From kicks to politics: Meet Sandy Bowman, Wood Buffalo's new mayor
CBC
Wood Buffalo's new mayor hasn't been in politics before but he's ready to fight for change.
Sandy Bowman, 50, was sworn in last week and is preparing for his first council meeting. The well-known martial arts instructor defeated council incumbents Mike Allen and Verna Murphy to win the vacant mayor's seat last month.
Like many Fort McMurray residents, Bowman is not originally from the region.
Bowman moved to Fort McMurray in 1993 from Nova Scotia. He and a friend had decided to move to B.C, but they stopped in Fort McMurray on the way to visit family.
"I was here for six days, I met a girl, fell in love, ended up getting married," Bowman said.
"When I say home now, this is home."
Bowman's passion is martial arts, which he started practising when he was nine.
He brought that to Fort McMurray, teaching family and friends Taekwondo at MacDonald Island Park.
"It steamrolled to kids liked it, kids wanted to get involved with it," said Bowman.
In 1995, he to open a studio called Bowmans Martial Arts. He plans to keep teaching during his term as mayor.
"If I'm finished for the day and want a couple hours to de-stress and workout I'll just come in here and train and teach," said Bowman.
Although Bowman is new to politics, he has lots of notable experience with the Western Canada Summer Games, the Arctic Winter Games and Alberta Taekwondo.
One stand-out moment in his martial arts career was an MMA fight against Eric "Butterbean" Esch, a well-known boxer and MMA fighter.
Bowman said in 2010 the company needed a win and something to take it out of debt. The plan was for Bowman to fight someone who was "almost unbeatable."
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