As part of our coverage of the federal election, Investment Executive profiles candidates who are working or who have worked in the financial services industry.

Here we look at Tim Robson, NDP candidate in the Alberta riding of Wetaskiwin.

Running as an NDP candidate in a province as notoriously conservative as Alberta is no easy task, but it’s one that Tim Robson is willing to take on. And it’s not the first time.

An entrepreneur with his own life insurance brokerage, Robson is running in Alberta’s Wetaskiwin riding — about an hour south of Edmonton — for the second time. He first ran in 2004, on the strong belief that even in a dominantly conservative riding, voters deserve to have options.

“I’ve always been a socialist,” said Robson, 58, in an interview. “I think it’s very important that people have a choice, and the New Democrats are the only socialists running as candidates.”

In the last election, Wetaskiwin’s conservative candidate Blain Calkins won by a 30,000-vote margin. In a riding with 100,000 voters, Robson recognizes that he faces an enormous shortfall.

“This is Alberta, that’s how people vote,” he said.

Nonetheless, Robson said he’s seen noticeably more NDP support in Alberta this time around. “It’s quite a bit more exciting.”

The top national issue Robson hopes to address in the current election is health care. He is pushing for such measures as training more doctors and nurses, establishing a national drug system to lower costs of medication, and creating more long-term care spaces.

“I’ve always thought one of the things Canadians are most proud of is public medicine,” Robson said.

In the economic realm, Robson is keen to address the number of jobs shifting overseas on the watch of the current government. He pointed to recent news that Welland, Ont. will lose 800 jobs next year when the doors close on a plant run by Deere & Co. — a company that receives tax breaks from the federal government. The farm machinery manufacturer is transferring the production to Mexico.

“We don’t support a government that sends our jobs overseas,” said Robson.

The environment is the third key issue of concern for the candidate. He supports a cap and trade system to reduce carbon emissions, as opposed to the carbon tax that the liberal party is proposing.

While Robson admits that many corporations in his home province wouldn’t support such measures, he said they’re crucial for environmental progress.

“Clearly the oil companies won’t be encouraged or excited, especially in this province, about a national campaign that would make them pay for polluting,” Robson said.

“Unless we approach big industry about making some changes, there won’t be any changes to the environment or pollution control.”

Within Wetaskiwin — an agricultural community of 10,000 — Robson said one issue very relevant to voters is the wheat board. He disagrees with recent Conservative efforts to disassemble the wheat board; he supports it being the only marketer of grain and barley in Canada.

“I think it’s worked and served farmers very well in the past,” he said.

Balancing campaigning with running his small business, Robson Insurance, the candidate has a busy few weeks ahead.

Robson, who was born and raised in Edmonton, began selling life insurance 30 years ago in a job at Prudential Insurance of England. In 1987, he started Robson Insurance, where he has managed a small client base as the sole employee ever since.

Between 2000 and 2005, he was also an executive member of Wetaskiwin’s Chamber of Commerce. Robson is married with two children.

IE