Mazier seeks Tory nomination in Dauphin-Swan River-Neepawa
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/07/2018 (2661 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
He’s still not an official Conservative Party of Canada nominee, but Dan Mazier had to let the cat out of the bag a bit early.
On Friday, Mazier stepped down as president of Keystone Agricultural Producers in order to don his partisan hat and put his name forward for nomination in the Dauphin-Swan River-Neepawa electoral riding.
Prior to now, Mazier said that he had never been a registered member of a political party, namely because he hasn’t been able to as member of KAP, an agricultural lobbyist organization.
“We’re non-partisan; that’s the whole credibility of the whole system, is we have to work with all governments,” he said. “I had to be such a non-partisan, and I did take it that seriously. I wasn’t going to belong to a party and have them hold it against me later.”
Mazier said that his pursuing a seat in the House of Commons is something that he’d never seriously considered until a couple months ago, after Dauphin-Swan River-Neepawa MP Robert Sopuck announced that he would not seek re-election in 2019.
As soon as Sopuck made his announcement, Mazier said that his own phone started to ring, with various voices on the other end of the line urging him to fill the vacancy.
Although he has been a non-partisan until now, Mazier said that the Conservative Party of Canada proved a perfect fit for his aspirations.
The party, he said, is “the best representative when it comes to rural Canada and agriculture.”
Already advocating for this very population base as KAP president, Mazier said that it’d be a natural shift for him to make.
“What really surprised me is that it’s very much a grassroots organization, which I really like,” he said, adding that although they’ll put on a public face like any other political party will, it’s guided by “a lot of grassroots input.”
A diversified party that allows internal disagreements and debates to take place at the caucus level, Mazier said that their receptivity to fielding ideas was among the main reasons the party resonates with him.
As a longtime lobbyist, Mazier said that he’s not one to bite his tongue.
“KAP has taught me a lot about listening to people and getting that voice,” he said.
“I have an ability to get my opinion heard. You ask anyone around a board table where I’ve sat; they know what I’m thinking, and I won’t sit on my hands.”
Born and raised near Forrest, across the road from the acreage he now calls home with his wife, Leigh, several kilometres north of Brandon, Mazier has worked in the agricultural sector throughout his professional life.
He was employed as a power engineer at Brandon’s Simplot fertilizer plant (now owned by Koch) for 17 years, followed by stints with MNP as an agricultural adviser, a trustee with the Rolling River School Division, and in various positions at KAP.
Meanwhile, he developed a 1,000-acre family farm which currently focuses on grains, and helped start up the Elton Energy Co-operative, which aims to develop community-based renewable energy in Manitoba.
A longtime advocate for greater diversity in Manitoba’s power generation efforts, his property carries the province’s first-ever ground-mounted solar panels, which were installed as part of a pilot project.
Still early in the nomination process and awaiting Conservative Party of Canada approval, Mazier said that he’s learning a lot as he moves along, and that he’s currently working on building a team to help support his bid.
He said that his whole effort to become an elected official comes down to helping people in a new way.
“I have a passion for making sure that voices are heard in Ottawa, or anywhere,” he said.
“We are rural and we are remote. Canada’s a big, big country, and there are some challenges in making sure your voices are heard in Ottawa.”
Mazier is the first declared candidate for Conservative Party of Canada nomination in the Dauphin-Swan River-Neepawa constituency which The Brandon Sun has been made aware of.
» tclarke@brandonsun.com
» Twitter: @TylerClarkeMB