After years of watching government operations as an accountant and in financial management, Lucia Stachurski is putting her name on the ballot and running as the Liberal candidate for St. Albert-Sturgeon River in 2025.
Stachurski comes from a family of immigrants. Her parents immigrated from Italy to Canada in the 1950s, moving to St. Sault Marie, Ont. She moved to St. Albert permanently in 2002 after being in Windsor and Ottawa. She said that her family is where her desire to help people came from.
"They've always helped out. Out of necessity too. Being an Italian immigrant, in a town where you weren't really welcome. It was a tough go," Stachurski said.
Stachurski said she stayed away from declaring any allegiances, but that changed seeing "the process just stall" under Stephen Harper, and then watching St. Albert's current MP Michael Cooper, who was first elected in 2015.
"I didn't feel we were well represented. He doesn't represent the values that I have. I just felt compelled to do something," she said.
She joined the St. Albert Liberal Electoral District Association (EDA) in 2019, became chair in 2022, and now is running as the federal Liberal party candidate in St. Albert-Sturgeon River.
She said one of her other reasons for running is that she doesn't feel like Canada is broken, and wants to understand why some may hold that point of view.
"If it's their personal situation, I don't feel the Conservatives are going to address those issues," she said, adding that she felt she hasn't seen much of anything concrete in terms of a plan going into the next election.
"The three-word slogans? That's not policy, that's not going to get you very far," she said.
The 2025 general election, which could be called as early as next week after new Liberal leader Mark Carney is sworn is as Prime Minister, will be the first under the St. Albert-Sturgeon River riding, which was created in 2023. Stachurski said that it’s an opportunity to get to know new kinds of people, instead of just the constituents in what was the mostly urban riding of St. Albert-Edmonton.
"The bulk of the electorate is in St. Albert, but we can't ignore those rural areas. And I look forward to getting out to where the people are," she said. "I plan on visiting each of those areas and talking to people where they are. Not expecting them to come here."
She said that listening to the people is something she feels has been missing in the area and in politics.
"Who am I to say your issues are this or your issues are that? You've got to listen to what people have to say."
