He insists his decision won’t be final until he hears from his riding association. But Athabasca Member of Parliament Dave Chatters is dropping some fairly strong hints that he might ask the association to give him another mandate when it hosts its annual meeting in High Prairie Saturday (Mar. 29).
“Evie (his wife) and I are still mulling it over,” Chatters said last week when asked if he’d vie for another term in office when Canadians go to the polls – expected in April of 2004.
The Alliance constituency association is hosting its annual meeting Saturday, and Chatters said he’ll “make that announcement then.”
The MP was responding to Edmonton North MP Deborah Grey’s announcement she won’t run again.
A close ally of the first Alliance member to win a seat in the House of Commons, Chatters said he wasn’t really surprised by the announcement.
“She just didn’t have the fire in her belly any more,” he said, referring to Grey’s “problems with Stockwell (Day, former leader), and the lawsuits and criticism over pensions.
“I was disappointed, of course – she was my prodigy and helped me get elected. The party will certainly miss her.”
But perhaps that’s why Chatters is leaning toward another run at the federal brass ring.
“I have mixed feelings, especially with the departure of (Grey) and Preston (Manning, the party’s first leader) before that. They all inspired us and kept us going.” The party’s new leader Stephen Harper will need some help as he attempts to take the party into the winner’s circle, Chatters added. And that help could well come from some seasoned MPs.
“There is a real feeling that the status quo is unacceptable and we must have some changes” in the House of Commons “to voice the concerns of the West.
“I think the West really needs a voice, and I have a feeling in my heart that the job I came to do isn’t done. And (Harper) needs a strong caucus backing him up if we’re going to do what he’s trying to do.”
Changes that were recommended by a federal boundary review commission last fall would mean that Chatters is living outside the Athabasca constituency.

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