A political newbie will represent the UCP in Calgary-Lougheed — former premier Jason Kenney’s riding — in the May 29 provincial election..Eric Bouchard, who built a million-dollar restaurant business that suffered its last nail in the coffin under crushing COVID-19 lockdowns, secured a 53% victory on the third ballot in Monday’s five-way nomination contest..“This is completely new to me. It’s wonderful. It’s great. It’s exciting. I’ve never done this before,” said Bouchard, who bought a UCP membership just a year ago..“It’s validation for all of the hard work we’ve done — all of the people, all of our volunteers, all of the constituents who are tired of old government.”.“The fear of the unknown is wild, but I’ll be in a good place. My family, my wife, is 100% behind me.”.Just as members of the constituency’s business community are. They encouraged Bouchard to run and rallied behind him..The largely small business owners were crushed by what they viewed as unjust COVID-19 mandates enforced on them while large businesses that didn’t face the same restrictions flourished, .They also suffered serious setbacks before that, under former premier Rachel Notley’s NDP tax-heavy government..Constituency members warmed up to Bouchard when he was door knocking, especially after he identified as a “non-politician,” and an admittedly not great public speaker, but a hard worker, he said..Bouchard was 34 votes shy of a win on the first ballot..On the third ballot, Bouchard received 382 votes, Mark Fiselier, entrepreneur, and veteran political volunteer came in second with 213 votes; and Sherrisa Celis, program manager at Calgary Catholic Immigration Society, came third with 149..Kenney resigned from his seat as MLA last November. That followed his decision to step aside as premier after winning 51.4% support in a leadership contest.
