Another anti-vaccine candidate enters Brooks-Medicine Hat election race

Two new candidates have registered in a pair of southern Alberta ridings, one of which will be decided in a byelection next month. (File)

Another candidate has registered in the Brooks-Medicine Hat byelection, the same race that Premier Danielle Smith hopes to use to gain her seat in the Alberta legislature.

Bob Blayone, with the Alberta Independence Party, has declared his candidacy in the race, which is set to be decided on Nov. 8.

The 54-year-old currently lives in Peace River, but was born in Taber and grew up in Raymond.

Blayone says his party fights for the freedom of an individual's rights and that includes stances against COVID-19 vaccinations.

He is the fourth candidate in the byelection. The Alberta NDP's Gwendoline Dirk and Alberta Party's Barry Morishita are also in the running.

NDP DECLARES CANDIDATE IN LIVINGSTONE-MACLEOD

The Alberta NDP announced a candidate on Thursday for next year's election in another southern Alberta riding.

The party hopes to take another foothold with Kevin Van Tighem in Livingstone-Macleod, a race they've never won before.

Van Tighem is a conservationist and author and has experience working as a volunteer during previous elections.

He says he's in opposition to many of the UCP policies in the area since the party has been in power, but the controversy over coal mining in the eastern slopes of the Rockies was the tipping point.

"At that point I thought, 'You know, I've worked in public service all my life, this place means a great deal to me, these people mean a great deal to me and it's just not right to have this thing happening again and again from a government that just takes us for granted and takes our votes for granted.' So I stepped up."

He says residents in the area are also ready for a change, but it will be a particularly tough riding to win.

The Alberta NDP hasn't won there since it was created in 1997 and the best they've done so far was winning approximately 23 per cent of the vote in 2015.