner of an Occupational Health and Safety consulting firm in Alberta’s oil sands, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and parts of Quebec. That business closed in 2015 with the oil market crash.
Beauchamp currently works as a corporate safety manager for a large commercial and industrial HVAC company.
This election is his first move into politics.
Beauchamp’s website is https://ppcsturgeonriverparkland.nationbuilder.com.
NDP
As of this writing, the federal NDP does not have a candidate.
Morinville News will be reaching out to the candidates as the election roles out.
Well shit, any vote that’s not Conservative is likely a waste. 😞 #ohgodmyridingisconservative
Voting for your vales and belief in canada is never a waste. Read the main policies and make a choice. To vote blindly and to just get rid of the Liberals is the true waste.
The act to vote is not a waste, its democratic. But I totally agree with you Wendy, our voting system is total crap. The first past the post system makes it so any person who doesn’t agree with a conservative platform in our riding is essentially voiceless. I wish Trudeau actually fulfilled his 2016 campaign promise to change the election system to something more fair, but alas that didn’t happen either.
Sorry to disagree Wendy. Any vote is a vote for democracy and thus not a waste
#voteyour vales
There is an NDP party running for anyone still wondering