Taber-Warner MLA Grant Hunter was guest speaker Friday at a meeting in Fort Macleod hosted by Livingstone-Macleod UCP candidate Chelsea Petrovic.
A veteran MLA told a story Friday night of an underdog basketball team that overcame the odds to win a championship to illustrate what the United Conservative Party needs to do leading up to the election.
Taber-Warner MLA Grant Hunter said the five-man team formed a strong bond, believed in their coach and worked together to reach their goal.
“Here’s how we’re going to win the election,” Hunter said. “We’re not going to stop. We’re not going to give up.”
Hunter was guest speaker Friday at a meeting hosted by Livingstone-Macleod UCP candidate Chelsea Petrovic at the Fort Macleod and District Community Hall.
Hunter told his audience that conservatives must work together in order to form government and ensure a strong future for Albertans.
“There is a thing we used to have when I was younger called the Alberta Advantage,” said Hunter, who is in his second term as MLA.
Hunter earned a BSc and master’s degree in business administration and ran a construction company for two decades.
During that time Hunter and his wife raised five children who have given them six grandchildren.
“I’ve had a good life in Alberta,” said Hunter, adding that is the result of Alberta being a strong, conservative province for five decades.
Hunter said the Alberta Advantage means lower marginal tax rates than other provinces that attracts business.
That creates good jobs, which brings people to the province, noting Alberta last year had the largest net migration and population increase in its history.
Alberta also boasts a lower regulatory burden than other provinces, said Hunter, who served as red tape reduction minister for 2 1/2 years.
That sets the table for entrepreneurs who create businesses and with them, good jobs.
“That’s the Alberta Advantage,” Hunter said. “The reason why we have that is because people from all over the country — not just the country but the world — are coming to Alberta.”
Hunter read a story about the death of common sense and with it the realization that life isn’t always fair, a sense of personal responsibility and the loss of the simple, sound financial policy that you don’t spend more than you earn, and the idea that adults and not children are in charge.
“This is the reason I actually ran, because I felt that common sense had been lost,” said Hunter, who was first elected in 2015 as a Wildrose MLA.
Hunter felt common sense was lacking in Alberta in the areas of wealth creation, building strong communities and families.
“I ran to be able to bring that back, and I think we’ve done a pretty good job,” Hunter said, noting Alberta’s economy is on fire.
Hunter said the New Democrats in their four years as government unravelled everything he held dear about Alberta.
“They didn’t get it right,” Hunter said. “They didn’t like what Alberta was. They wanted to make it into something else that was nonsensical.”
Wildrose and the Progressive Conservatives were able to overcome their differences and beat the NDP in the 2019 election.
Hunter said a united front is needed again if the UCP is to form government in the May 29 election.
It is fine for people within a party to strongly debate issues, but the goal must be the same.
Like that small, underdog basketball team, conservatives of all stripes have to work together.
“If you want to build something you have to be part of a team,” Hunter said.
Hunter urged his audience to work hard to support Chelsea Petrovic in her campaign.
“We’ve got 50 days to get this done,” Hunter said. “Let’s make sure we get it done.”
