Cochrane Councillor Morgan Nagel feels the timing is right to trade in his municipal title for one of provincial stature.

On Tuesday (January 30) Nagel just announced he will seek the United Conservative nomination to run for MLA in the new Airdrie-Cochrane riding.

Nagel found many Cochranites were anticipating his announcement. So far he has received positive feedback. Although he has been wrestling with the decision for awhile, he feels the move would allow him to affect more positive change.

"For me, I think I can do more in the provincial government for Cochrane than I can as a town Councillor at this point."

Nagal said he realized many of the issues Cochrane faces require someone at the provincial level to advocate on behalf of the community, whether that is managing growth, lowering taxes, bringing more business to Cochrane or taking a stand on the highway.

While his decision may not be shocking to local community members he wants to reiterate he is not shrugging his shoulders on his municipal duties.

"I have confirmed with the Department of Municipal Affairs and I have spoken to our CAO that I can, in fact, continue on as town councillor all the way until the provincial election which is at least a year or a year and a half away and that is my intention. People have my word that I am not going to be missing council meetings to be off campaigning provincially, I plan on being at every single council meeting. I think it is nothing but good news if I do get elected because if I am elected to be MLA our Mayor and Council will have a direct line to the provincial government."

If elected, Nagel feels he would be a strong voice for Cochrane. As a Councillor, most of Nagel's priorities revolve around the town.

"We have some very specific things we want to work on in the community. One that comes to mind is taking the highway to a lane reversal situation up the hill, making use of all three lanes all throughout the day. That is something where we need a provincial advocate to be actively meeting with the Mayor and administration to figure out what exactly the municipality wants. And while our current MLA says he is a strong supporter of our traffic problems I don't think he has ever reached out to us on that level. Rest assured if I am the MLA, Mayor and Council of Cochrane will have a direct line into the provincial government."

Nagel is not interested in a top-down policy agenda driven government. Instead, he wants to create a local grassroots organization where everyone has a voice.

"I worked alongside Jason Kenney for the entire year while he built the movement from the ground up and the key to his success the entire way was allowing members the opportunity to vote on everything. His number one campaign promise was grassroots guaranteed and so I kicked off my campaign with a local grassroots guarantee where my entire nomination platform will be created by a local advisory policy committee which will be responsible for what I advocate for in the provincial government."

Passionate about keeping the grassroots movement moving forward, Nagel feels Kenney has done a great job pulling together the successful traits of both the old Wildrose Party and Progressive Conservatives, wile also allowing it to be created democratically and fairly. 

Though Nagel can't predict the outcome of the 2019 provincial election, he believes many Albertans feel the current government is out of touch with what is currently going on.

"We need a government who is standing by the energy industry and small business now more than ever and it seems they are bringing measures into effect to stifle industry. Bringing on things like the $15 minimum wage, carbon tax and even our local employer, Spray Lake Sawmills, now have uncertainty in their logging areas."

Although Nagel has a great base, he is not taking campaigning lightly. Knowing he has lots of distance to cover and his work cut out for him he will spend the upcoming weeks and months connecting with old and new friends throughout the entire riding listening to concerns of the constituents. 

 

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