Barb Miller, Red Deer South MLA incumbent is entering her name in the 2019 provincial election.
Miller was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, representing the constituency of Red Deer South in 2015.
Miller is running because she believes Red Deer hasn’t got everything it needs yet.
“I’m still determined to work hard and be a voice to make sure Red Deer’s needs are met,” she said.
One of the issues she sees in the City is the Red Deer Regional Hospital.
“They’re working on the business case now, which is huge – not waiting another budget year for funding so they can get started right away on what they need to do,” said Miller, adding that it puts off the amount of time that Red Deer has to wait for more answers.
She said the City also needs more schools and more beds for seniors.
“There are needs that Red Deer has had for many years that were overlooked almost like there’s Edmonton and Calgary and Red Deer was just Gasoline Alley, so you just zip through and once and a while you get a token, but we need some serious infrastructure still here in Red Deer and I’m willing to fight for it.”
Looking back, a memorable moment for Miller in her career was being involved in the justice centre.
“When I was first elected Justice Foster came to me and we sat down and he explained the need for a justice centre because they couldn’t expand the current courthouse. The footings weren’t deep enough in the ground so they couldn’t build onto it so I sat down numerous times with the justice minister and explained everything.”
Miller added that when a family is going through for example a divorce and there’s kids involved, their schooling may suffer because they end up with mental health concerns as some of the time they will blame themselves.
“And this new justice centre will have a mediation centre where they can address some of that, but it will also cut down on healthcare costs because cases will be going through a lot faster because we’ll have more courtrooms and more judges to hear these cases, so they’ll go through faster and there will be less stress.”
As the former President of the Red Deer and District Labour Council and long time advocate to end homelessness, Miller understands what an economy that works for everyone looks like according to a release.
“I don’t trust that Jason Kenney will fight for what matters to families in Red Deer,” said Miller. “Rachel has kept Albertans working and fought for infrastructure projects like the runway extension at the Red Deer Airport, the new Justice Centre, our new interchange, and of course granting university status to Red Deer College.”
Meanwhile Miller currently serves as a member of the standing committees on Families and Communities, Public Accounts and Privileges and Elections, Standing Orders and Printing.
