Cass Romyn is throwing her hat in the ring for the upcoming federal election for the Sturgeon River-Parkland riding.
Coming off of a provincial race where she ran in Morinville-St. Albert under the Alberta Green Party banner, Romyn is now running for a federal seat with the federal Green Party.
“I am a passionate activist. I’ve always seen the Green Party as aligning with my beliefs and principles,” Romyn said.Romyn, a homemaker who lives in Gibbons, said she identifies with the party platform and shares its vision for the future.
“The Green Party of Canada has some of the most comprehensive policies I've ever seen. And I feel they offer practical solutions to current issues for an optimal future,” Romyn said.
The federal party has a platform called Vision Green and Romyn said the big issues they are focused on are the environment, a green economy, rehabilitation and proper conservation of the environment. The party is also focused on social services, like immigration, eliminating poverty, fixing the housing crisis and improving healthcare and education.
“And of course just improving government in general, and included in that is electoral reform,” Romyn said.
For years, the federal Green Party has been advocating for electoral reform across the country, wanting to switch from first-past-the-post to proportional representation.
Romyn said the biggest issues in the riding are jobs, the economy and the need to increase social services.
“I know, especially right now in our current government, a lot of people are worried that our social services, the quality and quantity really are going to decrease. So we'd like to see that obviously not happen and those services improve,” Romyn said.
Romyn ran in the provincial election in Morinville-St. Albert and finished in fifth place. She was defeated by UCP candidate Dale Nally, who came in first place with 50 per cent of the vote. Natalie Birnie of the NDP came in second with 33 per cent of the vote and Neil Korotash came in third with 15 per cent of the vote. Mike van Velzen of the Alberta Independence Party narrowly beat Romyn with 0.8 per cent or 204 votes. Romyn finished in fifth with 0.7 per cent of the vote or 198 votes. She beat out Tamara Krywiak of the Alberta Advantage party, who earned 157 votes.
The MP-hopeful said she really enjoyed running in the provincial election and wants to make sure the party is represented in her riding.
“That's why I decided to continue with the Green Party and in politics, I see a need. I mean, no one else is really stepping up to the plate.”
Dane Lloyd is the current MP in the Sturgeon River-Parkland riding and was elected for the Conservative Party in a 2018 byelection after interim party leader and riding MP Rona Ambrose stepped away from federal politics.
The federal election is currently set for Oct. 21.
