Another name has been added to the list of contenders to replace longtime Barrhead-Morinville-Westock MLA Ken Kowalski.
Morinville mayor Lloyd Bertschi announced his intention to seek the Progressive Conservative nomination in the riding on Jan. 3, just as the official nomination period opened.
Bertschi has 16 years of experience as an elected official, including acting as Morinville’s mayor for the past decade. Prior to that, he said he sat on council for six years. He also served as the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association president from the fall of 2007 until the fall of 2009.
“I think that’s one area that I’ll certainly be focusing on,” he said.
Since Bertschi is based out of Morinville, he said he plans to spend a lot of time getting out to the other communities in the riding to get his name and face out there.
“You can put your name forward and you can put your background out there and you can let people get to know you that way,” he said. “But a lot of people need to see the whites of your eyes and meet you and understand who you are.”
Bertschi’s involvement in the political realm started when he was on the student council in high school. This involvement continued when he served on the student council when he was a student at NAIT.
One of the reasons he decided he wanted to throw his hat in the ring was to continue the good work the Alberta government has done to support the province.
He also said he learned what it takes to be an MLA from watching and working with Kowalski over the years.
“Certainly we saw with Ken, the importance of the constituency and representing your constituency, and that’s more than bringing information from the government to the people in your riding,” he said. “I think it’s very important that your MLA listens to you and brings those ideas back to the government to see if we can’t get some positive change through that mechanism.”
Bertschi joins Westlock County councillors Bert Seatter and Maureen Kubinec, Westlock town Coun. David Truckey and Barrhead’s Tim Schultz as candidates for the vacant PC nomination.
The nomination period runs until Jan. 16, and the vote to decide who will be the party’s nominee in the next provincial election will take place on Jan. 28.
