Red Deer City Council candidate Ashley MacDonald may be the president of the Alberta Green Party, but he is a staunch supporter of keeping party politics out of municipal elections.
“I think it leads to partisanship and division,” said MacDonald, 45, who ran for the Green Party of Alberta in the 2023 provincial election in Red Deer-South.
“There’s so much division along party lines that I think if we had to formalize it, it would create even more.”
He said with so much hatred towards certain political groups, voters wouldn’t see beyond the party to the person. Former city councillor Michael Dawe, who ran for the Alberta Liberals in 2012 provincial election in Red Deer-North, is a good example.
“Michael Dawe ran for the Liberals and did horribly. But he ran for council as Michael Dawe and he got the most votes. Everybody loved him.”
MacDonald, a mental health worker in the field of addictions and mental health, said it’s important to focus on what’s best for Red Deer instead of what’s best for an ideological camp.
He said Red Deer is an amazing place with a lot of potential, but many residents are in crisis.
“We’ve got a housing crisis. We’ve got an affordability crisis. We’ve got a tainted drug crisis. Some people don’t want to admit it, but we’ve got a climate crisis around us. I think we’re a city that needs a bolder vision on what to do for the future. We’re treading water right now hoping things get better.”
He said the housing crisis is city’s biggest issue based on people he has seen in his line of work.
“We need to take a housing first strategy when it comes to taking people off the street. We need to build affordable housing.”
He said the city could create housing on vacant lots instead of relying on developers, or make housing projects attractive to developers.
MacDonald, who used to work in the oil sands, said his years as a mental health worker have given him a realistic understanding of people and their needs instead of a “fantasy idea of where they should be” which would be helpful on city council.
“I truly believe we’ve got to meet people where they’re at.”
MacDonald said he follows the principles of social justice, non-violence, sustainability and respect for diversity. Municipal politics is about representing the will of the people and letting every voice be heard.
“You’re their advocate day in and day out. You’re like the hand on the rudder trying to guide the city forward and make things better for everyone.”