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Karen Shaw 'pumped' about NDP candidacy win for Morinville-St. Albert

Around 65 people showed up at Ecole Alexandre Tache library to vote in the next NDP candidate for the Morinville-St. Albert riding.
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Karen Shaw gives an acceptance speech after winning the nomination for next NDP candidate in the Morinville-St. Albert riding on April 30, 2022, at the Ecole Alexandre Tache school. JESSICA NELSON/St. Albert Gazette

Former Sturgeon County councillor, Karen Shaw, won the NDP candidacy for the Morinville-St. Albert riding on the weekend.

“I'm ready to get to work and flip this riding,” she said in an interview with The Gazette.

NDP members for the riding cast their votes on April 30 at the Ecole Alexandre Tache library to decide who would represent them in the next provincial election. Shaw was up against high school trades teacher James Grondin.

Vlad Pasek, the vice-president of the executive for the St. Albert-Morinville NDP constituency association, said the event had a good turnout of about 65 people. He said they received around 95 mail-in ballots, although he did not have the official count.

Pasek said both candidates worked hard, but Shaw is rural and has experience with the county.

“We need the rural vote. [Maybe rural constituents will] realize that we are for them — the NDP is for them. And this is a good case because here's a person that's real, you know? She has 150 cattle … she’s a true Albertan,” he said.

Shaw raises Simmental X Angus cattle at Shaw Farms, according to her website, and before that she owned and operated retail gift stores across the Edmonton area.

She was a four-term councillor for Sturgeon County from 2007 to 2021, when she decided not to run.

Shaw said she was ready to retire but she had a lengthy conversation with Joe Ceci, NDP MLA for Calgary-Buffalo, a few years ago and it lit a fire in her.

Shaw spoke to her family first to make sure they were on board with her running to be an NDP candidate.

“I contemplated for probably a year before I said, ‘Yep, I'm going to do this.' I don't like what's happening in Alberta. I don't like the way the province is heading. ... And if I'm not willing to stand up and put my name out there, then I have no right to complain,’” she said.

As for complaints, Shaw said she thinks the province is headed towards privatization of health care, education, and also with an Alberta police force.

“There's so many things that are taking us backward, I believe, and not being not being forward-looking and taking care of the people,” she said.

The NDP saw an increase in memberships for the Morinville-St. Albert riding during the nomination campaign.

Shaw said her primary focus was recruiting and bringing in new members, “People who have never voted NDP in their life. People, they know the work that I've done, they know what I say. So, they bought memberships. They want change, I'm going to work hard to bring it to them,” she said.

During the event, Andrew Traynor the acting president of the constituency association in Morinville and St. Albert and the balloting chair of the nomination race, said new membership in the riding grew by more than 100 since the campaign began.

“Out of 244 eligible voters, 161 votes were cast. [The] total turnout was 66 per cent,” said Traynor.

Shaw said she is confident about taking on UCP MLA Dale Nally and she will be ready for an election, whenever an election occurs.

“Now that we've had this, my stuff is going to go to print and I'm going to be on those doors. I think there’s 50,000 doors in this riding. I hope to get to every door,” she said.

Shaw said she did that during all four terms as a counsellor for Sturgeon County.

“I did every door. And I plan on doing it again. I have no intention of changing it,” she said.

St. Albert MLA Marie Renaud was also at the event. Renaud said she was excited to know who the candidate would be.

“They both are great. They worked really hard. They worked well together. It was respectful. It was clean. And I think we're all focused on the future ... but I'm really looking forward to working with Karen. She's got a lot of experience. She is a lovely woman. A lot of great ideas. I'm excited. Very excited,” she said.

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