After running for Rocky View County council’s Division 8 seat in the 2013 election and narrowly losing to former Coun. Al Sacuta, Bearspaw resident Eric Lowther is hoping to win the seat in the Nov. 16 byelection.
“I thought it was the right thing to do then, and I think it’s even more urgent now,” Lowther said. “I’m doing it again for much the same reasons.”
Lowther grew up in Springbank, where he met his wife of 39 years. Together, they have three children and three grandchildren. Throughout that time, Lowther has worked in telecommunications and as a Member of Parliament for downtown Calgary, but most recently was executive director of a landowner advocacy group called Rocky View 2020.
“As soon as I decided to put my name in (for the Division 8 seat), I resigned from 2020 and stepped away, in about the third week of September,” Lowther said. Guy Buchanan has been named interim executive director and, according to Lowther, the group is currently conducting interviews to find a suitable replacement.
“I’m not involved with the group at this point, and it doesn’t look to me that there’s any roads back there.”
Lowther said he is focused on trying to strengthen the Bearspaw community and look for development opportunities that will enhance land value for area residents. According to Lowther, there are a “number of proposals” already underway for the division that he said residents “need to have an input on.”
“Change happens – I’ve seen it happen a lot over the nearly 30 years I’ve spent here,” he said. “This focus on trying to maintain the status quo and never letting anything change will increasingly become a problem. We need to proactively engage now and shape our community to become something we all like and that will be sustainable no matter what the City of Calgary does. I see such great potential out here that’s currently not being recognized.”
By attempting to prevent any changes to the community, Lowther said, residents are actually “helping” the City of Calgary “control” future development for the area. If residents want to have a say in what their community looks like, he said now is the time to act.
“We need to embrace change and shape it to our own liking – for the benefit of our community, for the long haul,” he said. “The current focus is to limit and regulate, and there is some value in that, but we have an opportunity now to define and shape what our area is going to look like, and I will proactively work with council to make that happen. I’m the guy who is on that page.”
Lowther hosts regular campaign meetings at the old red barn in the centre of Bearspaw every Saturday morning, and encourages residents to attend. He added events are also posted on his website, ericlowther.ca
“I believed in this two years ago and I believe in it even more now,” he said. “If we want to shape our future, now is the time.”
