Election Night

Originally published on DaninOttawa.com May 6th, 2011
Updated: To see the CHBC news coverage of election night in the Okanagan, please click here.

The following is a copy of the speech that I gave following the May 2nd, 2011 Federal election results being announced:

Good evening, everyone.  My name is Dan Albas, and I am proud to be your new Member of Parliament for Okanagan-Coquihalla!

First, I would like to thank all of the candidates who took part in this election.  Their willingness to stake out and defend positions on the important issues of the day-thus giving voters a clear choice—is what makes democracy work.

Second, I would like to thank the person most responsible for my being in this position tonight:  my wife, Tara.

She knows politics is not an easy road to travel, especially with a young family in tow.  But she has supported my involvement in civic affairs and has come to appreciate the great good that can be done for communities and families by an effective, responsive, and well-led government.

I would also like to thank two other people who have played a large role in my political life… and in yours.  Stockwell Day has been a spectacularly good representative of and for our Riding.  And he’s the first to acknowledge that the real brains of the operation—and God knows…, the beauty!—reside with his wife, Val!  Every one of us owes Stock and Val a debt of gratitude for their many years of public service.

And finally, I would like to thank—loudly and proudly—the entire team.  You are the reason this Riding has been a Conservative stronghold for so long. You’re also the reason this riding will remain a Conservative stronghold!

The votes have been tallied. Our Riding has chosen a new Conservative flag-bearer. When I go to Ottawa, I look forward to making sure your interests are heard, and defended, and perhaps even rewarded in Ottawa!

But more than anything else, I promise to invest my time, my energy and my passion in serving the constituents of this Riding.  You see, my view of government places trust not in any one person or party, but where it belongs—in the people. The responsibility to live up to that trust is also where it belongs, in their elected leaders. That special relationship, between people and their elected leaders, is one I will honor for as long as you will allow me to serve.

As your Member of Parliament,

I pledge to work at providing the federal government the capacity to do the people’s work without dominating their lives;
I pledge to work towards a government that will not only work well, but wisely and, perhaps even a little more efficiently;
and to paraphrase a great statesman:

I pledge to balance my willingness to do good in Ottawa with the knowledge that government is never more dangerous than when our desire to have it help us blinds us to its great power to harm us.
Tonight, we celebrate and rejoice. For tomorrow, the real battle is joined—the collision of competing policy ideas and agendas in the public arena. I promise you that, when the next Parliament convenes, I will fight hard; I will fight fair; and I will fight long into the night to advance the Conservative agenda as your Member of Parliament.

Thank you.  Good night.  God Bless Canada.