Thursday, July 22, 2021
VOLUME 4 I ISSUE 4
MERIDIANSOURCE.CA
Mavericks hope to unite the west GEOFF LEE
WRITER
.................................. Ken Rutherford hopes to rock the regional political boat in the next federal election. The Lloydminster resident is the Battlefords-Lloydminster candidate for the new Maverick Party that is out to represent only the west in Ottawa. This is the first foray into politics for the Lloydminster businessman, who decided to join the party to get a better deal for western Canada in Confederation. “Like many, I’m a frustrated westerner and I think you either have to be a part of the solution or you’re part of the problem,” said Rutherford. “I also subscribe to the statement, if you keep doing the same thing over and over again and you expect different results, it’s the definition of insanity.” He says knowing the Trudeau Liberal Party did poorly in the last federal election in the west helps to open the door to the new grassroots Mavericks.
“It’s a party that gives frustrated westerners like myself a new political home that stands for westerners. They don’t plan to run any candidates past the Manitoba border,” said Rutherford. He says the way our political structure is set up, the majority of seats in Parliament are represented by Ontario and Quebec. “Often the election is called before it hits the Alberta border. It’s not surprising that we are where we are,” he said. The Maverick Party, formerly known as Wex it C an ada, has a two-track approach that advocates for constitutional change that will benefit the west, or the independence of Western Canada if positive change doesn’t happen. Rutherford says he loves Canada and hopes the approach of working within Canada works. “There are various parts to Canada and they’re just different. This is a way to have a regional interest at the national stage,” he said.
Rutherford says the Maverick Party is taking advantage of a feeling of western alienation among some voters. “That’s many people’s position, because we’ve experienced a lot of support in a very short time,” he noted. He says the only caveat is some concern about splitting the vote. Rutherford is hoping to steal votes in the constituency that elected Progressive Conservative Party MP Rosemary Falk in the last election, with the Liberals a far distant second. “There will either be a Maverick or a PC MP going to Ottawa,” said Rutherford. “We’re going to stay away from the tightlycontested areas, so splitting the vote isn’t a concern.” In the meantime, Rutherford is looking forward to taking part in the party’s virtual policy convention on Aug. 7 and introducing himself to constituents. Rutherford was raised on a farm in the Paradise Hill area and
currently lives with his wife, Jennifer, and their six children in the country, northeast of Lloydminster. He’s also the owner of his own real-estate appraisal company, Rutherford Appraisal Group, and teaches appraisals at the School of Business at Lakeland College. He is active with Big Brothers Big Sisters, Habitat for Humanity and StartUp Lloydminster. In June, the fitness enthusiast took part in the Bike for Breakfast YLL charity ride to support school breakfast programs in area schools. Rutherford says representing a new political party means he is also tasked with letting the electorate know more about it. “I would say most
people we talk to, once they understand what the Maverick Party is and what they stand for, they say, ‘I can get behind that,’ but you’ve got to explain it to them,” he said. “So we’re doing as much as we can to get in front of people, to listen to them, and talk to them about the Maverick Party.” The current party platform supports measures such as scrapping the existing equalization formula along with
provincial and national carbon taxes. The party is also strongly opposed to the latest Liberal’s firearms confiscation program. They also want western provinces to be fully compensated if they opt-out of new federal cost-share programs as part of their multi-faceted ideology. “We’re doing everything we can to explain to people about the Maverick Party,” said Rutherford. “We’re doing meet and greets, barbecues; I’m doing interviews, so lots of interaction with the media. “We’re reaching out to all the communities. We are putting together a steak night in Maidstone.”
Ken Rutherford is running for the new Maverick Party in the next federal election. Rutherford is the owner of Rutherford Appraisals Group and teaches business at Lakeland College. Geoff Lee Photo