Morgan Nagel, town councillor and one of five candidates in the running for the local UCP nomination, is hosting his official candidacy event July 5 at the Cochrane Legion at 6:30 p.m. The two-term councillor revealed in late January his intentions to enter the leadership race under the new conservative banner for Airdrie-Cochane. Unlike his Cochrane competitors, businessman Peter Guthrie and nurse Laura Talsma, he chose to hit the pavement first and form up his platform following. "I launched my campaign with a grassroots guarantee. I knew I had to go out and talk to people and see what was on everyone's minds," said Nagel, who has knocked on thousands of doors and spoken with countless constituents. What is on the minds of those in the riding? "The economy, the economy, the economy ... everyone I talk to just wants the government to support business and stop fighting. People are tired of politicians fighting with one another." Nagel added that when it comes to divisive social issues, he is maintaining that he "is not going to get involved with regulating how people live their lives" and is "100 per cent focused on the economy." When Nagel announced his intentions to run, he faced some backlash from municipal voters who had elected him only a few months prior to his second term on town council. Nagel won the most votes of all councillors, and even garnered more than all three mayoral candidates combined in the fall 2017 election. Nagel feels this has softened and some of the initial naysayers were more disappointed with the potential loss of their biggest voice on town council - known for speaking out against development and traffic congestion - to the provincial stage. Nagel said while the province is broke with the current debt sitting at $54 billion and climbing and with the province still in need of hospitals and schools, he is not promising projects such as the interchange at highways 1A/22 - but he is promising he would be the biggest, loudest voice. "What I can and will promise is that I can make the best case out of anybody in Cochrane for that interchange." Also in the riding running are Airdrie realtor Mauri Stiff and businessman Ian Chitwood. The event next Thursday is free and Nagel is encouraging anyone who wants to learn more about the UCP to enjoy some free food and the cash bar. His speech will be around 7:30 p.m. Learn more at morgannagel.ca.
