New politician faces off with experienced town councillor in new riding of Brooks-Medicine Hat

A new electoral district in Medicine Hat comes with some political challenges, an expert says.

The UCP's Michaela Glasgo, a 25-year-old political science graduate, goes up against the NDP's candidate, Lynn MacWilliam, an experienced political staffer and currentcouncillor, in the new riding of Brooks-Medicine Hat.

The two representatives of front-runner parties will be battling it out in a race with four other candidates.

And in a new riding that blends urban and rural.

Political scientist Geoffrey Hale, who teaches at the University of Lethbridge, says candidates should concentrate onintroducing themselves to the electorate in what's essentially new territory.

The redrawn boundaries may be tough for the New Democrats to hold on to their seat in the area. The area incumbent won't be running again, either.

"They've lost whatever advantage of incumbency they have," Hale said.

How it's changed

In the 2015 election, Medicine Hat was its own riding. All around it was the Cypress-Medicine Hat riding, which included a small part of the city divided by Highway 1,the communities of Redcliff, Suffield and more.

This election, Medicine Hat has turned into two blended urban and rural ridings. It's divided down the city's centre with the South Saskatchewan River as the boundary.

To the north is Brooks-Medicine Hat. The cityof Brooks has left the oldStrathmore-Brooks riding to be mixed with the bigger city and southern region covered by the districtofCypress-Medicine Hat.

Bob Wanner is the MLA for the now-formerelectoral district ofMedicine Hat. But the NDP politician, who isSpeaker for the Legislative Assembly of Alberta,isn't running this election.

The old Medicine Hat riding was an area, Hale said, thatconservatives had to put in hard work to win in the past. The addition of a rural population to the riding means voters may swing in the conservative's favour, he said.

'Say you're sorry'

The UCP's candidatemade headlines in January for tweeting thather church had received a$50,000 carbon tax bill, which it in fact did not. Glasgo's statement ruffled feathers online, as she was asked to back up the claim.

After a lot of attention online, and a statement from the church, it turned out that Glasgo was wrong. Shelater clarified that the church had actually spent $5,400 on the levy.

"One of the best things that you can do is when you make a mistake is say you're sorry and move on," Glasgo said. "You have to try to earn the trust of people, and I know that's exactly what I'm doing at the doors."

When door-knocking in Redcliff, a town south of Medicine Hat, some voters found her to be a fresh face, while others made jokes about MLAs getting younger each election.

Political experience

MacWilliamwho's running for the NDP, is a councillor for the Town ofBassanoand has federal politics experience.

She said that gives her the experience that's necessary to be a provincial leader.

"There's something to be said about experience," she said.

MacWilliam has worked for Audrey McLaughlin, who led the federal NDP for six years,in the Yukon. She spent 15 years workingfor members of Parliament in Ottawa.

Notably, she ran in Strathmore-Brooks in the 2015 election.

"I'm introducing myself to Medicine Hat," MacWilliam said. "Brooks and Bassano and the county of Newell sort of know me."

As MacWilliam lives in Bassano, she has put on the kilometres to get to her sharedcampaign officein Medicine Hat, a 156-kilometre drive away, eachday to door knock.

When asked, both candidates tow their respective party lines.

Glasgo opposesthe carbon taxand concentrates on jobs and the economy.

MacWilliam highlightedsignature platform pieces: improving healthcare and education spending.

Immigration support requested

Ask Barry Morishita, the mayor of Brooks, about his community's priorities. He'll say he's hoping to hearmore about mental health supportsand investments to help immigrants settle.

Brooks has ahigh immigrant population, he noted, with nearly 16 per cent of its population immigrating to the community from outside of Canada between 2011 and 2016, according to Statistics Canada. In comparison, Alberta saw 5.2 per cent of its population immigrate to the province from 2011-16.

Employment at the local meat-packing plant is partially responsible for the influx, Morishita said.

"Certainly we need education support, English-as-a-second language, secondary immigration supports, affordable housing all of those things fall into that area," he said.

Having immigrants settle in rural Alberta helps drive the economy, he said, adding that he believesa diverse population makes Brooks stronger and better as a community.

But Morishita said that, for anypromises about bringingmore immigrants to rural towns, the provincial governmentmustconsider funding locally relevant support systems for those newcomers.

Other candidates running in this riding include: Jim Black of the Alberta Party, Jamah Bashir Farah of the Alberta Liberals, Collin Pacholekof the Alberta Independence Party, and Todd Beasley, who is running as an independent.