Ron Orr is the current elected MLA for Lacombe and Ponoka areas and was elected in with Wildrose Party in 2015.

As an incumbent, he hopes to represent the area once again except this time with the United Conservative Party.

 

What is something you are most proud of accomplishing during your time in office and what policies or initiatives do you hope to continue if you get elected again?

"I think a couple of the things I’ve been really able to be active in is speaking out on behalf of Central Alberta healthcare. Central Alberta healthcare does not receive an equal per capita funding compared to a lot of other parts of Alberta and I think that’s extremely important for all of our people. I will continue to speak out on that.

I’ve also done a lot of work to bring awareness to people in Central Alberta about what was happening at the Big Horn. I read some articles on it, was public about it, and I have answered a lot of emails on it. I think partly because of that and also other MLA’s speaking out on it as well, it had some significant impact because the NDP government chose not to push it ahead prior to the election which is where they were going with it. So, they backed off of that largely because of public protest.

Our commitment moving forward is to actually return to the North Saskatchewan regional plan land use framework, reengage with the municipal councilors, the stakeholders, and all the people who were actually already working on a proper plan and hopefully create a better approach to it than what was happening."

What policies are you looking to really stress during this election and what are you most keen on?

"Way back at the beginning of the riding, there were some real significant issues in regards to children in care under the government and I was able to speak out a lot on that. I still think that there is a lot of work to be done on the way children in care are handled and managed and it is extremely important.

I’ve also been very concerned with how we resolve the seniors care issues. So, from one end to the other literally. We just don’t have enough housing for seniors care and we need to find new models of doing that, which actually allow for seniors to age and place in age in their communities that are much more affordable.

The NDP construction projects that they’ve got going now are ranging from 700 thousand to a million dollars per door just for seniors care housing, that’s way too expensive. We aren’t going to hardly be able to build any of those at that price.

At the beginning of our term, the Bill 6 for farmers was extremely important in our riding and we propose to get rid of Bill 6 as it is currently written and replace it with what we calling a Farm Freedom and Safety Act. So we’ll address the issues of freedom that the farmers raised but we’ll also preserve the farm safety association that has been created for farmers."

What do you think is most important to Lacombe are residents about your platform?

"I should always mention the carbon tax. We have to get rid of the carbon tax. In some ways, this election will be a referendum on the carbon tax."

What is your attachment to this area?

"I was born in Calgary. I am an Albertan, born and bred, love it here, not going anywhere else this is my province. I just want to see it be a better place for everybody and make sure that it’s the kind of place that’s great to have a job, earn a living, and raise a family for everybody to prosper. I’ve lived in the Lacombe-Ponoka area since 2002 so about 17 years. This is my home and I’m staying here."