Conservatives are gearing up for a unity celebration party, where United Conservative Party (UCP) leader Jason Kenney will be the featured guest.
“We’re celebrating all the hard work that went into the unity movement and Jason will be stopping in Cochrane as part of his Southern Alberta tour,” said Philip Cape, vice-president of fundraising for the Banff-Cochrane constituency association.
The unity celebration event for the UCP will be held at the Cochrane Lions Event Centre on March 2 from 5 to 9 p.m.
Kenney first announced his will to unite the now-defunct PC and Wildrose parties at the Cochrane Legion in June 2016, since giving Cochrane the moniker “ground zero.”
“We aren’t just hoping to change the government, we’re hoping to change the way government works,” said Cape of the UCP movement.
“At the constituency association level it’s exciting because even though there will be some changes once the election writ is dropped and the boundaries change, we have a nomination race heating up right now and everyone is preparing for the party’s AGM in early May.”
Once the election writ is dropped, the new boundaries will come into effect – Airdrie-Cochrane and Banff-Kananaskis.
Two Cochranites have announced they will seek the nomination to represent the new riding – Morgan Nagel, a Cochrane town councillor who has been involved with the unity movement and Kenney’s leadership run since the beginning, and Peter Guthrie, a businessman with a varied background ranging from engineering to agriculture.
Current Banff-Cochrane MLA Cam Westhead has confirmed with the Eagle that he will run for re-election under the NDP banner for the Banff-Kananaskis riding.
The UCP has yet to announce nomination race rules.
“We are the second largest political party in all of Canada … people are very engaged in this province,” said Cape, adding that there is always room for more people to get involved.
To reach out to the Banff-Cochrane constituency association, email [email protected] or check out their Facebook page.
Tickets to the March 2 event are available at unitedconservative.ca/event?name+tour_cochrane.
