Although he won’t be the Alberta Party’s representative for the Morinville-St. Albert riding in the upcoming provincial election, R.F. Staples School principal Wayne Rufiange said he’s happy just to have participated.
“I’m glad that I did it,” said Rufiange Jan. 20 following his loss in the nomination vote.
“I’m just letting the process I went through sink in and evaluating. I want to give a big thank you to my supporters. I had an overwhelming amount of encouragement and excellent cheerleaders. But I went up against another good candidate. He did a great job and he’s a great guy.”
Rufiange, a St. Albert resident and 20-year education veteran, was defeated by former St. Albert city councillor Neil Korotash. The party did not release any numbers from the vote.
While admitting he was disappointed, Rufiange is committed to supporting Korotash.
“Looking at the membership list, I didn’t have the numbers, but that’s OK,” he said.
“To beat a candidate you have to get people to get the membership out to vote. Considering how undemocratic some other parties are appearing to be at the moment, I was really happy to be part of something that stayed true to the democratic process.
“If Neil needs my support, certainly I’m going to give him that and continue to spread the word of the Alberta Party. I wish him all the best.”
While he did not rule out the possibility of running in another riding, Rufiange said his focus will now be squarely on his day job at R.F. Staples.
“I love being a principal, so regardless of what happened I still have a job I care about,” he said.
In the Morinville-St. Albert riding, Korotash will face Dave Nally of the UCP, NDP candidate Shawna Gawreluck and Cass Romyn of the Green Party.
