Barlow wins PC nomination

Highwood: Smith looking forward to campaign

Bruce Campbell/OWW

John Barlow speaks at the Highwood Progressive Conservative candidates forum on Jan. 25 at the Rotary Performing Arts Centre in Okotoks. Barlow won the Highwood PC nomination on Jan. 28.

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A political newcomer will be taking on the leader of the Wildrose Party in the next provincial election, expected this spring.

John Barlow won the Highwood Progressive Conservative nomination in a vote on Saturday evening. The 40-year old Barlow defeated Okotoks Coun. Ed Sands and John Hankins, from Calgary Economic Development, in the first ballot Jan. 28, meaning he received more than 50 per cent of the vote.

There were 1,262 votes cast and nine spoiled ballots. Highwood Progressive Conservative constituency representatives declined to release the vote count saying it’s against party policy.

Barlow, the associate publisher of the Okotoks Western Wheel, said it was the hard work of his campaign team that led to the victory.

“We were confident the whole way through,” Barlow said. “We worked hard and we had a great group of people behind us. We could not have done it without them.

“We saw the passion for this community with the great candidates who were out there. It’s very exciting to win.”

Barlow now faces another big challenge in Wildrose Party leader Danielle Smith.

“Danielle has a head start on us for sure, but we said all along this is step one and we are not going to focus on step two until we get there,” Barlow said.

“Now we are going to work harder on step two.”

Barlow said he believes his familiarity with the Highwood area will be his team’s strength in the election.

Smith said Highwood PCs have selected a good candidate and she is looking forward to taking on Barlow when Premier Alison Redford drops the rit in the next few months.

“I think he is a great candidate,” Smith said. “I’m looking forward to seeing him on the campaign trail and debating. I think Highwood residents are going to have a really important choice to make.”

She said she will challenge Barlow on comments he made during the nomination process that if residents don’t vote for the PC candidate, the community will have their grants rescinded.

“I think he has a lot to answer for that,” the 40-year-old Smith said. “That is Third World politics in my opinion. You can’t punish kids by not building a school and you can’t punish residents by not building a road just because the government feels they voted for the wrong party.

“I will ask him to clarify his comments on that.”

She also wanted to clarify that she is not a “parachute candidate.”

“I live in the riding,” she said. “I made a choice to live in High River. Like a lot of people I have chose to live in this riding… This is a growing vibrant community.”

Smith moved to High River in 2011. Barlow denied making comments the PCs would rescind grants to ridings that did not vote their way.

“What I said is George (Highwood MLA) Groeneveld got a lot of things done with infrastructure and those kind of things and I want to keep that momentum going,” he said. “I never said anything about losing grants.”

He added that to his knowledge Smith did not attend either the Highwood PC meet the public night in High River or the forum on Jan. 25 in Okotoks.

Barlow will have the support of departing Highwood MLA George Groeneveld.

“I am really excited,” Groeneveld said. “John is articulate, enthusiastic and hard-working.”

He added Barlow’s relative youth could be an asset. He was impressed with the number of younger PCs’ who came out to support Barlow.

Groeneveld admitted Barlow has a formative opponent in Smith.

“John does have a steep-learning curve and I will support him 120 per cent,” he said.

Barlow also has the support of his two opponents in the Highwood PC race. Sands, an Okotoks chiropractor, said, “I can’t imagine why not?” when asked if he would support Barlow. Hankins offered his congratulations to Barlow and said now that a PC candidate has been selected for Highwood, it is important for the party to come together to keep the constituency Conservative.

Looking back on his campaign, Hankins said he wouldn’t have changed anything, noting his outlook on life places value on the journey.

“It’s been a great learning curve for me and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and met some amazing people along the way and look forward to continuing to contribute to the Highwood riding,” he said.

The three candidates took part in a forum at a packed Rotary Performing Arts Centre for Highwood PC members on Jan. 25.

Barlow said he is taking a leave of absence from the Okotoks Western Wheel in the near future to focus on the election. Under legislation passed in the fall, a provincial election will be held sometime between March 1 and May 31.