Shaun Fluker is 100 per cent certain he can become the MLA for Airdrie-Cochrane in next spring’s election, and he may be basing his candidacy as much on what his party is against as what they are for.
Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with NDP environment critic Marlin Schmidt at a meet-and-greet at the Historic Cochrane Ranche Clubhouse on Sunday, Fluker said he would rein in the development of the gravel pit proposed for a site adjacent to Big Hill Springs Provincial Park.
The gravel pit project is currently going through the regulatory review process and would only be allowed to proceed if it meets all legal and regulatory requirements for water and the environment.
The application from Mountain Ash Limited Partnership to mine gravel from an open pit – to be located northeast of Cochrane at the corner of Highway 567 and Range Road 40 – was approved on March 2, 2021 after the company's reps presented their proposal to Rocky View County (RVC) council at a special public hearing.
The project currently sits with Alberta Environment and Parks. Proponents and opponents are awaiting their response.
“It should go to a full and transparent public environmental impact assessment process – it hasn’t done so yet,” Fluker said on Sunday.
He said the province needs to be “100 per cent sure” the gravel pit would have no negative effects on the underground springs, the park, or Bighill Creek that runs through Cochrane.
He called for a change in the process, which he argued has not been open and transparent.
“I think the next move should be a public hearing with an environmental impact process where people can bring their own experts,” he said.
Fluker said he’d like to see the Town of Cochrane included in the list of participants in a new environmental impact assessment.
Schmidt, the sitting MLA for Edmonton Gold-Bar, echoed Fluker’s sentiments on the controversial gravel pit, taking them a step further.
He called it “interesting” that the position of the Big Hill Springs Conservation Society – to put a stop to the idea of a gravel pit adjacent to Big Hill Springs Park – is in lockstep with a director in the provincial parks department.
“(The director) said that area is not suitable for gravel pit mining, and that it puts Big Hill Springs at risk,” Schmidt said.
“So somebody in the (Environment and Parks) department also has the position that they shouldn’t entertain this.”
Schmidt said that’s part of the reason he’s so frustrated with this issue. He said the process that is set up is not suitable for an environmentally sensitive idea like the gravel pit being located on the doorstep of a provincial park.
“The ministry is not saying clearly what direction they will take with this application,” Schmidt said, before echoing Fluker’s stand that a fully public environmental impact assessment needs to be done.
“We need to go back to the drawing board here, and stop trying to shoehorn this in.”
Currently a law professor at University of Calgary, Fluker specializes in environmental law, and is familiar with the legislative process.
Friend and colleague Martin Olszynski, who is also a professor of law at University of Calgary, sees Fluker as a non-partisan, compassionate candidate. He would like to see the current trend of strident political debate toned down, and believes Fluker would work towards that.
“You always hope that someone who is thoughtful, who is competent, is going to put their hat in the ring, and that’s what I see in Shaun,” Olszynski said.
He said politicians who want to inflame the rhetoric and polarize issues are doing a disservice to voters.
“We need to reinstill a modicum of a little more deliberate, a more reflective approach.”
Other areas where Fluker feels he can make a difference are health care (including emergency services), and education.
Based on what he says he’s hearing on people's doorsteps in Cochrane, breaking though to victory in a riding that has been a conservative stronghold at times, is not a daunting task.
“I don’t think it’s going to be a challenge at all, to be honest – the doors that I’ve knocked on so far have been very positive,” he said.
This is Fluker’s first time running for public office of any kind. He has lived in Cochrane since 2005, and has witnessed the growing pains. He is pro-growth – with a caveat.
“Growth is good but it needs to be supported,” he said, citing traffic congestion and overcrowded schools as examples of areas needing support.
