Pipestone Flyer
All three MLAs have accepted an intense level of responsibility
Barry McDonald, Linda Steinke & Dominique Vrolyk
The Pipestone Flyer is pleased to note Hon. McQueen, Hon. Olson and Deputy Speaker Rogers, all with influential positions and areas of responsibility, are serving a geographic region that encompasses the communities and 23,000 readers served by the Pipestone Flyer; Camrose to Drayton Valley and Leduc/Beaumont to Hobbema
Once again, the geographic region served by the Pipestone Flyer is advantageously represented in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. Five seats to the left of Premier Redford is the Hon. Verlyn Olson, QC, Wetaskiwin-Camrose and newly appointed Minister of Agriculture & Rural Development. Three seats to the right of the Premier sits the Hon. Diana McQueen, Drayton Valley-Devon. And across the aisle overlooking the Assembly Table and Mace and strategically located close to the Speaker’s Chair, is newly elected Deputy Speaker of the House George Rogers, Leduc-Beaumont.
All three MLAs have accepted an intense level of responsibility. They not only perform their provincial government roles but all three make a concerted effort to fulfill obligations to their constituents, families and friends. They are experts at balancing extremely busy schedules.
And yet, all three willingly took time to meet with the Pipestone Flyer reporters at Government House in Edmonton to share their views about their new roles and responsibilities. Pipestone Flyer reporters Linda Steinke, Barry McDonald and Dominique Vrolyk chose to visit the elected officials in the ‘other’ location in which they work, Edmonton. They were curious about how their elected representatives holding a hub-of-influence in government would impact their constituency, their region and their province.
Hon. Verlyn Olson describes the complexity of his new role
Westaskiwin-Camrose, a strong agricultural constituency welcomed the news that Verlyn Olson was appointed Minister of Agriculture & Rural Development. He describes an important part of his new role, “The job of an MLA is multidimensional. One of the most important parts of the job is being an advocate for individual constituents as they try to maneuver through the complexity of government. My staff and I have been, and would continue to be, committed to that.”
He continues to explain the complexity of his new role. “Wherever I travel in the province, whatever meetings I attend, I do so as the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development and the MLA for Wetaskiwin-Camrose. The two are inseparable to me. In addition to specific constituency work, I am very focused on the Rural Development side of this Ministry and I have been working hard to raise the profile of rural development amongst my colleagues, most importantly my urban colleagues. The rural communities truly are the backbone of the province and their continued strength and well-being are vital to our continued success. Every opportunity I have to bring my colleagues to my constituency and to the meetings I have around the province, I do so. The agriculture industry is Alberta’s second largest industry and our largest renewable industry and is far more important to the province than many people realize.
I am fortunate to have very knowledgeable staff helping me in my constituency work as well as in the Ministry and department offices. Many of these people have been around for a large number of years and have invaluable experience to draw from. Whether it is assisting with a local Wetaskiwin-Camrose issue or a province-wide Federal/Provincial/Territorial agreement that will support agricultural producers for the next five years, I consider myself to be a very fortunate Member of the Legislative Assembly.”
Hon. Diana McQueen
There was a great deal of delight in the Conservative heartland of the Drayton Valley-Calmar electorate when the constituents learned Diana McQueen is rewarded for her hard work with the appointment as Minister of Environment & Sustainable Resource Development.
Deputy Speaker, George Rogers
To round out the political structure of this region is MLA George Rogers, Leduc-Beaumont-Devon. Leduc-Beaumont constituents are proud that of Mr. Roger’s has been elected by his peers as Deputy Speaker of the House.
There are 87 seats available in the House of which 61 are held by the PCs. Of these our region can be proud of the strong representation provided by our elected officials, Hon. Diana McQueen, Hon. Verlyn Olson and MLA George Rogers.
For more information contact:
McQueen, Hon. Diana (PC)
5136B - 52 Avenue
Drayton Valley, AB
Canada T7A 1S5
Phone: (780) 542-3355
Toll-Free: 1-800-542-7307
Fax: (780) 542-3331
draytonvalley.devon@assembly.ab.ca
Olson, QC, Hon. Verlyn (PC)
4870 - 51 Street
Camrose, AB
Canada T4V 1A1
Phone: (780) 672-0000
Fax: (780) 672-6945
wetaskiwin.camrose@assembly.ab.ca
Rogers, Mr. George (PC)
#54, 5203 - 50 Street
Leduc, AB
Canada T9E 6Z5
Phone: (780) 986-4652
Fax: (780) 986-5228
leduc.beaumont@assembly.ab.ca