As the eleven week campaign begins, the NDP have still yet to name a candidate for the Foothills riding.

Alison Thompson hopes to fill that spot, as she's one of the party's nominees for candidacy.

Thompson has worn many hats leading up to this election. She has spent time in both the non-renewable and renewable energy sectors, which she says could help sway votes away from the traditional Conservative vote that has been in the riding for decades.

"You might actually think I'm conservative," she says. "I think I'm going to appeal to a lot of people who just have those values about wanting to use what we have. I also respect community, social programs, and the environment. I think we can do better on all those fronts, without sacrificing the economy."

Thompson's hoping the recent events of the provincial election, which saw a changing of the guard with the provincial NDP, can help her campaign.

"I think we should challenge why NDP? Why not just not more conservatives?" she says. "I want people who have voted conservative in the past to understand that there really is a choice, it's not a trade off. There is a new beginning that we can have and it's catch-up. Other places around the world are already on that path."

Thompson got some of her inspiration to run from the only MP that represents the province, Western Economic Diversification Critic Linda Duncan, who holds a seat in Edmonton.

She says, like Duncan, she'd like to see more of Alberta's economy spread out and not rely completely on the oil and gas sector, even though it still has an important role in the economy.

"I really want to see diversification and not to the extent of people losing their jobs; at the extent of people creating new jobs," she says. "Certainly, the way the Europeans and even the Americans are on that band wagon."

Thompson is looking forward to the challenge at hand, with the Foothills riding's size and the number of communities that are a part of it.

The NDP is hoping to name their candidate for the Foothills riding in the coming days.

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