Black Press Media has reached out to all Central Alberta candidates for the 2025 Federal Election and asked four questions:
1) Why are you running to be a Member of Parliament?
2) What skills do you have that make you suitable for this role?
3) What is your plan to address affordability and the cost-of-living crisis?
4) How do you think Canada should handle threats to its sovereignty?
Candidates were given a 500-word limit to answer these questions. Answers may have been edited for grammar or length.
The Federal Election is April 28. Advanced voting starts on April 18.
Riding: Ponoka - Didsbury
Candidate: Larry Gratton- People's Party of Canada
Why are you running to be a Member of Parliament?
I am fed up with the game of politics in Canada. The way governing parties use taxpayer money in blatantly partisan ways, not at all for the benefit of Canadians, but for the benefit of their party and their connected elites is outright corruption.
I am applying for the job of representative for the people of the Ponoka-Didsbury riding. My promise is to represent honestly and to vote on measures in accordance with the wishes of my constituents.
I support parental rights over state control of childrearing; freedom of health decisions over health mandates; freedom of speech over censorship and compelled speech; property rights and castle doctrine over seizure of property and criminalizing self-defense; meritocracy over reverse discrimination; law and order, due process and deterrence over kid glove and catch and release treatment of criminals; welcoming appropriate levels of properly vetted immigrants and zero tolerance for criminality and violating visa conditions over a free for all migration of unassimilable persons; among many more common sense principles.
I support constitutional reform for the election of our head of state and our upper house and equality between the provinces; a confirmation process for the judiciary; and I will work to outlaw patronage appointments. I want clear separation of federal and provincial responsibilities according to the constitution and an end to federal overreach. I also support a process for recall of non-performing MPs.
PPC MPs will be reformers with the 20 policy items that we would work hard to implement. Beyond supporting those, there will be no party whip or whipped votes and your MPs will be expected to follow their constituents’ expectations.
I’m hopeful for a best-case scenario after this election where a “bloc” of committed, grassroots MPs from Alberta holds the balance of power in Parliament and can really advance Alberta’s interests.
What skills do you have that make you suitable to be an MP?
My skills are in dealing with people in crisis situations and supporting them on some of the worst days of their lives. I have a skilled trade, ran a small business, raised cattle, worked for large and small companies and have worked for 45 years as an Advanced Care Paramedic and as a manager for the City of Calgary and the provincial health authority.
What is your plan to address affordability and the cost-of-living crisis?
A PPC government would review all programs, and eliminate those that are inefficient and serve no compelling public policy purpose, that serve only partisan purposes in buying votes, are corporate welfare, or duplicate or intrude on provincial responsibilities. Thus balancing the budget and being able to reduce taxation.
How do you think Canada should handle threats to its sovereignty?
The next government must strengthen Canada's economy against all threats by removing impediments to free inter-provincial trade, stop borrowing or just creating money and reducing our debt.
The U.S. President controls what every trading nation wants and needs, access to the American market. As unfortunate as the President's approach has been, i.e. wreaking havoc on trade outside of a scheduled renegotiation of the CUSMA agreement, the absolute wrong approach is to apply counter tariffs. That penalty is easily absorbed with minimal effect on the US economy, but is a bigger harm to Canadian consumers who are already suffering from over-taxation and decreased manufacturing and exports.
The fact that the US tariffs have been on again - off again shows that their strategists are realizing they've gifted both Canadian establishment parties with a crisis to exploit at our election time to frighten Canadians into electing another government antithetical to American interests and values.
