Photo courtesy Kevin McLean

By Tanner Smith

By-Election

Former City Councillor is looking to make a return in the upcoming By-Election

Sep 14, 2022 | 2:25 PM

Another candidate has put their name on the ballot for the 2022 City Council By-Election in Grande Prairie.

Former City Councillor Kevin McLean has filed his papers, becoming the fourth person in the running for the vacant seat of the late John Lehners.

McLean says he has two main goals; community engagement and fixing the healthcare sector.

He believes both are obtainable by proper investing, however he thinks it’s not just an issue with the municipalities spending.

“Some of them aren’t all money issues for our municipality, but they’re also issues that the provincial government has to step up; like healthcare for doctors. Family doctors are very much needed and we’re very short.What is the government going to do with our eleven OR rooms? There’s only four operational, we need more backing for specialists and surgeons to do their job.”

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He adds with proper investing the City can begin to stabilize the current state of healthcare in Grande Prairie, making everyone feel more at ease and comfortable, and eliminating the worry of having to leave your community or northern Alberta for treatment.

McLean’s other big goal is community engagement. After the pandemic, people want to get together again and he believes by working groups in the community and creating better places for them to meet and be entertained is a key factor in bringing a sense of community back to Grande Prairie.

“The one (vote) I would like to take back when I was on council, that I didn’t vote for at the time because of a money crunch, and it always is that, but I believe we need to look at a new art’s facility centre. Grande Prairie Live Theatre has been here for 60 years, and we need to start doing some more building in our community and investing.”

He adds the Grande Prairie Live Theatre used to be a staple in the community bringing passion, hope, and something for people to do. With the City growing and becoming more diverse, he thinks it’s time to invest in different forms of entertainment.

However, McLean believes even in a world that changes so fast we still need to look out for the people who paved the way for future generations.

“One of the things they say is there’s more children five and under than there is people sixty-five and older in the City, and that’s a true fact, but the seniors built our City, and we need to look at quite a few number of aspects to help engage the seniors in the community, but a couple of them I’d say is the Golden Age Centre needs a major revamp and rebuild.”

McLean believes his plan of using proper investing is the ticket to community engagement; building things that will last and can be enjoyed and not having every project with a big price tag.

He would also look at installing solar-powered school zone crosswalk signs that show the driver their speed and if they’re going too fast. McLean thinks this will be an inexpensive investment for the future, making parents feel safer when sending their kids to school.

He would also like to talk with running groups across the City to see what trails are most frequently used, and use the information to connect more trails to each other, and invest some money into installing more solar lights along the trails to make residents who use them feel secure when on a stroll later in the evening.

McLean will look to take a seat on City Council after last serving from 2010 to 2017.

Photo Courtesy The City of Grande Prairie