Chris Clegg
Joe McWilliams
South Peace News
Rural Alberta will be well represented in the Alberta Legislature after the May 29 election, including three constituencies in South Peace News’ coverage area.
Todd Loewen was re-elected in Central Peace – Notley and Dan Williams re-elected in Peace River, while newcomer Scott Sinclair won the Lesser Slave riding. (Please see full results on page 4).
The three United Conservative Party members will form a government under Premier Daniele Smith which won 49 seats compared to the New Democrat’s 38 seats.
Loewen took to Facebook May 29 as results rolled in.
“It’s beyond humbling to be with 150 of my closest friends and family tonight. Watching these numbers roll in stronger than ever before is causing an emotional feeling here in Valleyview. It’s been a hard-fought race.
“To each and every one of my constituents, I thank you from the bottom of my heart; it is and has been my greatest honour to serve the people of Central Peace-Notley.”
Loewen, who won an incredible 77.70 per cent of the vote in the riding, added to his post the next day.
“I was blessed with so much incredible support last night, but as Albertans, we are also blessed to live in a land with free speech, free assembly, and free elections.
“On that note, I’d like to thank my opponents for putting their names on the ballot: Megan Ciursek, Rod Bowen, Lynn Lekisch and Nancy O’Neill. Whether we agree or disagree, it’s important that we have names step forward to contest elections and give Albertans a choice when voting for representatives. It takes guts and a lot of hard work.”
Sinclair, a 38-year-old business owner, replaces the UCP’s Pat Rehn as MLA for Lesser Slave Lake. He joins the UCP government with a reduced majority.
Sinclair ended up with 64 per cent of the valid votes cast in the riding, doing better than his NDP opponent Danielle Larivee in poll after poll. Larivee, the former MLA and cabinet minister, won several smaller communities in the riding. But where it counted most – principally in High Prairie and Slave Lake – voters went blue across the board.
Larivee spent a lot of time campaigning in First Nations communities, and it appears to have worked. She was a winner at polling stations in Driftpile, Gift Lake, Kapawe’no, Sucker Creek and Wabasca.
What was alarming is the much lower voter turnout in Lesser Slave Lake; this year, 7,949 people voted which was just under 1,500 less voters than 2019 (9,440 votes), and just over 1,000 less than when Larivee won in 2015 (9,054 votes).
The percentage of vote in Lesser Slave Lake was around 49 per cent compared to the provincial average of around 62 per cent.
Similar to Loewen, Williams won a decisive vote in Peace River taking 8,233 of 11,303 votes or 72.84 per cent. Williams thanks supporters on Facebook.
“Thank you for putting your trust in me and re-electing me to serve you as your MLA. It is humbling and an honour to represent the people of this great constituency and advocate on your behalf. As your MLA, I will continue to fight for our communities, jobs, families and our future.
“I look forward to working with my United Conservative colleagues to keep moving Alberta forward. We are going to continue the work we have started by ensuring our economy keeps growing, creating safer communities, and defending our great province.
“I am looking forward to the next four years and continuing to represent the many communities that stretch across Peace River.”