Clinton Bishop takes on new role as Mayor of Barons

Posted on June 29, 2023 by Sunny South News

By Erika Mathieu
Sunny South News

The Village of Barons has a new mayor.

Following the June 5 by-election where Clinton Bishop was elected as a councillor, an organizational meeting was held on June 13 where council determined Bishop would move into the role of mayor.

Bishop said up until now, he has not held any elected positions within government. However, Bishop works for the provincial government’s Alberta Health Services as a project coordinator with medical affairs. The Calgary-based role moves the needle forward on critical projects from ARP implementation to recruitment of acute care coverage providers, and more.

With roots in Barons, known colloquially as “the wheat heart of the west”, Bishop also owns a Vancouver-based business called susGrainable.

“We up-cycle spent grain from the brewing industry into a high fibre, high-protein flour, which goes into a line of consumer-ready baking mixes that we sell through major grocery chains.”

Following the resignation of Ed Weistra as Mayor of Barons back in March, the two-person council was reconfigured to ensure the mayor and deputy mayor positions were filled, a requirement of the Municipal Government Act. As such, a position for councillor opened up. Bishop said there were a few factors which influenced his decision to run in the recent by-election.

“Barons has always been my hometown and so having lived here for quite a few years as a resident and just quietly doing my own thing, with my business and my government role. But this opportunity came along for this by-election. This was the second by-election, in this election cycle, and I said to myself, ‘you know, I like giving back to community and I think one of the ways I can give back is by running and bringing some stability to council.”

Although Bishop has only been in the role a few weeks, he said his primary objective as mayor moving forward will be to continue building the community.

“Barons has always been going through this bit of an inflection point. It is time that there’s stability and community development occurring. I think I can bring some of that being a life-long resident of Barons and area as well as bringing my expertise in both the private and public sector to the Village.”

“Barons is a nice little community and a great place to call home, and I’m looking forward to serving the people in town the best way that I can, and to be accessible and transparent.”