By rdnewsNOW staff

Anglin to run for Alberta Party in Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre

Mar 12, 2019 | 2:36 PM

Former MLA Joe Anglin has been announced as the Alberta Party candidate in his former constituency of Rimbey – Rocky Mountain House – Sundre for the upcoming provincial election.

Anglin served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly from 2012-2015, originally as part of the Wildrose Party. He ended his term sitting as an independent.

From 2008 until its dissolution in 2009, Anglin served as leader of the Alberta Greens, which never won a seat in the Legislature since it started fielding candidates in 1993.

In February, rdnewsNOW told you about Anglin’s request to the RCMP to investigate current Rimbey – Rocky Mountain House – Sundre MLA and UCP House Leader Jason Nixon for obstruction of justice.

Anglin is also working his way through the legal system to fight a penalty levied against him by Elections Alberta for allegedly failing to properly protect a voters list.

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Stephen Mandel, leader of the Alberta Party who recently finished dealing with his own Elections Alberta situation, says all potential candidates go through an independent process to become part of the Alberta Party.

“They go through an interview process, they make an application, they fill out forms and then they’re recommended by this committee to the board and then they’re voted on,” he explains. “It’s a process that I stay away from, I’m not involved with it at all. The close to 80 candidates we’ve nominated, I’ve stayed away from 79 of them because I was one of them.”

Mandel says he’s confident Joe Anglin is the right person for the job.

“The Alberta Party has people from the former Progressive Conservative Party, former Liberal Party, the current UCP and former NDP Party,” he points-out. “We’re a place where we think there’s room in a fairly large tent for people. I don’t know Joe all that well but what I do know of him, he’s always been forthright with me.”

With a provincial election expected this spring, Mandel says the Alberta Party will have to focus on getting its vision out to the people.

“We’re about a team, not an individual,” Mandel declares. “Joe will work hard to get that message out and the fact is we have a good, strong candidate and just like close to the other 80 candidates, we hope we do well in all 80 of them.”

Anglin says he’s received a lot of encouragement from supporters to get back into the fray and chose to join an established party instead of Derek Fildebrandt’s upstart Freedom Conservative Party.

“He’s years away from building that party,” says Anglin. “I’m not against new partys starting up, good on them. You really need to think about the quality of people you vote for, no matter what party.”

Anglin feels joining the Alberta Party was the best fit for him at this time.

“Stephen as mayor of Edmonton has already shown the experience he has,” says Anglin. “You don’t have to agree with him politically but his management skills or managing a council, particularly that council, shows he has really good experience.”

Anglin says he wants to help broaden the Alberta Party’s appeal and perspective.

“The Alberta Party went really urban a few years back,” he explains. “But Stephen wants to broaden it and really include what I would call a pragmatic role voice and if he wants that, I want to bring it.”

Despite incumbent UCP MLA Jason Nixon having strong support in the Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre riding, Anglin says he knows Nixon better than he knows most people.

“I know what he’s done and he’s not done a whole lot,” says Anglin. “If it becomes about character, good enough, we’ll make it about character. I know what he’s done in the past and I know what I’ve done.”