Canada was thrust into election season when the writ was dropped on March 23, with election day scheduled for April 28.
The current slate of candidates in the Foothills Riding includes John Bruinsma, the Liberal candidate who got his foot in the door fairly early, having been acclaimed on Feb. 20.
Bruinsma was born and raised in Alberta, having lived much of his adult life in the Edmonton area, pursuing an education in accounting and engineering technology, and raising a family before entering a career in oil and gas.
Bruinsma found a career in oil and gas technology where he worked for 35 years, and also owned his own engineering procurement and construction company for 10 years.
He and his wife retired at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, moving down to Crowsnest, closer to his daughter, grandkids, and extended family.
Like many Albertans, Bruinsma was loyal to the Conservative Party growing up, however, he became disillusioned with the PCs during the convoy protest of 2022.
"I'm first generation Canadian, my parents immigrated from Holland after the Second World War, and so I have a sensitivity to how Canadians really sacrificed themselves for my family and all the rest of the families in Holland. With the symbolism displayed in Ottawa in regards to opposition politicians' support of the protesters that were waving Nazi flags and Confederate flags and dancing on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, that was kind of where I felt that the party wasn't the same as what I grew up with," says Bruinsma.
With rumours swirling for several months about a federal election in early 2025, Bruinsma took a second look at Canada's political parties and found himself more aligned with the Liberals.
"I thought, well, why am I not doing my due diligence on the Liberal Party? Is it as bad as what they say? What are their policies? And then after diving in, these policies matched my values, where we don't leave people behind, and we don't take advantage of vulnerable people. I thought these are good values at the core of all of these policies, whether it be social governance or looking after the most vulnerable that really struck a note with me."
Justin Trudeau had already announced his resignation when Bruinsma threw his hat in the ring to run as a candidate in the Foothills.
Though Mark Carney hadn't been named the party's leader when Bruinsma was acclaimed, he did hope to see Carney step into the role.
He feels Carney's record on economic crises is clear and his experience will be needed in the face of economic aggression from the U.S.
"Well, going back to 2008, Mark Carney was the governor of the Bank of Canada, and he had done such an impressive job. It was globally recognized, and I have an economics background as well, and I just was impressed that he was doing things that I thought were right, and he got Canada relatively unscathed economically, where globally a lot of other countries did not fare as well... He also was the bank governor of England, and he negotiated some very political ground without jeopardizing, you know, the economy through Brexit. He had a plan and was willing to stand up for that plan, and Brexit probably could have been a lot worse if it wasn't economically run as well."
Bruinsma also appreciates Carney's ties to Alberta, having grown up in Edmonton.
"He has his roots here, and he knows what Alberta is about. I think he's taken the Albertan values and applied that throughout his career."
Because of that, he believes Carney has insight into issues that are important to Albertans, including provincial jurisdiction and equalization payments.
"With that type of leader, I think that could support the work that I would do in the province to address any Albertans' concerns that we're being taken advantage of. I would look first to make sure that Alberta's jurisdictions are recognized for Alberta. I know Albertans like to give, they've always been generous, but there's a real concern in the province that whoever is a leader, whether it's Conservative or Liberal, may make rash decisions that affect the everyday lives of Albertans."
Bruinsma also hopes to see more action taken around the right to repair, especially given the current economic and trade climate.
"Based on my background in technology, I'd like to work on the Right to Repair Act. So we have two acts for the right to repair. So that's, you know, fixing phones, fixing your tractors, fixing your oil field equipment. We're very limited by copyright law and intellectual property rights, but now we do have two bills that have given us access to the equipment, but we've just got to round it out and complete those bills. I think that's very positive for Canada. It allows us to be more competitive, especially if we are in a tariff situation where so much of our equipment and technology comes from the United States. I think that's a really important thing for me to work on."