Newly elected Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills Progressive Conservative candidate Darcy Davis is the ìright man for the job,î said Arno Doerksen, MLA for Strathmore-Brooks.ìDarcy has a lot of empathy and he's a very good listener,î Doerksen said. ìThings that matter to his community matter to him. That's an important thing to be able to say.îDavis ñ who owns a farm near Acme and is a former chair of the Alberta Beef Producers ñ won the nomination in Didsbury on Nov. 26 after capturing 515 votes compared to Al Kemmere's 424 and William Stevenson's 216. When Stevenson's second-choice votes were counted, Davis finished with 593 votes, or 55.9 per cent, compared to Kemmere's 457.For several years, Doerksen and Davis both served on the boards of the Alberta Beef Producers and the Canadian Cattlemen's Association, working together through tough issues such as the BSE crisis.ìI had the privilege of working with Darcy for over five years, during a very difficult time in the industry,î Doerksen said. ìThe breakout of BSE in 2003 presented the greatest economic challenge in the industry in over 50 years. One of the most notable things during that time was how people pulled together across Alberta and Canada, and Darcy was a part of that.îHe credited Davis's collaborative approach to solving problems, a trait that helped to build trust among his fellow board members.ìDarcy was always good to work with,î Doerksen said. ìHis solid involvement in industry and agriculture associations has given him the kind of experience that people respect. He's always had a teamwork approach and he's a good representative of his community.ìHe knows a lot of the issues facing agricultural producers.îErik Butters, a Cochrane-area farmer and past chair of the Alberta Beef Producers, also served on the board of the Canadian Cattleman's Association, where he worked with Davis.ìWe were both elected to the board of the Canadian Cattlemen's Association in fall 2002 and it was perfect timing,î Butters said. ìBSE broke out in 2003.îDavis's ability to think on his feet gave him an edge during that time, Butters said. ìHe knows how to give people a morale boost.îButters agreed that one of Davis's greatest strengths is his empathy and his ìon the groundî knowledge. ìHe's got a really good grasp of the agricultural sector,î he said. ìHe's someone who can relate to producers because he has skin in the game.ìThat kind of experience reflects well on the person who is representing the constituency.î
