Two candidates are facing off for the Alberta Party nomination in the Morinville-St. Albert riding.

Former St. Albert city council member and current teacher Neil Korotash is squaring off against school principal Wayne Rufiange.

Korotash was elected to St. Albert city council at the age of 21 and served two terms as a council member. He also has had an interest in federal and provincial politics, serving on local boards for both levels of government in the past.

At 14, Korotash joined the the St. Albert constituency association board for the Canadian Alliance. Previously, he had been a member of the provincial Progressive Conservatives but left the party after it merged with the Wildrose Party to form the United Conservative Party.

For Korotash, his values just did not align with the new conservative party. He said the Alberta Party leadership and rank and file are a great fit for him.

“We believe that we need to work towards balancing the budget and trying to not to accumulate as much debt as we have been … but also socially responsible and protecting human rights and valuing our diversity,” Korotash said.

Korotash said one of the draws for of the Alberta Party for him is its focus on agriculture and issues facing rural residents. He also said Ray Gibbon Drive, budgeting, debt and issues facing small businesses are all key issues in the riding.

The father and husband said he wants to help ensure Alberta has a viable third party in the election and said he is ready to “put my money where my mouth is” and take the plunge to enter the provincial race.

“The two-party system can be very, very scary for me. I think a bipartisan system where (the) pendulum swings too far back and forth every election is not healthy,” Korotash said.

Rufiange has been in education for 20 years and is currently the principal of R.S. Staples in Westlock. Prior to working in Westlock, Rufiange opened the public school in Morinville and worked there for six years before moving on to the high school he graduated from.

The principal has never been heavily involved in politics in the past. Rufiange said he voted for the PC party in the past but joined the Alberta Party in the last year.

“More and more over the years, I looked at how (the PCs) made cuts to some real essential services. Being in education, it always seemed like our children had to bear the brunt of the budget, and I couldn’t do that,” Rufiange said.

The father said one of the key issues in the upcoming election will be how the oil industry is being taken care of. He also said supporting families and students through growing mental health issues is something he would like to tackle.

“The mental health issues that our kids are dealing with, I think the rate of anxiety and depression in younger kids is (just) growing at an alarming rate. And so, just trying to work with Alberta Health Services and the schools and bringing together those different areas so we are working together,” Rufiange said, adding that right now some services are being repeated and are not utilizing each other well enough.

The principal said he enjoys taking a leadership role and decided to run for the nomination because he wanted to add his voice to a political party that he believes can do great things for Alberta.

The Morinville-St. Albert members of the Alberta Party will vote on Jan. 19 for their candidate to run in the 2019 provincial election.