Banff-Cochrane

Banff-Cochrane is a provincial riding in the Rocky Mountain foothills west of Calgary, encompassing a dramatic landscape that stretches from the mountain town of Banff and the resort community of Canmore through the Bow Valley to the rapidly growing town of Cochrane on the western outskirts of the Calgary region. The riding also includes smaller communities such as Exshaw, Harvie Heights, Bragg Creek, and Redwood Meadows. Incumbent PC MLA Ron Casey, a master electrician and former mayor of Canmore who had served on Canmore's town council since 1995 and as mayor from 1998 to 2001 and again from 2004 to 2010, had held the provincial seat since 2012. The riding was still recovering from the devastating June 2013 floods that had caused severe damage in Canmore, Bragg Creek, and along the Bow River corridor, making flood mitigation and disaster recovery live issues heading into the 2015 campaign.

Candidates

Cameron Westhead (NDP) — Westhead was a registered nurse with Alberta Health Services, most recently working in the operating room at the Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary. He held a bachelor of science in nursing from the University of Toronto and a bachelor of arts from Nipissing University. His health care background informed his campaign priorities around access to medical services in the riding's smaller mountain communities.

Scott Wagner (Wildrose) — Wagner was an entrepreneur who lived just outside Cochrane. He had recently sold his business to dedicate time to the campaign, and had previously sought the federal Conservative Party nomination in the Macleod riding in 2014. His campaign priorities included environmental issues in the McLean Creek and Waiparous areas, flood recovery in Bragg Creek and Redwood Meadows, and rebuilding the Ghost Lake community after the 2013 flood.

Ron Casey (Progressive Conservative) — The incumbent MLA, Casey was born and raised on an Ontario farm before moving to Alberta at age 21, making Canmore his home for over 40 years. He ran his own electrical contracting company from 1978 to 1990 and later built homes, commercial developments, and industrial buildings in the Bow Valley.

Local Issues

Flood recovery and mitigation dominated the riding's political landscape in 2015. The June 2013 floods had devastated parts of Canmore, where homes along Cougar Creek were severely damaged, and caused significant damage in Bragg Creek and to the Ghost Lake community. Nearly two years later, residents were still navigating insurance claims, rebuilding efforts, and debates over the provincial government's disaster recovery programs. The question of what infrastructure investments — berms, diversion channels, and upstream water management — the province would fund to prevent future flooding was a top-of-mind issue for voters across the riding.

The riding's tourism-dependent economy gave it a different perspective on the oil price crash than Calgary or Edmonton ridings. While some residents commuted to Calgary for energy-sector employment, the Banff and Canmore economies were more closely tied to tourism, recreation, and the hospitality industry. Seasonal employment, affordable housing for workers in the tourism sector, and the management of development pressures in mountain communities were persistent concerns. Cochrane's rapid population growth, meanwhile, generated infrastructure demands similar to other Calgary-area bedroom communities.

Environmental stewardship was a distinctive issue in a riding that included Banff National Park and surrounded some of Canada's most treasured wilderness. Off-highway vehicle use in the McLean Creek and Waiparous areas was a contentious topic, pitting recreation advocates against conservationists. Water quality in the Bow River watershed, wildlife corridor protection, and the balance between development and ecological preservation were issues that cut across party lines in this mountain riding.