Tanner Hnidey, the young economist from Lloydminster, is putting family first with his platform for municipal council.
He’s been travelling the province speaking with politicians as part of his work.
“I have my own economic company, and over the last year, I’ve been travelling around the province speaking to various MLAs and MPs, city councillors and so on,” he said.
Hnidey says he’s been attending town halls and events discussing a variety of economic issues making it a more engaging topic.
“Trying to take economics, which tends to be very dry and very boring and present it in a way that’s not so dry and boring,”
He says his talks have more to do with public policy such as discussions surrounding government pension plans.
During these events, Hnidey would talk about how important it is to get involved.
“I always talk about how important it is to become politically active,” he said. “I think the way we solve that issue is by becoming active in the political process.”
He thought it best to take his own advice and run for council. His platform, as he puts it, is about family first.
“The foundation of the platform I’m running on is family,” explained Hnidey. “If you have policies which protect the family, protect parental rights, uphold the family, make it easier for parents to raise a family and so on, they’re good policies.”
His family-first belief is the foundation of all his policy beliefs.
“The higher the taxes, generally, the worse off families are,” said Hnidey. “The more money that family can have, the easier it is for them to raise their family and the higher quality of life possible.”
He says it’s time to take a look at government spending.
“We ought to take a hard look at taxes and a hard look at government spending,” said Hnidey. “Especially in this age of inflation when everyone else is cutting I think government has to do exactly the same.”
He says safety is another key concern for families in Lloydminster.
“We hear more and more residents being concerned about the community and what’s happening with safety, particularly downtown,” said Hnidey. “When families feel like they’re in danger or in more danger, it is conducive to raising a family.”
He says he is opposed to the land use bylaw.
“When you introduce this high-density housing to such an expansive degree, you lose that character of what makes Lloydminster, Lloydminster,” he explained. “I like the single-family, single-dwelling, quiet neighbouring style of a city.”
He says his time living in a bigger city during university made him realize the big cities felt very small.
“I found life was so much smaller in a big city, I think life is much larger in a smaller town like Lloydminster,” he explained.
“When you come to a smaller town you have to interact with everyone. I think that makes life so much larger.”
When asked why people should vote for Hnidey, he says if they align with his beliefs they should vote for him.
“I go back to that foundation if they believe in protecting the family and upholding that family institution, those are the principles I stand for,” he said. “If they don’t agree with my beliefs, then yes, I believe they should vote for someone else.”
He says the freedom to choose is how people can exercise their democratic freedoms.
“I think that’s how we exercise democracy to the highest extent possible,” he said. “I think that’s a wonderful representation of how democracy works.”
Hnidey’s full platform and more information about him can be found on his website TannerHnidey.com.
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