Miller chalks up election as a good learning experience

Wetaskiwin-Camrose Wildrose candidate Trevor Miller may not have won this riding in the election, but he did gain valuable experience for the future.

The Wildrose Party will have 17 seats in the legislature. "To be honest, I'm a little disappointed. I was hoping for a little stronger showing," said Trevor. "It does show that the Wildrose is still fairly new and it needs to grow a little more. We need to take that as a message to get down to work and earn people's trust and respect. We need to earn the right to govern."

Trevor faced one of the toughest opponents in the province in the justice minister. "I knew going in that not only is Verlyn a good justice minister, but he is a well respected man in the community. I knew that I had to outwork him, so I knocked on 5,000 doors and talked to a lot of people," he said. "I amassed a lot of volunteers along the way. It was just too much right now. I am happy that 4,500 people voted for me. I tried my hardest and didn't leave anything on the table. It was a lot of fun."

The Wildrose Party will form the official opposition. "I'm happy for Danielle (Smith) for winning her seat. This is our chance to get in as the opposition and learn even more. It will help us in the long run."

The close races in other parts of the province will give the Wildrose Party confidence for the next election. "I think when we earn the people's trust enough, they will vote for us as the Wildrose Party. I believe when change happens, it will happen fast," said Trevor. "A lot can happen in four years. Don't count me out."

Despite losing, Trevor was proud of his positive campaign. "I want to thank everyone for working hard. My wife and campaign manager Lora Miller, volunteer coordinator Cole Kander, CFO Cody Vogel and volunteers Leo Regehr, Kelly Innocent, Graham Sinclair and Tom Messick all helped me tremendously and worked really hard. I thank those who made contributions, the people who voted for me, my children for putting up with me when I was gone so much and Danielle Smith for coming out to help and show support."

He acknowledged his opponent. "Verlyn is a very seasoned man and ran a good campaign. I appreciate that he kept it to policy and we took the high road. Not every riding was able to do that, but we did here and that shows what type of people we are in this constituency. I'm very proud of that."

Trevor will concentrate on serving the Camrose County council right now. "Fours years from now is not as long away as you might think. We'll see what happens. People need to know me more and perhaps my values."