A Grande Prairie man is running to be one of St. Albert's next MLAs this election under the Liberal Party banner.
Kevin McLean told he Gazette he is running in the St. Albert riding because he loves the city and would move to the botanical arts city if elected.
“I love St. Albert. St. Albert is a beautiful community,” McLean said, adding he travels to the city often and first started coming here in his youth while playing rugby.
“St. Albert’s been a very progressive city for years.”
The husband and father said he has lots of family in the city and visits often.
This election will be McLean’s eighth time running for public office, with two previous runs for a provincial seat, and five runs for city hall in Grande Prairie, two of which were successful. McLean served as a councillor in Grande Prairie from 2010 to 2017. In 2017, he ran for office again but was not re-elected.
“I believe I'll be one of the most experienced people at the panel,” McLean said.
When McLean hasn’t been serving the public, he has spent the last 10 years as a tradesman working in the Weyerhaeuser Lumber Mill in Grande Prairie.
The former Grande Prairie city councillor said he plans to come down and door knock as much as possible during the election campaign and will take vacation days from work to travel down to St. Albert.
He said he believes the biggest issue facing the St. Albert riding is the need for more industrial space for new technology, so workers will stay in St. Albert instead of commuting to Edmonton.
“This can be crucial for the development of people working in St. Albert," he said.“St. Albert is sitting on a gold mine that they can really, really go after.”
McLean said he would like to see the provinces work better together and wants to see better connections between them, rather than have them fighting over pipelines and wine.
McLean is facing off against incumbent NDP MLA Marie Renaud, UCP candidate Jeff Wedman, Green Party candidate Cameron Jefferies and Alberta Advantage Party candidate Don Petruka.
