I met Sue Huff when we were both elected to the Board of Directors for the Alberta Party. I got to know her and her leadership and working style better over the course of the past year and particularly as she was our Acting Leader. But nothing brings people together like rolling up the sleeves and getting to work! I got to know Sue very well as we worked together on the Party's Leadership Convention in May.

For those of you who live in the Edmonton Glenora constituency, I'm excited for you. Truly. I think the coming election campaigns will be taken to a new hopeful, respectful, and ideas-driven level with Sue in the running.

The Alberta Party is sometimes criticized for being all about rainbows and kittens and these silly things called ideals. And Sue and I have, on more than one occasion, asked ourselves, is there something wrong with ideals? Is there something wrong with believing we can do better? And we decided that, no, there isn't. Maybe we've just been trained to expect negativity in politics, and to think that anything positive and hopeful must be ridiculous and silly.

But, honestly, that stops now. I think that Sue Huff has the makings of a fantastic candidate and an even better MLA.

She's not afraid of asking questions. She wants to learn more about the issues. She also, probably more importantly, wants to learn more about what people think of the issue. Whether it's a colleague, a different party, an expert in a particular field, someone on the street. She's looking for information and perspectives and I think that's critical for someone making important decisions about issues that affect our lives.

Sue is absolutely committed to working in an open and honest and transparent manner. She has nothing to hide. And that comes through clearly when you work with her. She builds trust with people that way. And trust doesn't always walk hand-in-hand with politics. I think one of the reasons she works so well with the Party both as a Board member and as our acting leader is because she so obviously shares our Party's democratic values: public business should be conducted in public, governance should involve the people it governs,  and government is accountable.

Finally, and I say this with respect, Sue knows her place. She knows that the job of MLA is not about power or influence or helping out her buddies. It's not about getting her way by fear mongering or threatening a tax hike. It's about representing people. It's about listening to what they say and representing those voices in the Legislative Assembly. It's a simple job, really, when you look at it like that...MLAs represent people. But it's not easy and Sue knows that. She just has the guts and determination and skills and attitude to do it and do it well.

I'm thrilled to have had this chance to tell you why I think Sue would make a fantastic MLA. She represents the Party that I believe in in such an honourable way. I know she'll represent her constituency neighbours in the same way.