Lethbridge East MLA Bridget Pastoor will be facing a new challenge this week, her first contested nomination.
Pastoor, originally elected as a Liberal, crossed the floor in 2011 and is now competing for the PC candidacy.
The County of Lethbridge reeve, Lorne Hickey, also filed papers to officially become a candidate for the PC nominations but Pastoor says, “She isn’t bothered by this.”

“The fact that I’m being challenged and that this is an open nomination is democracy in action,” she says.
The 2008 election saw the lowest voter turnout in years.
“I mean, if you look across the board and look at the demographics and we get a 40 per cent turnout at the polls, there’s something wrong out there,” she says.  
The race for the PC nomination in Lethbridge East has already seen a higher voter turnout.
“I can tell you that last night, 356 people voted in the advance poll for the nomination.” “…considering that last time they had a nomination, something like 42 people voted, so that’s quite a difference right there,” says Hickey.
Both Pastoor and Hickey believe an emphasis on education is important.
Hickey says that a greater focus on government in schools is a way to help students understand what’s happening and why.
“You need to involve the education system to make sure everyone understands the process,” he says.
“I think that’s really the key to getting people involved and making people aware of, you know, how do you choose a candidate? Or how do you choose someone you want to nominate to be a candidate? I think that needs to be pushed really hard.”
Pastoor says she would like to see more activities that focus on government in schools to promote interest and encourage students to appreciate the right to vote.
The Student Vote program, offered at the federal level, is one such activity.
Schools at the elementary, middle and secondary levels can sign up to receive campaign calendars, election manuals, ballot boxes and screens.
Students participate in a model of the actual voting process. They research candidates, attend debates and are encouraged to discuss campaign issues, both in and outside of the classroom.
The final step is for students to cast ballots for the official candidates and see how their choices stack up against the rest of the country.
 “These are the people that make the rules that run your life. You want good people,” says Pastoor.
Many eligible voters are apathetic and Pastoor suspects the fact that a minority government can be in power is part of the reason why.
“We have to change the way we do business in terms of electing people. In the old days it worked very well with two parties. It doesn’t work well when you’ve got more than two parties.”
She says she believes that voters should vote for a person who presents the right qualities.  
“What if we elected good people to the legislature and they’re the ones that voted for the premier? So in fact, perhaps the premier could come from a party that was not in power.”
This type of system could allow the premier of a province to focus on the job of governing a population while being less concerned about being the leader of a political party.
Hickey suspects that a high voter turnout depends on the issues at hand and the level of awareness and personal interest voters have:
“The only time you have a really high number of voters is when there’s a change in representative or the party in power coming up. I think it’s really driven by the economy or health care issues, things like that.
“It seems like everything is too centralized in Edmonton. It needs to be pushed out so that people are aware of what’s happening and conventional forms of letting that information out perhaps aren’t the right sources anymore. You know, everybody uses Facebook and Twitter. That probably would catch a lot more young people.“
On a local level, Pastoor says she welcomes the nomination challenge and in the event that she is elected, would like to continue focus on some of the key issues that she has over the past years. These include issues facing seniors in the community and working harder to improve aboriginal graduation rates.
Hickey says he also plans to focus on seniors’ care. He is also concerned about the cost of living for low-income families and those earning minimum wage in Alberta.  
“I think the cost of rent and things like that are just getting too high for people to be able to afford them,” he says.
The nominations will take place in the evening on Jan. 26 at the Lethbridge Exhibition Grandstand.