Ross Burgar

I will work hard and offer a strong voice for our community. I grew up in High Prairie and call this place my home town.

I believe High Prairie has a lot to offer not only to us, the citizens, but to our neighbours, near and far. Our tourist friends.

On Oct. 18 you will be asked to form our leadership for the coming years. I offer my time and knowledge as a candidate for town council.

We need more fair and balanced decisions with the opportunities we are given. Opportunities that may look short-term can have long-time benefits.

Change is needed. Together we will focus on the future.

John Dunn

Hi! My name is John Dunn and I am running for town council on Oct. 18.

I am running for council in order to enhance and strengthen our community leadership. I am practical, progressive and diplomatic. My strengths are in connecting with others and connecting those people to others that are like minded in order to make things happen.

While I will be new to municipal politics, I have worked and volunteered for provincial government Agencies for 32 years.

I am aware that there will be a learning curve as I step into this role but as I desire to give back to a community that has provided so much opportunity for me to grow and develop as a human being, I look forward to the challenge of becoming an active and engaged town councillor for the people of High Prairie.

I have been involved in social programing within communities and am keenly aware that social programing does not survive without industry. My vision is to see High Prairie grow in all aspects of development. That families will have opportunities for their children and that the family unit would have time to be together rather than constantly working to make ends meet. A strong and healthy family contributes to the wellbeing and growth of community which in turn gives opportunity for business and industry to develop.

I will work together with council to create opportunities for High Prairies citizens rather than limit them because of fears of “what if”.

I believe High Prairie has many strengths to build on and as a councillor I will be a part in building on those strengths and will work to create new opportunities for further success and growth.

Finally, just a quick reminder that when you vote on Oct. 18 you will be asked to make a choice on the financial future for Albertans. Please cast your vote on the Equalization Payments, please vote yes for change, for the financial security for our children and grandchildren.

Brian Gilroy

I was first elected by the citizens of the Town of High Prairie to represent them during a byelection in February 2016, and then had the privilege of being re-elected to represent the citizens again for a four-year term in 2017.

My platform is simple: I have always tried to represent the views of the average person during the council meetings whether the rest of the council agreed with what I said or not.

I made it a habit and will continue to make it a habit to ask people at random within the stores of our town – how they would like me to vote on a given topic that would be discussed in council – then using that information on the topic during council meeting.

When council wanted a raise and the teachers within our town were asked about it when at the time the teachers were on a wage freeze themselves – I was greatly encouraged when they gave me support to turn down this raise by sending a couple of teachers to give direct input to the council.

I would like to encourage the voters of High Prairie to do their due diligence as the decision that you make when you vote for the mayor, a councillor or a school trustee will shape our town and county in a very big way over the next four years.

I would encourage the voters to view our council meetings on the Town website prior to voting for any of the incumbents including myself as politicians can make any promise or proclaim great accomplishments in print but you truly need to see us in action. For those who are also running for mayor, council, or school board I would encourage you to talk to people they work with or are on committees with or look at their posts on the High Prairie Discussion Page, Facebook, or South Peace News.

Your vote is too important to the future of this town and our children to base your vote on personalities or friendships.

As is custom, my top three priorities if returned to High Prairie town council are:

1. Better Healthcare – focused on recruiting more staff for all areas of healthcare in our community– this is something we can do together as Project Ambassador is proving.

2. Economic Development – Better Broadband is coming but we also need new businesses to provide more jobs and spread out the burden of taxes as a broader tax base leads to less taxes per business or landowner.

3. A dog park in Jaycee Park – As part of our 10-year Revitalization Plan for Jaycee Park – I would advocate for this to be included in the first phase of development and seek input from the public to run this dog park in a top-notch way.

Thank you for taking the time to read my article and would encourage you to vote for me again if you believe that I have done a good job representing you these past 5.5 years.

Sasha Martens

My name is Sasha Martens, and I am pleased to be nominated for a seat on council, for the Town of High Prairie.

If you value efficient, practical and fair leadership, I’d love to earn your vote.

I bring experience with local governance. I listen. I learn. And, I lead equitably.

I was elected reeve, have served on several community boards, and champion sports, recreation, the local library, and economic development.

I’ve worn many hats over the last 10 years. Assisting in the day-to-day operations of the family farm. Previously, I managed business communications for the private sector. And today, in addition to being the wife of an RCMP officer, I look forward to contributing my skills and talents to serve and enhance our town. It’s already a lovely place. Together, let’s make it better. And brighter. I believe that we are stronger and more resilient when we work together.

For fun! We’re on a quad trail in the summer. And on the ice in the winter. My husband runs hockey development programs, and we’ve spent many hours in local rinks. No matter if we’re outdoors or indoors, we’re blessed to be enjoying life in the community of High Prairie.

