Current Banff-Cochrane MLA Ron Casey, who is currently serving his first term as MLA, announced Jan. 19 he will seek re-election and has put his name forward for the Progressive Conservative (PC) nomination.
“One term really isn’t long enough to really understand everything. (This position) is such a unique and new thing to learn, and it takes a lot of time the first term just to understand the process,” Casey said.
He said one of the reasons he decided to run again was the challenges he sees for the province and the constituency.
“The dropping price in oil, this isn’t a short little blip, this is something that is going to be with us for a while,” Casey said. “Budgeting is going to be the biggest challenge for sure.”
He said on the provincial level cutting government costs is one side of the solution but he would also like to diversify revenue streams.
“As long as we depend so much of our budget on oil we will have these bumps and downturns,” he said. “We need to find better ways to secure revenue streams that aren’t as volatile as oil.”
When asked if he thinks introducing a sales tax is a viable option, Carey said “everything is on the table at this point” but he’d rather government first look at expenditures.
“For me a sales tax would be the very last resort,” he said.
On the local level, Casey said securing funding for his constituency for repairs after the 2013 flooding took up a good chunk of his time in his first term.
“We’re not done with that but it’s come a long way and that really occupied a year-and-a-half of my time,” he said.
“I’ve been able to represent the community and bring our issues forward.”
Casey said he is acutely aware of the growing population in his constituency and the impact it’s having on residents.
“When it comes to the education side (of the impact of population growth) we are constantly making the Education Minister aware of the situation,” he said, adding he is working closely with school boards.
“Operational funding remains a challenge especially for smaller divisions.”
“We try to facilitate, whenever we can, the awareness of the need.”
He said he is impressed with Premier Jim Prentice and is looking forward to continuing to work with him.
“The premier has only been there a few short months but already has made significant changes both externally and internally,” he said.
“I have a great deal of faith in his ability to move us forward.”
