Whitecourt councillor Ray Hilts puts his name forward for West Yellowhead

 

Whitecourt Councillor Ray Hilts recently put his name forward as a West Yellowhead nomination candidate for the United Conservative Party. Hilts is the second current town councillor to put his name into the ring in the last couple of weeks. He acknowledged the frustration felt by voters in seeing recently voted-in councillors running for another position so quickly and understands that some residents may feel duped.

“I honestly agonized over the decision for about a month on whether I would run for the candidacy,” said Hilts, adding that he had no prior intentions to run for provincial politics. He said he saw things as a councillor that started to push him in the direction of running. “I saw documents from the government of internal briefings to the ministers where they acknowledged that there will be job losses and that’s an acceptable outcome versus caribou range planning and I can’t accept that.”

Hilts said it was very clear to him that the government sees rural Albertans as an unimportant number. “The very nature of being a person is your job, your community, sustainability, and that these communities are a viable place to live. City folk think the country is a place where you temporarily go to eventually get a good job and go back to the city and that’s crazy.”

He said running for council and now MLA is to continue focusing on things that make Whitecourt and the surrounding communities in West Yellowhead viable. “A big part of that is the wealth building of the industries that support us whether it be forestry, oil and gas, or mining. They must exist because without them we don’t exist, and we become struggling communities,” he explained.

“We all have a common thread in terms of our resource-based economies and having access to the land base is integral to the success of those communities. We can manage our forests and natural systems and at the same time support the values of Alberta and jobs. The government in all aspects just hasn’t been diligent enough to do that,” said Hilts.

He recently attended the one-year anniversary of the UCP where leader Jason Kenney spoke to attendees. “Everything he said was something I believe in such as the importance of family and the need for parents’ rights in education, the punitive nature of the carbon tax, and the special interest groups that are influencing government. We need to figure out ways to get more grassroots feedback on what we do. You look at the people who are influencing the government and it’s not the people who live here and enjoy the spaces. It’s not everyday Albertans. Instead it’s interest groups that are funded external to the province and I totally reject the fact that our government isn’t doing enough to address that with citizens.”

He also acknowledged the Progressive Conservatives and how their attitudes become a big deciding factor in the last election. “Like many Albertans, I was pretty darn frustrated with the entitlement nature of the party, perceived or real, and I think that from my time of listening to Jason Kenney and some of the growth of the party, it really comes across more as a grassroots organization that’s truly genuinely interested in what everyday Albertans think and need to prosper in the province.”

Hilts said he brings with him a wealth of knowledge in the forestry sector. “I have a sense in working with forest management and working with legislation policy. I’ve also worked with regulatory colleges that regulate our profession and building new legislation, so I’m well versed in policy and how to build it and how to influence. I want to take some of that expertise that I have and try and represent the constituency.”

He added that the work required for running for the nomination will not interfere with his role as councillor and that he remains just as dedicated to the position as he was prior to his announcement. To follow Ray Hilts’ nomination journey follow him on Facebook Ray Hilts UCP Nomination Candidate West Yellowhead.