Green Party candidate hopes to drive conversation about democracy

By Collin Gallant on April 22, 2025.

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Andy Shadrack is not confident that as an out-of-province Green Party candidate he will win a seat in Parliament for one of the most conservative ridings in the country.

But the B.C.-based retired college instructor said he joined the rase to discuss strengthening the democratic process to face a sovereignty challenge from U.S. President Donald Trump.

He also wants to make the case to build a stronger Alberta and national economy that addresses climate change.

“Yes, there are other issues beyond climate change in this election, but climate change is not going away,” he told the News last week. “When we make decisions, we always have to factor that in.”

Advance voting ran from Friday through Easter Monday. The general election will be held on Monday, April 28.

Shadrack is challenging three-term Conservative member of Parliament for Medicine Hat-Cardston-Warner Glen Motz, New Democrat Jocelyn Johnson and Liberal candidate Tom Rooke.

Shadrack said that election’s larger conversation about Canadian sovereignty could result in positive change for citizens, but only if citizens per perspective is considered in solutions.

“Clearly free trade has not worked out the way Canadians wanted,” he said. “But you cannot negotiate with (U.S. President Donald) Trump … he’s incapable of making decisions about the things we need to talk about.

“We have to make a long-term decision about how we’re going to rebuild the economy.”

For Shadrack that includes acknowledging Alberta’s unique challenges in a warming environment, such as water availability, farming as weather patterns change and moves to a lower carbon economy.

“I live in B.C. and we have a different perspective on oil and gas, but I think it’s important to have a conversation,” said Shadrack, who says he has discussed the issues with coal industry workers.

“They say they aren’t wedded to working a coal mine, but they want a job that pays enough to raise a family. I’d say to oil and gas workers in Alberta that I’m not opposed to you having a living wage, or oil and gas per se, but we need to talk about a transition.”

“I don’t want to see what happened to coal miners in northern United Kingdom happen to workers in Alberta,” he added.

Shadrack supports a new national disaster recovery agency to respond and takeover long-term management of disasters like those in Jasper and Lytton, B.C. He sees a stronger presence and new mandate for the military in northern development, a national electricity grid that could benefit Alberta as a renewable power producer, and large-scale housing programs.

Shadrack, a former political science instructor at colleges near his home in Kaslo, B.C., has not been actively campaigning on the ground in the riding that stretches from Saskatchewan boundary to the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.

But, he says he’s had hundreds of conversations with voters and groups in the riding via email.

“Canadians at heart still believe in democracy,” he said.

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