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.

Season two of the hit television show, Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent starring actress Karen Robinson, premiered on Thursday, February 20, and the Mail had the opportunity to catch up with Ms. Robinson ahead of the season premiere.
Ms. Robinson, who stars as Inspector Vivienne Holness in the hit crime drama, is known for many film and television roles and has longstanding connections to Drumheller.
“I feel extremely fortunate to get to do this for a living,” Ms. Robinson tells the Mail, adding her fellow cast members are a “dream team of people” to work with. “We have a lot of fun and learn from each other, though I think I learn more from them than they do from me–they’re so talented.”
Ms. Robinson was born in London, England and moved with her family to Jamaica shortly after her birth. She spent most of her adolescence in Jamaica before the family moved to the Drumheller Valley when she was a teen.
Ms. Robinson attended Drumheller Composite High School (DCHS) for her Grade 12 year. She took Drama as one of her elective classes that year, and while she enjoyed the class, she says auditioning for and landing the lead role in the school play left an indelible mark on her.
Not only was she the new girl in school, having recently immigrated from Jamaica, but she was also one of fewer than a handful of Black girls attending DCHS. She says she is grateful to have had the opportunity to star in the school play, adding she felt truly seen by staff during the auditions and appreciates the chance they took by giving her the lead role.
She fondly remembers at 17 years old signing her name on the wall as part of the graduating class and says, “I didn’t know (at the time) how big the dreams could possibly get.”
Touching upon her time starring as Ronnie Lee on Schitt’s Creek, Ms. Robinson says she is glad to have worked alongside fellow Canadian stars Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara, who she says are “heroes” of hers.
“Eugene and Catherine taught me about generosity. They showed up on set kind, open, collaborative, funny, and focused on doing the best job they could,” she says.
Although Ms. Robinson now lives in Toronto, she still has connections to Drumheller as her brother, Marcel, still lives in the community. She shares her appreciation for the people of Drumheller who not only look out for Marcel but also make him feel at home in the community.
“Drumheller is home to him, and the people there make him feel at home,” she says.
She says getting to work on Law & Order Toronto has been a phenomenal experience. There is a sense of pride seeing where she now calls home on the screen, not just as a stand-in for American cities. While she enjoys the experience of filming in remote locations, there is a certain luxury to living and working in the same city and going home at the end of the filming day to sleep in her own bed and cook in her own kitchen.
“The creators (of Law & Order Toronto) knew Canada responded so strongly to the first season, so the pressure was on. We have great stories to tell in Canada…our stories matter, all our stories matter,” she says.
Season two of Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent premiered on Thursday, February 20, and Ms. Robinson says filming for season three is already underway. Season two airs Thursdays at 10/9 Central on Citytv or stream it on Citytv+.