 Plain blamed his defeat on Harvey's friendship with then-MLA Ernie Jamison, who also owned the St. Albert Gazette, and called his defeat "a plague on our house".Between 1979 and 1981, as chair of the St. Albert Citizens Committee, Plain led the fight against a proposal from Edmonton to annex St. Albert, which he called "one of the greatest things this community will ever see".In 2001, Plain, newly retired from academia, announced his intention to challenge incumbent mayor Paul Chalifoux.