Should he secure the nomination, Mark Custance will be running in the next provincial election to try to secure a great future for Turtle Mountain.

The entrepreneur from the Pierson area threw his hat in the ring for the Progressive Conservative nomination in the riding this spring. Longtime MLA Doyle Piwniuk announced he would not be seeking another term in the Legislature, opening up the spot for a new Tory candidate. Custance said it is all about serving the area.

“To me, it was never about being a politician, it was more about stepping up and representing our region,” Custance explained during a visit to Boissevain. “My wife and I raised our family here, started businesses here. This is home for us.”

Custance is just finishing his first term as a councillor for the Municipality of Two Borders. He said he wanted to bring his life experience to another level of service. He wanted to have an election for the party in the constituency. Custance said he came from a different background from the other person running, former PC leadership candidate Wally Daudrich. He wanted to represent a new generation of conservative coming up in the region. Daudrich was later disqualified.

Custance said his family has always been involved in communities, and he wants to carry this on. He learned from his grandparents and parents that it is not about the title, but how you treat people and what you do.