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Retired RCMP member enters mayors race

After a four-year hiatus Dave McKenzie hopes to return to Barrhead town council, but this time as mayor.
Former town councillor Dave McKenzie will be seeking the mayor ‘s chair in the upcoming municipal election.
Former town councillor Dave McKenzie will be seeking the mayor ‘s chair in the upcoming municipal election.

After a four-year hiatus Dave McKenzie hopes to return to Barrhead town council, but this time as mayor.

He first came to Barrhead in 1992 as senior RCMP constable and quickly embedded himself in the community becoming involved in groups such as the Barrhead Indoor Sport and Cultural Association (BISCA), as part of the judo club and the Barrhead and District Drug Coalition, or Barrhead Cares as it is now called.

When McKenzie retired from the RCMP in 2004, he knew he still wanted to be actively involved.

“So with the municipal election happening and with the prompting of a number of people in the community, that fall I decided to run for council,” he said.

A task he was successful at and one he would repeat two more times.

In 2013, McKenzie decided he wouldn’t seek re-election due to increased work commitments. In 2008, he took a job as traffic safety consultant with the Alberta Office of Traffic Safety — a position that involved extensive travel and, as a result, he wasn’t able to fulfill his councillor duties.

However, the program has since been discontinued, giving McKenzie time to rejoin council.

“When I heard that Gerry [St. Pierre] wasn’t going to run again, I felt I could offer my services in that role,” McKenzie said.

As for what some of the issues that the town is facing, he said, a lot of what the next town council will do will depend on whatever recreation agreement the Municipal Affairs imposesed binding arbitration process comes up with.

In March, both the town and county received a letter from Alberta Municipal Affairs minister Shaye Anderson, which stated because there are still significant areas of disagreement between the town and county over recreation services and funding models he would use the power granted to him under the Municipal Government Act to appoint an arbitrator who will “issue a binding order that both municipalities will adopt to resolve this matter.”

“The issues are ever changing and I think for the most part the town has done a fairly good job, but there are always places you can improve,” McKenzie said, suggesting it would be good for the new council to do an assessment.

One thing McKenzie says needs to be improved is how the town gets out information — and not necessarily to its residents.

“If you look at it from the perspective of someone who is new to the community or is visiting, do we have good information for them?” he asked, adding often the answer is no. “I would like to see us do a better job of promoting our town to visitors. There are a lot of hidden jewels out there and we need to let people know about them.”

McKenzie would also like to see more co-ordination between the town office and the various non-profit community groups.

“I would like to see the town become the shoelace that hooks all the little eyelets together,” he said. “That way we are aware of what every organization is doing and how we can help them contribute to the health and wellness of our community.”

By having better co-ordination and information, McKenzie said it will help the community better retain its youth.

“We have some great youth and I think we want to make them privy to the opportunities that are available, as well as giving them the tools to make them a more productive labour force,” he said.

On the subject of amalgamation, McKenzie doesn’t have an opinion. On the current council, a number of councillors, including mayor St. Pierre, have stated that the only way to overcome the disagreements between the town and county is to become one municipality.

“If it makes economic sense and if the efficiency and the service to the community will be still maintained at a high level, I think those are the key hinge points of whether amalgamation is a good idea or not,” he said. “It will be a matter of finding out what works best for this community in its entirety.”


Barry Kerton

About the Author: Barry Kerton

Barry Kerton is the managing editor of the Barrhead Leader, joining the paper in 2014. He covers news, municipal politics and sports.
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