A new constituency office opened in Drumheller to allow residents to access their local MLAs.
 On Wednesday afternoon, January 29, MLA for Drumheller-Stettler Nate Horner and MLA for Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills Nathan Cooper hosted an open house at the new office in Railway Avenue beside the Western Financial office.
    With the realignment of Constituency boundaries before the previous provincial election, an office in Drumheller makes sense to serve not only the Drumheller-Stettler Riding and the Olds-Didsbury Three Hills riding.
    “There was about 3,000 square kilometres added to the constituency of Olds- Didsbury-Three Hills that included the communities of Standard, Rosebud, Rockyford, Hussar and a large portion of Wheatland County,” Cooper tells the Mail. “It was really important to me that we do what we can to help represent that southeast corner of the constituency.”
    The location allows residents from the area to have a close-by office to access their MLA, and also realize some savings.
“I think the office is a really good fit for both Nate and me to be able to make the most of the resources we have in terms of sharing space, and personnel. In a period of fiscal restraint, anything we can do to spend public dollars wisely is critical. I think this is the best of both worlds,” said Cooper.”

    Patrons of the Mountain View Financial Branch in Morrin will soon be looking for another place to do their banking.
    The Mail learned last week the Branch, which is part of the Connect First Credit Union, will be closing come the end of March.
    Cameron Levesque, manager for brand and marketing for Mountain View Credit Union says the closing was hastened by the condition of the building.
     “This difficult decision was based on several unforeseen issues that recently came to light with the actual building in Morrin,” said Levesque. “We have been experiencing problems with the building to the point they realized they have to close sooner rather than later.”
    He also says it is based on recent research on member banking behaviours which showed as they release more service options such as online banking and mobile apps, not as many members are using branch services.
    “So based on the building, based on the fact that member banking behaviours are changing and combined with the fact the Delia branch is only 20 minutes away from this location is why they made the difficult decision to close it down,” said Levesque.
    Delia is also restricted by limited hours, just as Morrin is currently operating. As part of the Connect First Credit Union, they also have a presence in Carbon as well as with Chinook Financial in Drumheller.
    “Even though Chinook Financial is a different brand, we are all part of the same family, so the service will still be there,” said Levesque.
    He says they are working with the employees at the Mountain View Financial branch in Morrin to determine their future.
    “It is being discussed on where they would like to move to. Everyone’s situation is different, but we are having that important conversation on ‘what is your journey with Connect First Credit Union? Where is a branch that would still fulfill that?’” said Levesque. “Thankfully we have locations that are still quite close and we can look at that and have a conversation to see if there are positions there, or maybe this is a time to look at another role in the organization… so we are having those conversations right now.”