Brent Robinson was born and raised in Okotoks, leaving to study and eventually practice law before moving back to town in 2011.

He's now raising a family in town and has been the president of the Okotoks Raiders Lacrosse Association for the past four years.

His main reason for running for council is simply because he'd like to give back to his community.

"I really want to make sure Okotoks continues to have good governance and maintain the character of the community that I grew up in and loved and that I brought my kids back to raise them in. I think I have some of the skills and background experience to come in and contribute to that good governance and try and maintain that community character."

His connection with sports ties in with one of his priorities, which is expanding upon the town's outdoor recreation.

"A lot of the things we need are casual play opportunities, which is something we lack in the lacrosse space for sure. But there's lots of other things like regional pathways... If we could extend those regional pathways out to places like the fieldhouse, Black Diamond, and Turner Valley, I think that would be something if we could do it in a cost-effective manner."

Pandemic recovery is still a topic at the forefront of many people's minds and is one that Robinson aims to address.

On top of the economic portion of recovery, he'd like to give local parents some support.

"We need to try and support parenting and childcare as best we can, because we know that's an area where people have been hit by the pandemic stuff, childcare and unemployment. If we can expedite or find ways, as a town, to get our childcare inventory back up, I think that'd be a good way of supporting our recovery out of the pandemic."

He'd also like to continue the town's progress in making communities accessible, both in a financial sense and also in housing diversity and accomodating for multiple modes of transport.

Robinson also pointed to some policies and progress made by the sitting council that he'd like to continue with, including the progress with land-use bylaws and a solution to the town's water woes.

With that said, he's optimistic about the future of the town after seeing the calibre of his fellow council candidates.

"The one thing I'll say is I'm hopeful for the future. I think the group of candidates that have stepped forward is really quite good. I've been taking a lot of time to go out and meet as many of the other candidates as I can. They're a bunch of people interested in the town the same way that I am, so that's been good.

"I've been super heartened by the calibre of people, and I think we'll probably be in good hands, most likely, after the election."

More information on Brent Robinson and other local candidates can be found on the town's website.

 

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