Though current Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills MLA Bruce Rowe, who was elected under the Wildrose banner but crossed the floor to the Progressive Conservatives (PCs) with eight other Wildrose MLAs on Dec. 17, 2014, has yet to announce if he will seek re-election, he will have some competition should he run for the PC nomination.
Current Olds Town Councillor Wade Bearchell, in his second term as councillor, said he will seek the nomination. However, the deadline for when the nomination for the constituency will open has not yet been set.
“I attended the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association Conference (in September 2014) and I had the chance to listen to Premier Jim Prentice speak and he sounded very sincere and I thought he wanted to get back to what Albertan’s wanted,” Bearchell said of why he decided to run. “With my experience on council and serving on a non-profit board for 12 years, I thought it’d be a great opportunity for me.”
Bearchell, 47, has lived in Olds for the last 13 years with his wife and two sons, and was first elected to council in 2010. He has been a member of the Canadian Profession Golfers Association for 16 years and is the Pro Manager at Olds Golf Club.
He said though the Dec. 17, 2014 mass floor crossing is not the reason behind his decision to seek the PC nomination for the area, it did help gain him some support.
“I was 90 per cent there before the announcement of them crossing,” he said. “Once people got a sense of what was happening (with the mass floor crossing) a lot of conservatives around here were upset with what was happening and actively encouraged me to run.”
“I think a lot of people are upset with the floor crossing and the fact we haven’t had a lot of results from having a Wildrose MLA,” he added.
Bearchell said he was also upset with the floor crossing.
“I don’t like what happened, I think it was a mistake,” he said.
He said the support he’s received from his constituents and the golf course, “made it easy for me to decide.”
When asked if Rowe’s record as MLA for the last two years had anything to do with his decision, Bearchell said he’d rather not “bad mouth” Rowe.
“I don’t want to spend a whole lot of time talking about Bruce. I believe he’s worked hard but at the same time there are people who think he’s not been around,” Bearchell said.
“What you can affect as an MLA in a constituency may be limited, but you still need to be at the table fighting for what the people want,” he added.
He said if he is successful in the nomination process he would have to make the decisions about whether to remain on council during the election campaign with the Mayor and his colleagues at the golf club.
“I promise I will continue to work hard for this constituency, being out talking to people, understanding their needs and desires, and communicating that back to the government,” he said. “Being out there listening to people is the most important thing and communicating it back to government.”
Bearchell said one of the things he is most proud of from his time on council is the leadership role Olds has taken, including being the first municipality in Canada to have fiber optic cable.
“We lead by example and are often held up to a very high standard by other municipalities,” he said.
He added council “works very hard to build relationships with the community” and is proud of his ability to “understand an argument and be out in the community to try and reach a consensus with people.
“To do a good job takes time but to involve the community (means) we don’t get a lot of pushback from the community because of their involvement.”
The Province has yet to announce if when an election will be called. The next anticipated election is in 2016.
