A former Lloydminster Youth Councillor is taking a stab at the political big leagues.
Justin Vance has officially tossed his hat into the ring in the upcoming municipal election.
The young hopeful served on the youth council and he says that’s what started his interest.
“That kind of started it all, once I got a taste of it, it just snowballed from there,” he said.
Vance took part in school governance as well, sitting on his middle school’s council.
“Student governing and trying to make the school a better place,” he explained.
Working his way from school governance to youth council and now municipal politics, he hopes to improve the city.
“As I work up and see the issues we’re facing today, well why don’t I try and make the city and better place,” he said.
Through Vance’s campaign, he hopes to address accountable spending.
“I know a lot of people get frustrated when we see money go places where we feel like it probably shouldn’t.”
Vance believes the city has a homeless issue and has some ideas to address it.
“We need to make sure The Olive Tree has their support from the city as much as we can give. We need to make sure law enforcement has the support from the city,” he said.
He spoke to the issue of the current men’s shelter location.
“In my opinion, I think we need to move the shelter out from residential areas,” he explained. “I think it’s a grief for those residents, and their house values have gone down over the last few years.”
“I think as a city councillor, it’s our job to make sure everyone’s house has the best bang for their buck in our city.”
The hospital is another key topic Vance wants to cover in his campaign.
“I feel we need to really push both the Alberta Government and the Saskatchewan Government on funding,” he said.
“I don’t think it’s fair we have a hospital that’s suitable for about 15,000 people and it’s accommodating about 32,000 people in the City of Lloyd and surrounding area.”
He says they can push the provincial governments harder to get the needed funding.
“I think it’s sad we live in a city with 32,000 people and it’s faster to go to Vermilion with 5,000 to get health care,” said Vance. “It’s not just the facility, the staff are overworked, they have limited resources at the hospital.”
Vance has his eyes set on another key infrastructure project for the border city, “An overpass connecting our north and south area of town.”
“For a safety concern, for a smooth flow of traffic, I think we really need to address it and start looking into it again,” he explained.
Vance completed a two-year environmental sciences diploma at Lakeland College and has first-hand experience working with the City of Lloydminster on a variety of projects.
“I contracted for the City of Lloydminster two summers ago and it taught me a lot about how infrastructure projects are built,” he said. “I got to see behind the scenes, I was part of the wastewater treatment facility.”
Currently, he works at VanTek Consulting Services as a shop manager, a job he says he would continue even if elected as a councillor.
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