The federal Maverick party has named their candidate for the Foothills riding.

Joshua Wylie of Millarville will be running to represent the Foothills the next time voters head to the polls.

Wylie was born in Saskatoon and moved to Calgary with his family in 1980.

He's worked primarily in the oil and gas industry and has also done some work in agriculture, having served as the interim executive director of the Millarville Racing and Agricultural Society.

His choice to get involved with the Maverick party came after having sat on the Foothills riding board since March of this year.

The relatively young party was born out of a surge in western alienation brought about by the 2019 federal election.

They rebranded from the "Wexit" party in late 2020.

Wylie says it's clear the Conservative party doesn't represent Alberta's interests.

"I think anyone paying attention realized that the Conservative party has turned their back on Albertans and somewhat forgotten about where their base is... to put it simply, I think Albertans deserve an advocate that doesn't have to look over their shoulder to ensure Quebec isn't listening every time they want to take a position on something."

The party's goal is to wield the same power as the Bloc Quebecois but to do so with western provinces in mind.

As such, they're only running candidates in those provinces.

For Wylie, the Bloc and NDP serve as a proof-of-concept.

"We don't need and we will never have a majority government because we aren't running MP's in enough parts of the country to do that. The angle we're after is effectively something along the lines of what the NDP have achieved currently, which is the most power that they've ever had in a minority government, and holding that balance of power."

While he sees concerns of vote-splitting as valid, he thinks Albertans need to focus on gaining leverage.

"We're under no illusions that the road to success for us comes through the traditionally conservative voter base. Here in the Foothills in 2019, the conservative incumbent won with 82 per cent of the vote. Now, the second-place liberals had six per cent of the vote, which is why vote-splitting isn't an issue.

"A Maverick MP isn't one less Conservative in parliament. It's just one western-interest Conservative, so we will certainly align ourselves with the Conservative party, but it will come with conditions and it will come with western beneficial conditions, as the NDP is doing with the Liberals now."

Though they no longer bear the Wexit name, western separation isn't off the table for them.

Wylie describes a "twin-track" approach the party plans to take.

Their initial goal would be to advocate and negotiate for constitutional change to benefit Western Canada.

If that plan fails, they would pursue their secondary goal of western independence.

"I'm optimistic that the rest of Canada, once they hear our story, as good brothers and sisters and neighbours, are going to be open about those discussions. But of course, if they aren't, then I look at it as they've made that decision for us and we begin the long road to independence which, of course, starts with referendums and involving the citizens we represent," says Wylie.

Wylie was pleased to receive a warm reception on social media following the announcement of his candidacy, though he's staying focused on getting to know constituents in person.

"It's not lost on me that the way some of these sites are designed, it's easy to fall into a bit of an echo chamber. While that's a big part of what we do, one of my objectives is to get around the riding as much as possible."

He'll be doing so at a party fundraiser event planned for July 15 in Okotoks.

 

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