High turnouts at advance polls for byelections
Voters cast ballots to fill seats formerly held by United Conservative Party MLAs
EDMONTON Voters in two Alberta ridings will cast their ballots on Thursday, following a week of advance polls that saw high turnout.
In both Fort McMurray-Conklin and Innisfail-Sylvan Lake, more votes were counted during the fiveday advance polls July 3-7 than in similar polls during the 2015 general election.
There were 1,074 ballots cast in Fort McMurray-Conklin advance polls, compared to 719 in 2015. Innisfail-Sylvan Lake also had an uptick with 2,845 votes cast, compared to 2,826 three years ago.
Both empty seats were held by former United Conservative Party MLAs, elected under the Wildrose Party banner before it merged with the Progressive Conservatives.
Voters in Fort McMurray-Conklin are replacing former UCP MLA Brian Jean. He was elected to his seat in 2015 as leader of the Wildrose Party, and stepped down from his seat in March, months after losing the UCP leadership bid to Jason Kenney.
The Innisfail-Sylvan Lake byelection will replace UCP MLA Don MacIntyre, who resigned in February after he was charged with sexual assault and sexual interference of a girl under age 16.
There are more than 33,000 registered voters in Innisfail-Sylvan Lake and more than 13,000 in Fort McMurray-Conklin.
Fort McMurray-Conklin candidates:
Brian Deheer (Green party) — Served on the Athabasca Watershed Council and Keepers of the Athabasca Watershed Society boards and ran for the federal seat of Fort McMurray-Cold Lake in 2015.
Sid Fayad (Alberta Party) — Owned a range of businesses and now runs a granite company. Members of his family helped open Canada’s first mosque in Edmonton in 1938.
Laila Goodridge (UCP) — A longtime conservative volunteer who helped with Jean’s failed UCP leadership bid. She has served as an adviser to MPs in Ottawa and ran in Grande Prairie-Wapiti under the Wildrose banner in 2015.
Robin Le Fevre (Alberta Liberal Party) — A lawyer, consultant and entrepreneur who has worked in oil and gas, construction, mining and community development.
Jane Stroud (NDP) — A threeterm Fort McMurray councillor who has served on numerous committees, including rural, audit and land planning and development. Innisfail-Sylvan Lake candidates:
Abigail Douglass (Alberta Party) — Volunteered on Stephen Mandel’s successful leadership campaign and has been involved with the Alberta Party since 2017.
Devin Dreeshen (UCP) — Owns a consulting business advising agricultural stakeholders on trade issues. The fifth-generation local farm owner and longtime conservative party activist was a policy adviser to agriculture minister Gerry Ritz from 2008-15.
David Inscho (Independent) — A former constituency association president with the Wildrose Party who helped start the Alberta Advantage Party, which isn’t yet registered with Elections Alberta.
Nick Jansen (Alberta Liberal) — Worked in the energy industry, as a government analyst and is currently a private consultant.
Nicole Mooney (NDP) — An English teacher at St. Joseph High School in Red Deer who serves as the communications and political-engagement officer with Alberta Teachers’ Association Local 80.