Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills MLA Nathan Cooper says he's taking advantage of his position as United Conservative Party (UCP) caucus chair to ensure the concerns of local residents are heard by those leading the party.
"I think it's important that the constituency continues to have a strong voice around the caucus table and I think that I still have the ability to deliver that in my current role as caucus chair," Cooper said during a year-end interview with the Albertan.
Last summer, Cooper served as interim UCP leader after two conservative parties -- the Progressive Conservatives (PC) and the Wildrose Party – voted to merge to create the UCP.
In late October, Jason Kenney, former PC leader, was voted leader of the UCP, defeating former Wildrose Party leader Brian Jean and Calgary lawyer Doug Schweitzer.
Cooper says his time as interim leader of the party was "fantastic."
"It was such an interesting time to be part of the political landscape in Alberta's history. It was such a historic event to see two political parties coming together. That doesn't happen all that often," he said.
"Not only did we have the two parties coming together, but we also had – as far as I know -- the first time in Canadian history where you had both former leaders of both former parties seeking the leadership of the new party."
He said the role also gave him the opportunity to pitch the concerns of the Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills constituency to the province as a whole.
"When you're in the city, you talk a lot about the impact that rural Alberta has on urban Alberta and how, in many respects, we in rural Alberta are job creators, we're entrepreneurs, we're a strong piece of the economic puzzle," Cooper said.
"Oil and gas certainly remains an important sector in our economy, but also I think that the strength of the agriculture industry is often lost at a time like this. And in fact, there's no time that our ag sector is more important than it is right now, as it is the most stable portion of the economy.
"When rural Alberta is strong and in partnership with urban Alberta, Alberta is its strongest. And when you diminish the voice of rural Alberta, I think that the voice of Alberta is weakened," he added.
After Kenney was elected UCP leader, Cooper was given two critic posts: community and social services as well as democracy and accountability.
Some observers have said those are two much lower profile posts.
Cooper said he's fine with them.
"The democratic reform and accountability one is one that I'm quite passionate about," he said.
"I think that there is a lot of work that needs to be done with respect to how the chamber works and holding the government to account and I think so far, I've had a pretty good opportunity to be able to work on those things, both from a caucus perspective as well as from the constituency's perspective."
Cooper said in 2018 he's looking forward to the UCP's first annual general meeting and founding convention May 4 in Red Deer, at which time the party will hammer out its policies on various issues.
"When you're in the city, you talk a lot about the impact that rural Alberta has on urban Alberta and how, in many respects, we in rural Alberta are job creators, we're entrepreneurs, we're a strong piece of the economic puzzle."
NATHAN COOPER
OLDS-DIDSBURY-THREE HILLS MLA
