Peter Brown said being mayor of Airdrie has been “the best job of my life” but he’s looking forward to trying his hand at provincial politics after being acclaimed the candidate for the Airdrie Progressive Conservative Party (PC) on Feb. 13.
Brown announced his intention to run for the nomination on Jan. 22 but with no competition coming forward, the Nomination Committee of the Airdrie PC Constituency Association announced his acclamation on Feb. 13. Nominations closed on Feb. 11 and had an election been required, that would have taken place on Feb. 21.
Brown said he was pleased to have received the acclamation.
“I really appreciate the support I get in the community. It feels really great. I’m just proud to be in the position to hopefully represent Airdrie at the Legislature,” Brown said.
Asked why he decided now was the time to jump to the provincial political field, Brown said his number one reason was his comfort level with the City.
“We know where we are and where we’re going and I’m very comfortable with where we are and very comfortable with the current leadership that we have,” he said.
“As I’ve said before, the worst that can happen is that I’m still the mayor if I lose.”
According to Manager of of Legislative Services and Corporate Communications Sharon Pollyck, Brown will not need to resign as mayor until after the election and only if he successfully wins a seat in the Legislature. At that point, his position on Airdrie City council would be vacant, pending a byelection, which would need to occur within 90 days.
“I saw an opportunity to represent our community and I think with the new premier, I fit a lot of the things he is portraying in terms of his government and fiscal conservatism,” Brown said while explaining his reasons for wanting to be MLA for Airdrie.
“I definitely feel I’d be a great fit. I appreciate that some people may feel that I should complete my term on council before running but at the end of the day they have the choice to vote for me or not,” he added.
“This was a very difficult decision but I’ve had huge community support. Would I have preferred to have the election at a different time? Yes, and maybe it will be further into next year.”
The province has not yet said if an early election will be called and, if so, when that will occur. The next provincial election is scheduled for 2016.
