January 19th, 2012 - Airdrie Echo - Maria Pollack

A little over a week after two PC Party nominees have come forward, current MLA Rob Anderson speaks about his potential competition.

Last week, former mayor Linda Bruce and Ald. Kelly Hegg announced that they would be running for the PC Party nomination in the Airdrie constituency. A third candidate, Mike Crawford, has also come forward seeking the candidacy. The person selected as the Airdrie candidate for the PC Party will run against Anderson in the next provincial election. Anderson is a member of the Wildrose Party.

"I always have a lot of respect for anybody who jumps into the political arena, especially in what is obviously going to be a tough competitive race," Anderson said.

Anderson was elected as the Airdrie-Chestermere MLA in 2008. At the time, he was running as a member of the PC Party. He has since crossed the floor to join the Wildrose Party.

The upcoming election, which has yet to be called by the government, will be Anderson's first time running as a Wildrose representative. It will also see Airdrie and Chestermere split into different ridings. After the next election, Airdrie will be its own constituency.

Anderson said he is confident in the job he has done for Airdrie to date as a Wildrose MLA.

"Over the last two years, I'm quite confident that I've given an exceptionally strong voice to Airdrie," he said. "I speak up for my constituents. I don't care what the PC Party says about something or what the Wildrose Party says about something. "I will always speak up for my constituents and for what I think is right for them. I'm not loyal to a party. I'm loyal to Airdrie."

Anderson cited his dedication to getting more schools built in Airdrie as one of his main successes as MLA so far.

"(Airdrie) had one public school announced from 2000 to 2010," he said. "Why did we only get one school with a PC MLA in those 10 years, and we got three in the two years while I've been a Wildrose MLA?"

Anderson also spoke out about comments made by Bruce and Hegg last week. Both had stated that they hoped to bring a voice back to the government table.

Anderson said that he felt that the candidates were implying that Airdrie would not be properly represented without an MLA that belongs to the PC government.

"First, it's very presumptuous (to think) that the PCs are going to be the government after the next election; that's very much up in the air right now," he said. "But for the sake of argument, let's say that the PCs do win another term in office. I think it would be corruption and extortion for a governing party to say that 'you're not going to get schools unless you vote for an MLA that belongs to our party.'

"I find it very troubling that (the candidates) would promote that idea," he continued. "I think that Albertans, and definitely the community of Airdrie, deserve much better representation than that."

Anderson said he has spent the last two months door knocking, speaking with residents, and campaigning for the election.

"There is no doubt that it's going to be a competitive race," he said. "More than anything, people just want someone who is going to stand up and say what's right, even when it's hard."