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TONY JEGLUM: Time is ripe for change

The time is ripe for better representation in Edmonton, says Alberta Party candidate for Lacombe-Ponoka riding Tony Jeglum.

The time is ripe for better representation in Edmonton, says Alberta Party candidate for Lacombe-Ponoka riding Tony Jeglum.

“Our democratic system wasn’t designed to be used as a dictatorship. As benign a dictatorship as it may be, I fear that is what we’re in,” said the Mirror-area farmer.

The Progressive Conservative has some able people and good intentions but they have gotten stuck in ruts and “have trouble breaking free from some of the baggage they’ve built up over 41 years.”

Tories are not really listening to the citizens anymore and it’s time to end the legislature as “rubber stamp body” and return it to the deliberative body it’s supposed to be, he said.

Besides democratic renewal, the Alberta Party has developed a municipal affairs policy that fixes the current out-of-date system that leaves communities reliant on provincial funding to meet their needs. “It’s bizarre that the same policy that governs Calgary, also governs Clive,” he said.

The Alberta Party also supports a fully funded public health care system and believes it can be fixed without the introduction of private industry. He pointed to the example of B.C. where hospitals are funded based on the treatments they undertake through fees for service, rather than simply allotting block funding and trying to make hospital budgets fit.

Education is another area where the party sees room for improvement. The Alberta Party believes more money should be invested in education even before kindergarten.

Jeglum, who is 31 and single, said he’s passionate about politics but realizes it’s not something many people think a lot about outside elections.

But politics is important, he added.

“It’s something that touches each and every one of us because the policies that are espoused by a politician and advocated by a party has a direct impact on the quality of life that each Albertan has.”

pcowley@www.reddeeradvocate.com