By Amy Badry
Kennedy-Glans is a Calgary lawyer and businesswoman. Her work has taken her to over 35 different countries. She was also the first female vice-president of Nexen Inc. Kennedy-Glans wants to see a more nuanced dialogue on the development of Canada’s oil sands in order to ensure sustainable development, one that provides for global energy needs as well as benefits generations to come.
“The number one issue in Calgary-Varsity is education. In other ridings it would probably be health care. People move to this community because of education. We are a community of lifelong learners and stay here for the same reason. Alberta has the nation’s leading apprenticeship program. We represent 11 per cent of Canada’s labour force and we train more than 20 per cent of apprentices.”
The Progressive Conservative platform on post-secondary issues includes new completion grants to replace the previous remission program designed to ease a student’s debt load on graduation. They will provide students who have loans with grants of between $1,000 and $2,000 upon graduation and a new retention grant will provide graduates who work in Alberta for three years in essential occupations with an additional $1,000.
“We’ve met with the SU president, the Graduate Student Association president at the U of C and at SAIT to talk about what matters to them. We have some wonderful opportunities in this province to do that. We want to make sure that the flow of ideas and application is very vibrant. The government will invest in the U of C’s Schulich School of Engineering. I think that’s the role of government to make sure the infrastructure is there for education.”
Voting takes place on April 23. Polls are open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. If you reside in Varsity, you can vote at 300 Lounge Varsity Courts, 3735 32 Avenue NW. To be able to vote, you must be 18 years or older on election day, be a Canadian citizen and must have had Albertan residency for six months immediately proceeding the election.