The NDP candidates for Athabasca-Sturgeon-Redwater and Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock are ready to switch from competing against each other to competing for the party in the next provincial election.
Mandy Melynk won a contested nomination against Trudy Grebenstein earlier this year for the party's nod in the Athabasca riding. However, Grebenstein didn't leave the party after she lost and will now be its candidate in Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock.
Melynk said she chose to run for the party because she believes it is a strong champion for her ideas.
"It is the only party that I think represents the views of the whole of the province in a real balanced way," she said. "It is the party I am most aligned with and the party that I think is the most effective in the legislature."
Melynk, who is a farmer from the Waskatenau area, said the current government focuses its attention on the needs of big businesses.
"I don't think there is enough support for small businesses. I don't think there is enough long term planning. I think this government is reactive rather than proactive," she said.
She moved back to the area last year after farming in the Peace Country, where she helped found the group Keep Alberta Nuclear Free.
Melynk said she believes the contested nomination between her and Grebenstein brought out more people and got them interested in what the NDP has to say.
"I think if there was ever a time [for the NDP] in this particular riding, now is it," she said. "People are starting to think differently in our riding about how they are being treated by this government."
No parachute here
Grebenstein agrees with Melynk that the contest for the party nomination was good for the NDP. While she doesn't own property in the Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock riding, she doesn't consider herself a parachute candidate.
"I do plan to run a campaign. I am not going to just let my name stand," she said.
Grebenstein said she initially decided to run more than a year ago because she was concerned about the future of the NDP. While the party's future — especially federally — has rebounded since, she once feared the party could disappear.
"I decided that I just couldn't let my grandchildren read about the NDP in the history books and I had to step forward," she said.
Grebenstein worked for Edmonton Public Schools for 37 years and was the president of local 3550 a non-teaching education workers union during that time. She said the party represents people whose views need to be heard.
"I think left-leaning voters need to have a place to put their vote and they need to have a candidate who is well-informed about the issues."
In the next election, Grebenstein will face off against the longest serving MLA in the legislature in Ken Kowalski. She still thinks she can win.
"I know that voters often like renewal and I am viewing this as renewal for a constituency that has a lot of the same old same old," she said.
Grebenstein was the only person to seek the nomination. Her nomination was to be confirmed at a party meeting in mid-November. Although inclement weather forced a delay, the party still considers her a confirmed candidate.
