After taking a step back and spending time with his family the last four years, Scott Cyr is hoping to represent the residents of Bonnyville, Cold Lake and St. Paul again as Member of the Legislative Assembly. Cyr, who served as MLA under the Wildrose party for Bonnyville – Cold Lake in 2015 to 2019, won the UCP nomination by one vote over MLA David Hanson. According to the Cold Lake accountant, the UCP nomination race is a prime example of why every vote counts.
Cyr says if he is voted into office his focus is to ensure the voices and concerns of the community are heard, with one of the biggest concerns he continues to hear about from residents being Highway 28.
“I can tell you we were very fortunate after the budget was announced to have Minister [Devin] Dreeshen come up to Bonnyville and make an announcement saying they are looking to do planning of twinning between Bonnyville and Cold Lake, while also looking to do passing lanes between Bonnyville and Smoky Lake,” Cyr says. “I’m very enthused that the government has made that decision. I believe a lot of that came down to a fundraising dinner that we had, which had over 900 people show up and they were all echoing the same thing, that Highway 28 needed to be fixed.”
Cyr says another item at the top of mind for the region is health care, with the area seeing a shortage of doctors. He explains the UCP is looking to address the issue by working with Alberta Health Services to ensure rural doctors are fairly compensated and feel valued.
“I can tell you I have nothing but respect for our local doctors, and all of our frontline staff, they have gone through a hard time over the last three years and I believe that they have shown that they have our best interests as citizens of Alberta at heart.”
Other priorities for Cyr include education for the region; as he explains he would like to see more funding go towards renovations for schools in the area and even new schools. Cyr says when it comes to the curriculum in local schools mental health needs to be top of mind for students.
Cyr also hopes to continue to address the issue of Rural Crime, something he had highlighted during his first term as MLA, even setting up a meeting with NDP Minister of Justice at the time Oniel Carlier, which he explains is unheard of for an opposition member.
“This just shows the level of commitment that I have to ensuring rural crime in our local areas is addressed.”
Cyr is running against NDP candidate Caitlyn Blake, with Albertans scheduled to hit the polls on May 29th.