Veteran Town of Bonnyville councillor Gene Sobolewski has announced his candidacy to oppose Bonnyville-Cold Lake MLA Genia Leskiw for the Progressive Party nomination for this constituency.
A day before nominations were set to open late Thursday afternoon, Sobolewski made official his intentions to oppose Leskiw, who is in the third year of her first term in office as the local MLA.
Nominations to gain the PC Party nomination for Bonnyville -- Cold Lake will close at 5 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 10.
All members in good standing with the local PC Party Association in this constituency will then cast ballots to elect their candidate for the next provincial election during a secret ballot on Saturday, Nov. 19.
"It should be a very exciting couple of weeks," said Sobolewski, who was re-elected to his third term on Town council a year ago.
The Bonnyville Nouvelle will be hosting a candidates forum between Sobolewski, Leskiw and any other candidate that might decide to enter the race on Wednesday, Nov. 16 at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 183 on 51st St. in Bonnyville. The forum will begin at 7:00 p.m. and all members of the public are invited to attend.
Sobolewski said he had been "seriously thinking about this for over a year", but wanted to see who would capture the provincial PC Party leadership and become the new premier.
When Alison Redford became the new leader, his decision was made to oppose Leskiw, he said.
Leskiw said she is not surprised Sobolewski has announced his candidacy to oppose her and welcomes the challenge, agreeing the next two weeks should prove to be very interesting.
"I'm not surprised Gene has come forward, but I was hoping not to have to run a mini election campaign so soon after the leadership race, but this is democracy and he has come forward and I look forward to defending my record and the work I've done over the past three years," she said.