Medicine Hat News

Medicine Hat Mayor Norm Boucher officially declared his candidacy for the federal Liberal party on Tuesday. In a passionate speech in which he announced he would be taking an unpaid leave of absence from the Mayor's office for the duration of the campaign, Boucher tore into Conservative candidate and incumbent Medicine Hat MP LaVar Payne. Boucher criticized Payne for what he called a lack of proper representation for this area, and said Payne has failed to deliver on a number of issues important to Medicine Hat — from funding for the proposed Regional Event Centre to a 24-hour border crossing at the Port of Wild Horse to health care.
"We went from a good parliamentarian in Monte Solberg to a heckler in LaVar Payne," said Boucher. "His own party treats him like a member of the opposition."
Boucher said it is time for the federal Conservatives to stop taking this area for granted, and said southeast Alberta cannot expect better treatment from the federal government unless it demands better representation.
"The definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over and expect different results," Boucher said.
In Boucher's absence, deputy mayor Ald. John Hamill will be in charge. If Boucher were to win, a byelection would be called to elect a new mayor.
Keep following the Medicine Hat News for more as this story develops.