With a federal riding seat up for grabs, candidates are lining up to run for the Conservative nod in the Bow River Constituency.
The Mail reported in its February 19 edition that Bow River MP Martin Shields will not seek re-election.
“It’s been 10 years and three terms. I think I have tried to do the best I can and it’s been a privilege and an honour but someone needs to have the opportunity to do this,” he said.
A number of candidates have been lining up for the nod, including Graham Abela, David Bexte, JL DeCosta, Rithesh Narayan and Josh Senneker, in alphabetical order.
Abela is a long-time Taber resident with a 31-year policing career and for the last 16 years served as Taber Police Chief. His platform is based on safety and protection.
“All my life I have been called to service. Whether as a volunteer firefighter, an auxiliary police officer, a football and soccer coach, or sitting on boards to support community. I have a strong desire to give back and try to make a difference in people’s lives,” he said on his website.
Bexte was born and raised in Alberta and has worked in farming and oil and gas in the Arrowwood area.
“I’m running to be your Conservative candidate and next Member of Parliament for Bow River because Justin Trudeau has spent a decade attacking Alberta’s industries, silencing conservative voices, and making life more unaffordable than ever, he says on his website.
JL DeCosta grew up in Chestermere and has been serving the area in Ottawa as the Director of Parliamentary Affairs and right hand for Martin Shields.
“Justin Trudeau’s Liberals and their unelected bureaucrats have made life more expensive for Alberta families and prevented our province from prospering. Young people like me have been robbed of our futures and the possibility of buying a home. Seniors’ savings have been vaporized by inflation,” he says.
Narayan is a Chestermere councillor, a lawyer and is a law lecturer in the Department of Economics Justice & Policy at Mount Royal University.
Josh Senneker is from Vaxaull and has been involved in a number of campaigns including Leslyn Lewis' run for leadership of the Conservative Party.
“As a country, we face many issues: crippling capital gains taxes on family farms, unstopped rural crime, and out-of-control spending. I will work to solve each of these. However, if we are going to fix Canada, we must not only deal with the symptoms. We must return to our heritage as a nation founded on the Supremacy of God and the rule of law,” he said.
Nomination closed on February 25. The Bow River Riding encompass areas of Wheatland County, Newell County and Kneehill.
