Marie Renaud was advocating for people before she decided to run for MLA.
Renaud, 50, is executive director of LoSeCa, a St. Albert based non-profit. She has two adult children and lives in northwest Edmonton. She’s running for the NDP here in St. Albert.
“I think I’m a very strong advocate,” Renaud said.
She said she’s always identified with a number of the things the NDP have stood for, and first met Rachel Notley a few years ago when a budget cut and restructuring were about to impact people with developmental disabilities.
Renaud was impressed by Notley. Notley approached Renaud a year ago to think about running. Renaud said no “quite a few times” because she doesn’t have “great filters.”
“I think her answer was probably the thing that pushed me over the edge,” Renaud said. Notley said no filters was great.
“I just sort of joked and said ‘if you were the leader, I would consider it,’” Renaud said. Notley became the NDP leader this past fall, and Renaud supported her campaign.
Renaud started working in St. Albert 14 years ago. She grew up with a family that moved quite a bit, spending time in Quebec, the U.S., Saskatchewan and finally arriving in Alberta in her late teens, where she stayed and went to school for disability studies and women’s studies in college and university.
Renaud grew up with two brothers with disabilities, making it a personal field for her.
“It’s always sort of what I’ve known,” she said. She said there was a point where she wanted to leave human services, but changed her mind.
“Like it or not, that was what I was good at, it was my calling,” she said.
If elected, her priorities as an MLA would be to first connect with the municipal leaders and other community members in St. Albert to hear what their priorities are.
“Establishing a relationship would be the priority for me,” she said.
Renaud enjoys yoga and reading in her spare time. She also likes travelling, and she and her daughter have been going backpacking together.
Voters should cast their ballot for her because the people she’s advocated for always come first, she said.
“I think I’ll represent the people of St. Albert, I think they come first,” she said.
