St. Albert’s incumbent MLA is hoping voters give him another chance to represent them in the legislature.
Stephen Khan, 48, was first elected as a Progressive Conservative MLA for St. Albert in 2011. He served briefly in Alison Redford’s cabinet and has been service minister under Jim Prentice.
While he’s proud he’s been able to announce new schools during his term, as well as see the extension and completion of Ray Gibbon Drive, he wants to make sure those schools are built, Ray Gibbon twinned and the long-desired park and ride project done.
“I didn’t think one term was enough to deliver the full value for St. Albert,” Khan said.
Getting St. Albert’s fair share was his primary motivation for running in 2011, he said.
“I was a stay-at-home dad and a full-time hockey coach, I had a pretty nice life going, but I was one of those guys who always complained that St. Albert never got what it deserved from the province,” Khan said. He said it surprised a number of his friends that he was going into politics, and those friends weren’t sure what party he would run for.
He said he’d heard Doug Horner’s speech on PC values, which cemented home to Khan where he belonged.
“PCs … are fiscally conservative, yet there’s a compassion, they work as a team. PCs ensure the vulnerable are always looked after. PCs believe the measure of a society is how we take care of the most vulnerable,” Khan said.
Before becoming MLA, he was an owner of Management Information Group, a St. Albert-based company that developed, marketed and supported administrative software for schools.
Khan grew up in St. Albert, and he and his wife have raised their children here. He has a degree in anthropology.
He says some of the most rewarding things he’s done as MLA has been sitting across the table and helping residents. He also highlighted that he finds working with the city’s non-profits tremendously rewarding.
The MLA likes to spend time with his family when he finds free time, and said he’s currently the “lame-duck assistant coach” on his son’s volleyball team.
Khan said people should vote for him because he’s done a good job being a voice for St. Albert and is proud of the “critical infrastructure” he’s helped bring to the city.
“I promised St. Albertans I’d be a strong voice at the decision making table,” Khan said.
