Spiess, UCP Nominee: “I’ve got a skill-set I can bring to the table.”

“There comes a point where you sit around in meetings and people will say, ‘We’ve got to do something, we’ve got to do something.’ And no one really does anything. I’m kind of a man of action so it came time to step up. I’ve got a skill-set I can bring to the table and present to the people of this community, and serve the province as well,” said Glenn Spiess.

Spiess will be running against MLA David Hanson and Mayor of Cold Lake, Craig Copeland for UCP nomination.

Spiess applauds MLAs David Hanson and Scott Cyr for their service, and willingness to unite the conservative parties, but adds that when Jason Kenney invited some 2,600 UCP members to the initial meeting in Red Deer in May, and “relatively few” policies came forward from Hanson and Cyr’s constituencies.

“I took it upon myself to organize a series of meeting with grassroots people and we put 19 policies forward in that process. Nine of those policies made it to the founding convention so they were high enough on the agenda, and six of them were actually passed. So if you look at the 150 policies that passed at the AGM (annual general meeting) six of those were ones we contributed personally, four per cent of the policies are from me and my discussions with grassroots people.”

Spiess says that his most pertinent contribution was about families and became part of the UCP’s guiding vision statement.

“The most important one was the recognition that families are the essential unit of society and they need respect and to be protected in the sense that it’s the government’s role to provide a safe and secure society to live in…The government is there to serve the family – not rule over it.”

The emphasis on the family structure is echoed in Spiess’ views on gay/straight alliances in high schools. Spiess disagrees with the bill surrounding the legislation that he says “limits communication” with parents.

“I believe in something subsidiary which is you want the lowest levels of government possible dealing with the issues that are happening. So for example, in that situation, the school should have the authority and the discernment to be able to communicate with parents effectively. Whether it’s a gay/straight alliance club, or any other club that’s happening in the school, there needs to be communication between the parents and the school because that’s what works best.”

“It shouldn’t be a central bureaucracy telling you that you can’t. That’s the issue. I think it’s a red herring when they [NDP government] say, we’re looking out for concerned students – as if the school isn’t? As if parents aren’t? That’s an absurd accusation as far as I’m concerned.”

Spiess outlines that preparedness, an ability to listen, the development of plans and strategies, an evaluation process, and more listening is his recipe for this campaign.

“A government is only as good as the people who are electing them. And the people electing them better be engaged, better be involved.”

“Work has already been done and it’s my hope that people will say this guy is serious about this. He’s serious about recognizing what the issues are in the climate of the NDP and serious about putting forth policies, and then putting your name forward to ensure that those policies are going to be followed through at the governmental level.”

Spiess worked in the education system for over 20 years and currently works at Wisdom Home Schooling. His first run-in with the NDP government was in 2016, when the provincial government shutdown Trinity Christian School Association, which contracts Spiess’ employer, over financial concerns. Eleven weeks later, the school was reinstated with the agreement that the government will monitor the books for the following year.