On Saturday, in front of small crowd at the Blairmore Lions Club, former MLA Evan Berger, 54, announced his bid for the Progressive Conservative nomination for the constituency of Livingstone-Macleod.
He was inspired to seek re-election by Premier Jim Prentice, whom Berger referred to as a “common sense, pragmatic, get it done kind of guy.”
“Premier Prentice is putting the emphasis back on public service in politics and I like that,” said Berger. “The desire to serve must be the motivation for people to hold public office at every level.”
Berger also said he’d been encouraged to run by former constituents.
Born in High River and raised on a ranch in the foothills southwest of Nanton, Berger began his political life serving as a councillor for the municipal district of Willow Creek.
This will be Berger’s second crack at Livingstone-Macleod. He first won the seat in the 2008 provincial election but was defeated in 2012 by Wildrose MLA Pat Stier.
After his defeat Berger was appointed senior policy advisor with the department of agriculture.
At the time of publication Berger was running unopposed but the vote, if it is contested, will be held March 7. PC candidates have until Feb. 21 to announce their bids.
There will soon be a provincial election. According to the Election Amendment Act, passed in 2011, the next general election should be held between March 1 and May 31, 2016 but the PCs can call an election whenever they wish.
The Wildrose Party has scheduled their leadership vote for June 6, 2015, which means the official opposition may not have a permanent leader in time for the next election.