Steve Young wants to paint Riverview blue
By Timothy Gerwing
EDMONTON — Steve Young is the newest face on the Edmonton-Riverview ballot. The Conservative nominee rounds out the slate of all first-time nominees seeking the seat in the upcoming provincial election.
Young enters the race with a lifetime of useful service under his belt: university instructor, Edmonton Police staff sergeant, former president of the Garneau Community League, and 1991-‘92 CIAU champion with the Golden Bear hockey squad. Young wants to parlay this into a run at legislature, and challenge for the highly sought-after seat that the Liberals have held since its creation in 1997.
Young said he admires outgoing MLA Kevin Taft, but that Liberals can’t offer an impact in legislature, especially since Taft is retiring, and Taft’s replacement, Arif Khan, is a political unknown.
“I see an opportunity for Riverview to have a seat at the table of caucus that they’ve never had,” said Young.
Steve Young discusses his campaign plans on his lunch break in downtown Edmonton on Feb. 6. Photograph by Timothy Gerwing.
Young won the Conservative nomination in a head-to-head contest with businessman Tom Choucair on Jan. 27 by the narrow margin of 17 votes.
Young’s campaign will focus on health, education and the economy, but the police officer said public safety trumps everything. He supports Alison Redford’s drunk driving legislation, saying he rues being the one to see another person hurt or killed due to impaired driving. Young said Redford polled well in Riverview during the Tory leadership race, and he made a hockey analogy to stress the importance of good leadership succeeding good leadership.
“I am part of a party that has a 40-year-history of success behind them,” said Young. “You had the ‘Oiler machine’ made up of great leaders. Wayne Gretzky didn’t win [alone]. It takes a team, in our case a party.”
Wildrose nominee John Corie rejects Young’s outlook, calling a dominance of one party unhealthy for democracy. Corie doesn’t think voters should feel pressured to vote Conservative in order to have their voices heard.
“Several PC candidates have suggested that voters should support them since the PC party currently forms government,” said Corie. “It’s doubtful that this type of messaging will change popular opinion throughout the constituency. The overwhelming majority of voters I speak with are unhappy with the current government, and want a change.”
Young fills out a ballot of all first-time nominees in what will be a crucial riding for all parties — a ballot that includes Khan, Corie, and New Democrat Lori Sigurdson. Even though Young is “late to the party,” Grant MacEwan University political scientist Chaldeans Mensah said the race is only beginning.
“I don’t think the other candidates have any kind of a head start,” said Mensah. “It’s going to come down to how these candidates are able to connect to voters.”
Mensah said dethroning the Liberals will be a tough task, but a doable one. The seat has always gone Liberal. Losing the seat would be a massive blow to the opposition.
“I think it’s going to come down to being able to sway people that were loyal to Kevin Taft to take a different direction,” said Mensah.
Young said he loves living in Riverview. It’s where he went to school, and where he makes his home for his kids. Voters are his friends and neighbours, and he loves to eat at places like Jeffrey’s Cafe and Gracious Goods Cafe. Young said that despite his footing in the community, his opponents are strangers to him.
“I think I know a lot of people, and I’ve never crossed paths with any of these folks,” said Young.
Young plans to embark on a door knocking campaign soon where he will speak to constituents like home owners, small businesses owners, and low-income renters.
“My job is to listen to them all,” said Young. “I want to hear what their opinion is.”
