By Kevin J. Sabo BLACK PRESS NEWS MEDIA
Disappointment in options has led Daniel Brisbin to run in the Sept. 20 federal election in the riding of Battle River-Crowfoot.
“It’s never been my life goal (to be a politician),” said Brisbin.
“I actually already have my dream job as a fire lookout in the boreal (forest). I was just disappointed with the options that were out there.”
Brisbin’s goal in running in the election is to provide a voice of the working-class people in the riding and ensure the riding’s voice gets heard on a federal level.
“Very few people, from what I’ve seen in Parliament, are interested in fighting for the working class, the people actually creating the goods and providing services,” said Brisbin.
“Those are the people I want to represent. It’s my opinion that politicians need to learn how to listen to the people in the riding. Right now, it feels like they get their direction from the (party) leader, and then try to make whatever the leader has decided palatable to the electorate.”
According to Brisbin, the dynamic should work the other way around, with the elected representative in Ottawa voting with the will of the people, not the will of the party.
“The citizens in the riding should tell the MP what they want, and they should act on it whether the leader likes it or not.”
This dynamic is what led Brisbin to run for the Green Party.
“That’s one thing I like about the Green Party. There’s no punishment, no whipping of the votes,” said Brisbin.
“It’s maybe not perfect democracy, but it’s better democracy than I’ve seen in some of the other parties.”
Another aspect that attracted Brisbin to the Green Party is that non-violence is embedded in the principles of the party.
“The thing I really like about the Green Party is some of their six pillars,” said Brisbin.
“One is non-violence, which no other party is committed to the way the Green Party is. (Non-violence) is a part of my heritage because I’m a Mennonite. That really helps me connect to the party.”
Brisbin knows that his odds of reaching Ottawa are long, as he is running in what has been a historically Conservative riding. Still, that hasn’t kept him and the volunteers on his campaign from knocking on doors.
But hurting Brisbin is the budget he must work with on his campaign. Unlike the federal Conservatives, Liberals, and New Democratic Party, the Green Party doesn’t have a large war-chest to fund the campaign.
However, he is not letting the challenges force him to back down.
He has been busy answering emails and is taking part in candidate forums across the riding. The candidate forum taking place in Stettler will occur Sept 13.
It will be closed to the public, but will be live-streamed via the Stettler Public Library’s Facebook page.
Brisbin lives in Three Hills, and on the non-political side of things, is an avid birdwatcher in his down-time.
“(Three Hills) is a pretty small town, but I’m a pretty big bird watcher,” said Brisbin. “There’s some pretty good areas for that around here, especially in the winter when the snowy owls come through.”