The race for leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta is heating up as more names are thrown into the hat, including a familiar face to Drumheller-Stettler residents.
 Richard Starke, currently MLA for Vermilion-Lloydminster has announced he will be running for the leadership of the party.
    “I’ve been across our great province and have heard loud and clear, people are unhappy with how our province is being run, and they want change,” says Richard Starke, PC Leadership candidate. “Those conversations motivated me to run for the leadership. Like so many Albertans, I want to see Alberta become a place of hope, prosperity and opportunity once again.”
    Starke was first elected in 2012, and during his tenure served as Minister of Tourism, Parks and Recreation and is currently the Progressive Conservative Caucus House Leader.
    Starke was familiar to residents of Drumheller-Stettler, as Tourism Minister. He also served as a "Buddy MLA" while the Conservatives were in power, giving residents an ear to the government.
    "Drumheller-Stettler was kind of a natural fit for me to work with, certainly agricultural, and when I became Tourism Minister, that is a huge part of what goes on in that part of the world," he said. "I felt very good about the advocacy I was involved with on behalf of the Town of Drumheller  following the 2013 flooding. I was there days after the flood to see the work that had  been done."
    Prior to entering provincial politics, he was a Lloydminster City Councillor and was a member of the Lloydminster Regional Health Foundation.
    With his entry into the race, there are now five running for the leadership, the most high profile candidate being former MP Jason Kenney, who is running on the message gaining leadership and then merging with the Wildrose Party. Also running are Calgary-Varsity MLA Donna Kennedy-Glans, Byron Nelson, and Town of Devon Councillor Michael Laveck. Calgary-North West MLA Sandra Jansen is expected to join the race.
    Starke says he is a believer in the PC Party.
    "I see that our party has a future," he said. "Once we have a leader selected in March 2017, I do not think it helps Alberta for us to spend the next two years leading up to an election, having votes, destroying parties, forming parties, writing policies and trying to select another new leader. That is all time and energy that should be spent holding this government to account."
 The party will choose a new leader on March 18.

    The agriculture industry was rocked last week by the announcement that Western Feedlots had decided to wind down cattle ownership and cattle feeding operations.
    The company, which has sites near Strathmore, High River and Mossleigh, said in a statement on Wednesday it would continue to feed and market its existing inventory, but after that, they would be ending feedlot operations.
    Western’s shareholders chose this course of action due to the current high risk/low return environment in cattle ownership, which is inconsistent with shareholder objectives,” said in a statement.
    Further, it cited beyond stresses in the market conditions, politics and policy played a role.
    “In addition to strong headwinds in the cattle industry, the poor political and economic environment in Alberta are also contributing factors to this decision,” reads a post on its website.
    MLA for Drumheller-Stettler and shadow minister for Alberta Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development, Rick Strankman says this development is frustrating.
    “There were market forces at play, but it is frustrating when government policies and the potential instability that is being created by things like the carbon tax and minimum wage,” he said. “That plays a role in Western Feedlot’s announcement.”
    He says the minimum wage increases would drive up the overall cost of labour.
    “It means those with 10 or 15 years experience working side by side with a new employee without experience making $15 an hour, and they are making $20, it causes frustrations that their wage shouldn’t be a little higher. That puts pressure on the operations and the owners,” he said.
    He says other policies implemented by the Alberta government could have a negative impact, including the carbon tax. While the carbon tax does not apply to market, it does to some value added processes.
    “People just don't know the width and the depth of effects these policies are going to have. For example the Carbon Tax is going to cost a single maltser $90,000 per month, he said.   They use approximately 90,000 gigajoules of natural gas per month to stabilize moisture in malting barley. The tax on that gas is going to be $1 a gigajoule in January. They will have to pass that tax on to someone else in another market.”