Barry Morishita addresses supporters at an Alberta Party meet-and-greet in this Nov. 9, 2022 file photo. After two unsuccessful cracks at winning a seat in the legislature, the former mayor of Brooks has resigned from the party to take new role in municipal development.--NEWS FILE PHOTO
bmiller@medicinehatnews.com
Longtime southern Alberta politician Barry Morishita has announced his resignation as leader of the Alberta Party.
Morishita took reins of the Alberta Party in September 2021 after serving as mayor of Brooks in 2016 and as the president of the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association.
He ran under the party’s banner in his riding of Brooks-Medicine Hat in both the November 2022 byelection and the general provincial election earlier this year.
Before entering into politics Morishita owned and operated an auto part store in Brooks.
Despite his efforts the Alberta Party was unable to secure any seats in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta and had struggles raising campaign funding in both elections.
“The Alberta Party was not able to raise the funding it needed. I wasn’t, as leader, and in order to produce a messaging and a marketing campaign honestly to do the retail politics, that was necessary,” said Morishita.
This summer Morishita helped the Alberta Party develop a benchmark plan to provide its members direction moving forward.
Morishita hopes the party’s next leader will be able to secure a couple seats in the legislature during the next general election in four years.
“Hopefully someone else can get at it and the board can come up with a good plan and they can be ready in four years to do battle again,” he said. “It (the Alberta Party) needs to put a plan in place that builds capacity both in human resources, like people that are willing to do some work, and they’ve got to raise some money.”
Morishita says the party will have to find new avenues to attract support and finances moving forward. He is now focusing on the next chapter of his life in an area of his passion – municipal development.
Morishita is working with the Mid Saskatchewan Municipal Alliance to help develop the Jansen PHP Potash Mine, which is expected to open in late 2026. He is working with a group of seven municipalities located around the mine site about an hour southeast of Saskatoon.
His role is to help assist in the co-ordination of developing infrastructure that includes housing and daycares in the communities.
“I’m kind of back with municipalities, but Saskatchewan is a little different because I’ve never lived here before,” Morishita said. “But I have to say I’m enjoying it thoroughly so far and we have been able to get some work done.”
The new role draws upon Morishita’s experience developing infrastructure for workers moving to Brooks.
“I’m just not an elected official, which is kind of a fun thing to be honest with you. I’m an employee of the municipality and my job is to get stuff done.”
Aside from his role with the Mid Saskatchewan Municipal Alliance, Morishita has also taken on a part-time role as a senior adviser with the Alberta Council.
