Cal Busby is the youngest of the three men vying to win election as the new Westlock County Division 3 councillor, and he views his relative youth as an advantage.
“I am one who will work for the people to gain their trust, and more importantly, to keep it,” he said. “That’s huge. You have to go that extra mile for the people.”
Busby, 40, believes his youth is something that will allow him to do a good job if elected because he would bring with him new ideas and a new perspective on county business.
So far in his campaigning, there has been one issue that people have singled out above all others as something they want to see fixed.
“Everybody I’ve talked to on my campaign so far, I ask them right off the bat what are their concerns with the county, and 90 per cent of them say roads, roads, roads,” he said.
As a current Pembina Hills school division bus driver, it’s something he has seen himself. While not all the roads are bad, there are enough bad ones that something needs to be done.
“Everybody drives them, and for a school bus driver, you’ve got the most precious cargo in it and that’s a huge responsibility and if the roads aren’t good, it makes your driving that much more difficult,” Busby said.
He also said he heard about a school bus that refused to drive down a road for five days because of the condition of that road.
“As far as I’m concerned, that should never happen,” he said. “That’s pretty bad.”
In order to get things fixed, Busby said he understands there is a certain protocol that needs to be followed so that he doesn’t alienate his new colleagues.
“You’ve got to work with the whole council,” he said. “You can’t go in there causing trouble because it isn’t going to benefit the people.”
If there’s one thing that any councillor needs to remember, Busby said, it’s that everything they do must be done to benefit their constituents. The people are really the only reason councillors have a job, and they can’t forget that, he added.
He is also a fan of getting out into the community and talking to the people to see what they know and what they would like to see happen.
“I’m very approachable, very open and very easy to get along with,” he said. “I mean, they could walk up to me on the street in Westlock if they had a concern and we would talk about it right there.”
With the vote on June 25 fast approaching, Busby said he’s preparing to do the job as best he can if he’s the one the voters want to have represent them.
“If I do get elected, it’s a huge responsibility and it’s not one I take lightly whatsoever,” he said.