I am excited at the opportunity to serve the Town of High Prairie, and would like to earn your vote. On Oct 18, vote for Sacha Martens for council.

Thank you and stay well.

Your voice matters. What would you like to see done differently in our town? I’d love to meet you and have a conversation, so stop by for a tea [or coffee!], and let’s talk.

My phone number is [403] 719-9211.

Judy Stenhouse

My goals for re-election to the Town of High Prairie are:

* Keep spending in check, either by reducing or justification of purchases;

* Sustaining an affordable, growing and enjoyable community;

* equal opportunity and transparent town council, being accountable to all ratepayers.

With this being said, there also has to be departments that need review, such as museum and bylaw.

These are not promises, as I am only one vote, these are goals I hope to fulfill.

I am dedicated to this town and community, for its success and future. As I have learnt being on council has been challenging and time consuming. There have been sacrifices made to meet the responsibilities of a councillor’s role.

James Waikle

All municipalities are going to be facing some hard choices over the next few years as the world recovers from the COVID pandemic.

It is going to take people with experience and the will to make the hard decisions to sit at the council table. It is going to take people who know our area and our history to move forward. Knowing why and how something is the way it is, is very important information.

I believe that I have all three of these qualities.

I have lived in High Prairie for 26 years and raised my family here. Being active in local service groups and organizations is also important as this exposes you to people and ideas outside of your own group of friends and family.

I have previously served on council, and this exposed me to many organizations, but even outside of council appointments I have worked with groups in town. The library board, the Children’s Resource Council and our local hockey teams, the Regals and Red Wings.

There also needs to be a vision for the future. Like many other towns, we have a massive hole in our downtown where a gas station used to be. High Prairie has to put pressure on ESSO to clean this lot up. To do this we are going to need help from both the provincial government and the AUMA, because it is really hard for any one single community to do it by themselves.

Also looking towards the future, there needs to be much better Internet access for our whole area. If the last 18 months of ZOOM calls and online school has taught us anything, I hope it has shown how much we need there to be consistent and reliable high-speed Internet. So be it Telus or someone else providing it, we need better Internet access. A partnership between the Town, Big Lakes County and our First Nations neighbours would be the best way forward for this goal.

Making sure our hospital gets the services we were promised when it was built also needs to be a priority for the new council. Everything we were promised are services that we need in this area and we must not settle for less. The provincial government seems to have a habit of forgetting the promises they make, and that applies to all party’s, not just the current one in power.

I have always believed in giving back to the community and what better way to do that than to serve? I owe High Prairie more than I can ever repay, but I will try to settle that debt somewhat by standing up for it when and where it counts the most.

Therese Yacyshyn

Hello, my name is Therese Yacyshyn, and I would like to be your next town councilor for town of High Prairie. This has been my home for over 26 years, and community I enjoy and very proud to call my home. I grew up in Edmonton which I returned often to my grandparent’s farm in northeast Alberta, and moved to High Prairie with a posting in my current work.

I am single, I have over 30 years in provincial government experience in managing environment and resource development. And other positions in retail sales and commercial airlines. I am on local organizations and groups and in touch with our town, our history, the area and community. I am an open, honest person that believes in, an honest day’s work, is an honest day’s done.

I am a good listener and open and honest to hear what you have to say, to better our town and community to make our community and family’s vibrant, healthy and prosperous. I believe we need to look at what we have today, but most importantly where we want to be tomorrow. With forward thinking and action we can achieve these goals. Goal in mind.

A vibrant town is one where I feel we have competitive business, unique attractions, family recreation and capitalize on our many strengths, local history, lakes and opportunities. Revitalize to improve our town spaces and to capitalize on such, for example moving the old hospital out to make way for a green space park within town. For people to use in town events, recreate and relax. And in turn, ensure our new hospital has the services and staffed to operate these services that is vital.

It has not been easy lately with the world health crisis and down turn in the economy in the country. But I believe we need to find a way to ensure needs and services are provided to family’s that remains stable through wise fiscal management and be fiscal responsible in decision making. To ensure that we provide the necessary services, in turn keep costs stable and find ways to ensure our people and business’ can make it through these times and grow in the future.

Important to me is our seniors, with their hard work they have formed the foundation of what high prairie is today. It is important to maintain services that they require and provide for needs.

I believe a strong business core is the backbone of a community, one that is affordable and provides essential needs and services which is important to the growth of a community. Business’ and services that can capitalize on highway traffic and bring visitors in as a destination and or make High Prairie a place they want to visit, going through or staying to enjoy our town and area.

I look forward to the opportunity to serve my community and look for your vote on October 18th.

Other candidate: Donna Deynaka. Profile will be added if received.