Airdronian Trevor Cameron has added his name to the list of candidates for the upcoming municipal election, marking his second attempt at securing a City of Airdrie council seat.
Cameron, a Navy veteran and General Electric employee working in tech and sales, moved to Airdrie 15 years ago from his hometown of Dartmouth, N.S., after initially living in northeast Calgary with his wife and two daughters.
Shortly after Cameron and his family moved to Airdrie in 2010, he announced his first bid for council. Although he had been a resident for a short period of time, Cameron felt a strong need to become involved in the community and to give back.
“I had fallen in love with the city,” he said, looking back on what inspired his first run more than a decade ago.
Cameron did not win that election, but used it as a learning experience and an opportunity to build connections within the community that he felt he was lacking.
Life has been busy since then, he said, which prevented him from making the comeback sooner.
“I always wanted to return to it and fill that civic duty and try to be part of the decision-making process in the city,” Cameron said. “Now felt like the time that I could actually devote the time necessary to do it.”
If elected, Cameron said that one of his focuses will be supporting and uplifting local small businesses.
“I think we kind of get that misnomer [as a commuter town]. I see Airdrie as somewhere where we can live, work and play,” he said.
“My aim is [to] support local businesses as much as possible so that we can create that infrastructure within the city so we can do everything we need within Airdrie,” Cameron said. “Small businesses, local businesses are the lifeblood of all that.”
He added that as the population of Airdrie has grown substantially, the city’s infrastructure seems to constantly be playing catch-up – working reactively instead of proactively – which he hopes to change.
To round out his platform, Cameron wants to work on highlighting the current mental health situation for children and young adults in the city and advocating for more resources – something that is near and dear to his heart, he said.
Cameron said that although what he stands for and wants for the city is valuable, his job as a councillor would be more than that.
“I have my values and beliefs and that’s great – that’s the structure of who I am as a person,” he said. “But, at the end of the day, I’m not representing me, I’m representing all of the citizens of Airdrie.”
If elected, Cameron said he will be out and about as much as possible – ensuring that he is around to meet, converse and hear the concerns from the citizens themselves.
“I want to be out there so much that people are sick of seeing my face,” he said with a laugh.
