The five people vying to become the candidate for the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta in the next election had a chance to meet and greet Bow Valley residents over the weekend.
Jon Bjorgum, Ron Casey, John Fitzsimmons, Truper McBride and Rob Seeley were on hand Saturday (Jan. 21) at Rafter Six Guest Ranch.
McBride said the calibre of candidates means the constituency has high calibre community members to choose from.
“In this election, it is going to be very important who we chose to represent this riding,” he said. “I think a lot of the reasons I chose to run for mayor of Cochrane are the same reasons I chose to run for this riding.”
McBride said wanting to be part of planning for long-term growth in his town was why he ran for mayor and, looking at the province going into the future, he would like to be part of making those plans.
“When I look at where the province is going and the communities in this riding are in terms of growth it is diverse,” he said, adding it is important that whatever candidate is chosen for the party must deliver votes in Cochrane, as the Wildrose party has made inroads there.
Fitzsimmons said he would not talk about policy like the other candidates, but instead promised to work hard.
He said policy for the candidate should come from the grassroots, or from residents in the constituency, and he is ready to begin to engage residents as the chosen representative.
“The Wildrose is coming up behind us and while I don’t think they are a big enough of a threat… we shouldn’t take that chance,” he said. “I will work full-time to build our membership back up.
“We need to work hard and we have to start tomorrow.”
Fitzsimmons also took the opportunity to address the fact that while he owns a company and works in the constituency, he does not live within its borders.
Seeley said while he has spent many years working with community groups like Rotary, and on committees and volunteering, he feels he has more to accomplish in terms of public service.
“This is what committed citizens do to build strong, resilient communities and that is something I will continue to do,” Seeley said, adding the riding needs vision and leadership.
He pointed to the fact Alberta has the best economy in North America and yet not all citizens see the windfall.
In the valley, he said, the temporary foreign worker program is of critical importance for the service industry and the provincial government should be working to make it work. The province, he added, should also recognize that municipalities like Banff, with high visitor numbers, need to be recognized and compensated for providing infrastructure above and beyond its population needs.
Casey spoke to his history of involvement in provincial committees like the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association since first being elected to office in 1995.
He said his work so far has been like an apprenticeship for the next level of government public service.
“Now I am ready and able to move to the next level of provincial government,” he said, pointing to his history in Canmore of balancing the books of the municipality. “From a provincial point of view, I understand the need to balance the budget, but it cannot come at a cost to health care, it cannot come at a cost to education and it cannot come at a cost to seniors housing.”
Casey also pointed to the leadership of Premier Alison Redford and her platform of change as re-invigorating to provincial and party politics.
“She knows the party has to change and anyone who doesn’t know that will face a gloomy future,” he said. “This is about moving the party into the future – it is about getting Albertans back and engaged in out government.”
Bjorgum also said he has had an opportunity to be involved in the background of provincial politics under Peter Lougheed before he moved to the valley and held the position of school board chair.
He said now the nomination is an opportunity for him to take another step.
“This is an opportunity to do community service and that is what the job is, community service on a full-time basis,” Bjorgum said. “I want to put the progressive back into Progressive Conservative and I am excited about the new life in this party.”
He said people in the valley want to have an opportunity to have their ideas and voices heard and he would be their best advocate for the party to do that.
