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Piquette bows out of race

Athabasca-Sturgeon-Redwater MLA Colin Piquette said what he will miss most about his job is connecting with his constituents and knowing he’s done something meaningful to help them.
Colin Piquette
Colin Piquette has withdrawn from the Athabasca-Barrhead-Westlock riding race for the upcoming provincial election. Piquette has represented the Athabasca-Sturgeon-Redwater riding since 2015.

Athabasca-Sturgeon-Redwater MLA Colin Piquette said what he will miss most about his job is connecting with his constituents and knowing he’s done something meaningful to help them.

Despite calling it “the greatest honour” of his life and “the most amazing job” he has ever had, Piquette announced in a social media statement Feb. 5 that he will not run for re-election.

He said he is bowing out of the race in the Athabasca-Barrhead-Westlock constituency due to family obligations. After months of speculation Piquette announced Dec. 29 he would be running.

“You develop some wonderful relationships with people when you’re on the job, and you do not want to lose that,” he said. “But I am convinced I am making the right decision for myself and my family.”

Piquette won his seat in Legislature May 5, 2015, after defeating then-Tory cabinet minister Jeff Johnson by 1,778 votes.

His father Leo was an NDP MLA for the area for one term in the late 1980s, making them one of only a few parent-child pairs ever to serve as MLAs in Alberta.

Piquette stated he has been enriched beyond measure getting to know so much more about the people and places in his constituency and the rest of Alberta.

“Those rewards are having a meaningful chance to do good things for your community,” he said. “There are lots of other ways to do that, of course, but definitely being an MLA gives you a lot more options.”

He added in his statement his job as an MLA has been especially hard on his son Luke.

“In particular, I know it has been hard on my youngest son Luke who has special needs and who benefits the more I can be involved in his life on a day to day basis,” Piquette said.

“Being a rural MLA means many nights away from home, endless hours of driving at all hours and in all weather conditions.”

He also said the size of the new constituency also played a role.

“As it stands now my present riding is only 13,000 square kilometres in size and laid out on a north-south access to Edmonton making it possible to visit communities on my way back and forth to meetings in the city,” Piquette stated. “The new riding come this spring will be almost double that size spread west to east. For perspective, this is about half the size of Nova Scotia and just a little smaller than Belgium.”

Piquette called it a lot of territory for one person to cover on a regular basis.

“I have made no secret of my concerns over the electoral boundary changes and the negative impact they would have on effective rural representation,” he said.

“But I always somehow expected that if they did come to pass I would find a way to overcome the challenges they posed and make it work. However, as the election has drawn close and campaign preparations have begun in earnest, I realize just how much serving these new boundaries would demand.”

Glenn van Dijken, the MLA for Barrhead-Westlock-Morinville, is now the only nominated candidate in the new constituency — he won the United Conservative Party nomination July 14.

van Dijken said Feb. 7 that he understands and respects the reason behind Piquette’s decision.

“Colin, with a younger family, recognized that it was going to be too demanding on his family, and family must always come first in all decisions,” van Dijken said.

Aspen View Public School board vice-chair Candy Nikipelo called Piquette a voice of the rural people.

“He has supported our division for the last four years,” Nikipelo said. “He listened to our concerns, and has always acted on them to the best of his abilities.”

In a Jan. 31 e-mail Alberta Party executive director Mark Taylor said while they have not announced a candidate yet for the constituency, they are committed to running 87 candidates across the province.

“There have been a number of people who have expressed interest and we are proceeding with internal vetting,” Taylor said.

As for who the NDP candidate will be, Piquette said there are some people interested.

“I’m sure someone will be chosen as a candidate in the near future,” he said. “But as of right now, I have no ideas as to who that is going to be.”

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