Nathan Cooper, Wildrose MLA for Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills, will be bringing his office temporarily to the communities of Irricana and Beiseker sometime in the new year.
Cooper said it’s a practice he has seen other politicians – including former Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills MLA Bruce Rowe – adhere to, and said the move becomes an effective tool for making sure, as the MLA, he does everything he can to try and meet the needs of constituents.
“I’m pleased to move around the constituency,” he said. “It’s a good opportunity for people to connect and not have to leave their communities to do so.”
Cooper has tried this in the community of Three Hills, but he wanted to make an effort to be present in the communities of Beiseker and Irricana, which are located on the edge of the riding that sprawls more than 7,000 sq. kilometres.
Rotating between Beiseker and Irricana, Cooper hopes to be in that corner of his constituency once a quarter and plans to start in 2016.
Having a temporary space in the community, his office would be open for about three hours with the ideal setting that residents would book appointments to meet with him and voice concerns.
Those concerns will then be taken back to the Olds office and followed up on.
“We’ll advertise for likely the early part of January to have our first crack at it down there and see what sort of interest we get,” Cooper said.
While making an appearance at Irricana Town council on Oct. 5, fulfilling a campaign promise to be present at least one council meeting per year, Councillor Laura Thiessen asked if he was willing to be flexible with the times he was in Irricana as it was a predominantly commuter town with many residents away during the day.
Taking that into consideration, Cooper said he would try to set up office in the evening, most likely from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., so residents could commute home and still have time to meet with him.
Living on the opposite end of the riding, Cooper said Beiseker and Irricana are quite a ways away and by doing this once a quarter he wants to make sure residents know the area is important to him as its MLA.
“I think it’s important that all parts of the constituency are equally attended to,” he said.
