Ryan McDougall has entered her name in the nomination candidacy for the Red Deer – South constituency for the Alberta Party.

“There’s a lot of people in my social circle and people that I deal with professionially as a mediator that I think I can relate to and I’m a good representation of the average citizen in Red Deer-South,” said McDougall in a recent interview.

Born and raised in Lloydminster on income from the oil and gas sector, McDougall recognizes the financial reality the recession has brought on families. She is currently a single parent, having raised two children in Red Deer since 1998.

McDougall has spent the last 18 years in the legal field as a family law paralegal, mediator and volunteer and currently sits on the Board of the Alberta Association of Professional Paralegals as vice president.

She currently provides paralegal services through her business called Choice Solutions, so she works with families extensively who are going through conflict whether that’s through a separation or divorce.

When it comes to what makes her the ideal candidate, she said, “I have always been somebody that speaks up on behalf of others when I see somebody that doesn’t feel they have a voice for themselves.

“Rather than sit back and cross my fingers and hope that somebody else will step forward and fix them, I thought, I’m going to be that voice, I’m going to try.”

The issues that she sees facing the people of Red Deer are economic recovery, crime reduction, the need for a new hospital and a burdened legal system.

With McDougall’s kids now being in their early twenties and coming forward to their mother with great questions, she also encourages other younger people to come forward with their concerns and get involved.

“I hope and encourage anybody that is in that early voting stage of their life that they bring questions and curiosity to me so that I can start being an educator of some kind in this process.”