DIDSBURY - Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills MLA Nathan Cooper says he is looking forward to cooperating with newly-elected Ponoka-Didsbury Conservative Member of Parliament Blaine Calkins over the next four years.
“I’m excited to work with Blaine Calkins,” Cooper told the Albertan. “He has been a great advocate for central Alberta over many years and I’m sure he will represent us well in Alberta.”
Calkins faced off in the April 28 against four other candidates: United Party of Canada’s Brant Abraham, People’s Party of Canada’s Larry Gratton, New Democratic Party of Canada’s Logan Hooley, and non-affiliated candidate Zarnab Zafar.
With 215 out of 216 polls reporting (99.54 per cent) Tuesday morning, Calkins had 55,450 votes with closest contender, Hooley, having 7,314. Abraham had 2,119, Zafar had 1,624 and Gratton, had 1,276 votes.
The Ponoka-Didsbury riding includes Innisfail, Olds, Didsbury, Bowden and portions of Mountain View and Red Deer counties along with other municipalities.
Calkins was first elected to Parliament in 2006, and re-elected in 2008, 2011, 2015, 2019, 2021, and now in 2025.
Town of Didsbury Mayor Rhonda Hunter also says she is looking forward to meeting with and working with Calkins.
“I wish Mr. Calkins a successful term, and I do look forward to inviting him for a conversation in the near future,” Hunter told the Albertan.
“I am sure he will be very busy trying to accommodate all the requests for meetings.”
As for Monday’s election results, Hunter said, “I hope our government can now move forward dealing with some really important and critical issues that are facing our citizens and country.”
