Bexte a contender for Bow River MP, knows ag and energy

Posted on February 27, 2025 by Taber Times

By Cal Braid
Taber Times
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Arrowwood’s David Bexte is running to become the Conservative Party of Canada’s candidate for Bow River MP in the next general federal election. The party is set to select a candidate from among the regional contenders, and the winner will go on to run for MP against the other parties’ candidates. Bexte is running against Graham Abela and JL DeCosta as party nominees.

 Bexte is a lifelong Albertan, farmer, and former vice-president at the largest oil field service company in the world. 

“I spent my career working in Alberta’s two biggest industries, agricultural and energy,” he said. “I was born and raised in the Arrowwood area and I still farm in the area.”

 He told Southern Alberta Newspapers he has spent a good deal of time volunteering; at the Lions Club, on the board of the volunteer fire department, and with 4H. He’s community minded, believing that “everybody pitches in, everybody volunteers, and you get things done.”

 In a Feb. 20 news release, Bexte unveiled his first major policy priority: designating family farms as a Strategic National Asset to ensure they are protected from crippling taxes and federal overreach.

 Bexte outlined a three-point plan he would fight for as MP. His goal is to ensure:

– that family farms are exempted from crushing inheritance taxes that force families to sell their land instead of passing it on.

– an end to Ottawa’s overreach—no more carbon tax penalties or excessive fertilizer restrictions. 

– stronger support for young farmers to ensure the next generation can afford to stay on the land.

 “The family farm is a foundational, basic building block of the entire industry, perhaps, of all of society back to antiquity,” he said. “We need to recognize as a society that it’s precious and protect it. They’re often victims of punitive taxation, punitive regulatory, arbitrary dictates by bureaucrats that don’t know what they’re talking about, and that aren’t part of the industry, that haven’t lived the life.”

 He’s positioning himself as one who fights for Alberta, not the Ottawa elites. 

“Trudeau’s carbon tax, skyrocketing input costs, and massive red tape are threatening the future of family farming in Canada,” he said. “Food security starts with strong, independent producers—not government interference, burdensome regulation, and high taxes. We need to protect the family farm, not tax it out of existence.”

 As a farmer and a former energy executive, he’s confident that he is qualified to offer insight and leadership on ag and energy issues.

 “You know, I really believe the last 10 years of policy have been like an absolute boat anchor to the potential that Canada has,” he said. “We need to develop all of our energy potential at a maximum rate for as long as possible, pipelines to every coast, every avenue, energy is the fuel of society, right?”

 He said that poverty in any sense, in any part of the world, even locally or regionally is always equated to energy poverty and the expense of energy. Making energy cheaper and more available is the foundation of Canadian society.

 The here-and-there rigors of an MP’s schedule don’t seem to faze him. During his time in the energy sector, he travelled the world; India, South America, Europe, and all over the States. He spent time on short-term assignments in northern B.C., the Northwest Territories and different parts of Alberta. However, “the family farm has always been my anchor, and it’s always where it’s always been home. It’s always where I come back to.”

 “What I bring to the role is experience and integrity. I have common views and experience with everybody that’s in the Bow River riding. I bring a passion for fairness and a passion for getting things done,” he said when asked about what he brings to the table.

 “We have no time to waste to get things back on the right track. We have to act and we have to act fast, and we have to act decisively, and we have to pivot when we make mistakes. And there is no doubt that we will make mistakes, but we have to recognize them fast and change track and drive for success. Canada has such huge potential that we’re squandering, and it has to be all hands on deck to get this going in the right direction and we can truly build a prosperous society.”

According to the Bow River Conservative Association, as of Feb. 25 the date for the Bow River CPC nomination vote has not been set.