By Aaron Mahoney (@Mahones93 on Twitter)

Lethbridge resident George Rigaux announces candidacy for Lethbridge-West UCP nomination

Mar 26, 2018 | 7:00 AM

LETHBRIDGE – The first person to toss their hat into the ring for the United Conservative Party nomination in Lethbridge-West is local resident George Rigaux, who announced his candidacy last week.

Rigaux is a 4th generation Albertan, born and raised in Pincher Creek, and is currently a commercial banker in town.

He believes Lethbridge is a unique city that has blended the belief that limited government and individuals working together can build a prosperous community. 

Rigaux isn’t new to politics, as he’s been a federal conservative party-political organizer and an executive assistant to a Member of Parliament.

“My political history has always been in the background. I’ve been a volunteer since I was young, through my university time. I worked as a political organizer for the federal Reform Party in British Columbia and the Yukon preparing constituency associations for the 1997 federal election. Since then I’ve been either on the board of directors or working with local candidates to get them elected,” Rigaux said.

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In the last federal election, Rigaux worked as a campaign manager for a man who is now a member of parliament.

“It was his first time running and we got together, and it worked out really well.”

Rigaux has also served as a Naval Officer, and his wife Cate was an RCMP officer, so they’ve had to move around quite a bit in the past.

But she’s retired now, and that’s one of the reasons why Rigaux believes now is the right time to put his name up for consideration.

“I think I have a lot to offer to citizens of Lethbridge. I’m a firm believer in limited, responsible, accountable and effective government. I think the current government is trying to encourage folks to be more reliant on the government to accomplish things for them. We hear talk of the Alberta advantage, and beyond the economic impacts of that, I think there’s a political culture in Alberta where people have had this sense of self-reliance and independence,” Rigaux stated.

Like other UCP members and potential candidates, Rigaux referred to the founding convention the party is going to be having in May when it comes to policy positions ahead of the 2019 election.

However, he made one policy crystal clear.

“I’m not in favour of a carbon tax, and I think there’s no advantage to a carbon tax in Alberta because it’s effectively a form of a sales tax,” Rigaux continued. “It penalizes one specific industry, yet we all end up having to be responsible for it, so that’s on a broad scale.”

Rigaux did speak to two issues of local concern as well, which are ensuring government funds are directed to dealing with long-term solutions to drug and alcohol addiction and ensuring the Lethbridge Airport development plan is successful as an economic driver.

“I think the role of the MLA is to be involved with all of the various interested parties. So, looking at the Lethbridge Airport, the City is in the process of assuming ownership and one of the reasons given is it will open up possible funding from the provincial and federal level. I think it’s important the local MLA be involved in that process to ensure it’s both something viable for the community and profitable and sustainable,” Rigaux said, adding the airport needs to be a profitable enterprise, it can’t just be something that needs constant government dollars to function.

Rigaux believes there’s a value to the safe injection site in Lethbridge that’s dedicated to helping people but wonders where these individuals can go for detox or rehabilitation.

“Lethbridge lacks facilities to deal with this need and our police, EMS, firefighters and hospitals are overrun by the urgent mental health issues generated by destructive drug usage and the crime that follows from this,” he continued. “We do require somewhere addicted people can be helped because saving them from an overdose and then simply putting them back on the streets to cope on their own is proving insufficient, expensive and disheartening.”

The current Lethbridge-West MLA is a well-known figure in the community, Shannon Phillips is currently serving her first term after being elected in 2015 and is also the provincial Environment Minister.

Rigaux thinks Phillips is doing her job as an MLA by being involved with individuals and groups in the community, but he also believes she has more of an ideological bent to how she presents herself.

“For example, she’s in favour and one of the architects of our carbon tax, and our shift to renewable energies which are subsidized. I just think we can have a government representative who isn’t saying ‘I’m from the government, and here’s what we need to do’ rather ‘I’m from the government and what can we do together from the local community’ to have our freedoms and opportunities to achieve the dreams and aspirations that we have.”

As far as where he sits on the political spectrum, Rigaux considers himself a Center-Right leaning conservative and certainly not a radical.

“I believe there is a valuable role for government to play in society in a balanced, servant role and not in the belief that only government has the resources and answers to whatever the issue may be,” Rigaux added.