By Sheldon Spackman

Red Deer-South

Stephan looking to restore Alberta’s prosperity if elected

Apr 8, 2019 | 6:00 PM

The United Conservative Party candidate for Red Deer-South says he has a deep commitment to the community.

Local lawyer and chartered accountant Jason Stephan says his hard work ethic and love for the city make him a great fit for the role of MLA.

“I’ve had the privilege to work with many great accounting and finance professionals in our community,” says Stephan, founder of CA Tax Law. “Working in a collaborative manner for many great entrepreneurs and business owners in central Alberta, it’s been a privilege and honour for me to serve them.”

While on the Board for the Red Deer and District Chamber of Commerce, Stephan says he also saw the need for an organization that would look out for taxpayers. This led him to form the Red Deer Taxpayer’s Association, for which he currently serves as president.

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Stephan feels government has been an impediment to Alberta’s prosperity over the past four years.

“As I’ve been knocking doors and talking to local businesses, (I’ve heard) these past four years under this current government have been very hard,” he exclaims.

“I think the facts and the numbers really speak for themselves, we’ve had a decrease in the private sector and in the private sector, when our economy is not prospering or healthy, that compromises our ability to really provide the important services that everyone wants.”

In order to pay for those much-needed government services, Stephan says a strong economy is essential.

“This current government has demonstrated a lack of ability to really instill confidence in the private sector and to have the economic growth that we should have,” says Stephan. “Historically, under Conservative governments Alberta has been a land of opportunity for the whole country where we have been the leader, we’ve been the best, we’ve competed and prospered. Under this current government, we’ve become mediocre and I know that from being a tax lawyer, we’ve become less competitive.”

Stephan says people in the real world have to live within their means and the same should apply to government.

“We have to be a careful and respectful steward of taxpayer dollars,” adds Stephan, “The definition of success to me for government, is not spending money that you actually don’t have. I want a strong government that lives within its means, that helps the private sector succeed so we can have tax revenues from our private sector businesses and those that work in it, to allow us to actually pay for those great services that we want.”

From a local perspective, Stephan acknowledges the need for hospital expansion in Red Deer as the number one priority.

“There have been some disparities I would say for sure, in terms of funding for the services that we need in central Alberta” he admits. “I believe in good faith that all the parties recognize the disparity. All of them want to rectify that and we do as well.”

Ultimately, Stephan says he simply wants to do the right thing and strive to serve the public interest if elected MLA for Red Deer-South.

“This is an important election,” says Stephan. “We are privileged to live in a country where we have the freedom to have different opinions but from an overall perspective, we can all act with good will. We all would like to see economic prosperity, we all want to see freedom for both ourselves and our families to seek happiness as we individually see fit and I would encourage them (voters) to carefully consider the past four years in terms of what they’ve seen and make an objective and good decision and just come out and vote, regardless of who you support.”