United Conservative Party (UCP) incumbent MLA Jason Nixon has been re-elected to a second term in Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre, soundly defeating seven challengers in Tuesday’s provincial vote, according to unofficial results posted by Elections Alberta.
In an interview in the Sundre restaurant where he gathered with supporters on Tuesday evening, Nixon said he plans to champion the needs of farmers and ranchers in Mountain View County and elsewhere in Alberta over the next four years.
“It is a big opportunity to put the issues that matter to this consistency around the government table instead of the opposition table. I’m looking forward to that,” said Nixon, a Sundre-area resident who was first elected in 2015.
“In our area we have issues such as funding rural education properly, supporting our rural hospitals and agriculture. It will be a big change for us incumbents who are going from opposition to government.”
Nixon said at the provincial level, the new government will focus on the “economy, jobs and pipelines” going forward.
“I think this a huge change for Alberta, an historic moment for Alberta,” he said. “The first time in our history that we’ve seen a one-term government and it’s clear to me that Albertans want to go a different way.
“They want a government that is focused on jobs, the economy and pipelines and that’s what they are going to get.”
Nixon faced off against NDP candidate Jeff Ible, Alberta Party candidate Joe Anglin, Green Party candidate Jane Drummond, Alberta Advantage Party candidate Paula Lamoureux, Alberta Independence Party candidate Dave Rogers, Alberta Freedom Conservative candidate Dawn Berard, and Independent candidate Gordon Francey.
Advance vote ballots cast outside the voter’s riding – so called ‘vote anywhere ballots’ – will be counted this week, according to Elections Alberta.
Nixon said he was “happy to see my friend and colleague” Nathan Cooper re-elected in Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills, also under the UCP banner.
“It’s been a pleasure to serve with him as co-Mountain View County MLAs and I’m glad he’s coming back up to Edmonton,” said Nixon.
NDP candidate Jeff Ible finished second to Nixon, according to unofficial results posted Tuesday night.
Ible, who was running for political office for the first time, said during a phone interview that, considering the uphill battle his campaign faced against a strong incumbent in a very conservative riding, he considered the result a success.
“I gave it my best shot,” said Ible, adding he enjoyed the chance to interact with a lot of supportive people in the riding along his travels.
Thanking everyone who turned out at the polls in general, he also expressed gratitude for those who voted for him.
Expressing no regrets, he said, “It’s been an honour and a privilege to serve as a candidate in the fantastic and wonderful riding of Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre.”
However, he was also disappointed that just ahead of the election some NDP signs had been defaced with violent, hateful messages, including death threats against his party’s leader and former Premier Rachel Notley.
Although he did not associate the individuals who used such scare tactics with any particular affiliations, whenever someone puts “kill” or “death” on a candidate’s sign, that amounts to intimidation against not only the candidate but also anyone who might support them, he said.
“It’s not without intention,” he said, calling the act deliberate and calculated.
“No one in politics should have to deal with that type of behaviour.”
That unfortunately “speaks to a violent undercurrent of misogyny that still exists in our society,” he added.
“If one party has signs defaced with violent messages, especially in a small community, folks become much less inclined to get signs themselves and speak in support of that candidate and stand up and express themselves,” he said, adding people should be able to voice their democratic opinions without fear of retaliation.
Overall, his goal in running for office was to provide “voters in this riding with a progressive alternative to what has historically been a conservative hegemony.”
Optimistic in the face of his party’s defeat, Ible said Notley had done a tremendous job over the past four years, fighting hard for Albertans every step of the way.
“Before and after everything else, I highly respect her — she’s an inspiration. I can’t think of someone that’s shown more integrity and honesty, commitment and compassion, dedication and hard work to the people of Alberta,” he said.
Notley is “here to stay,” as is the NDP in Alberta, he said.
Ible said he also intends to remain involved in politics with the NDP.
“I’m a political die hard,” he said, adding he is considering running in the riding again in four years.
“There’s not a lot of places in the province that are as beautiful in terms of a constituency, with the landscape, the scenery, and the vastness of it,” he said, referring to a huge area that boasts everything from farm and ranch lands to oil and gas sites, as well as all of the forests, streams, rivers, snow capped mountains and foothills.
“You get almost every kind of landscape in Alberta in that riding as a snapshot.”
And despite the few isolated incidents of unknown individuals who vandalized signs, Ible said his interactions with people were positive regardless of political affiliations.
“I have been treated, I would say, very warmly by the constituents of the riding,” he said, adding he plans to continue enjoying the vast recreational opportunities in the backcountry, including fishing.
“I fully intend to hit the Blackstone River during the summer,” he said, adding he prefers to catch and release and always strives to pick up and trash he finds along the way.
“The only thing I might leave in the riding, is a smile, a handshake, or some money” in any number of the local businesses, he said.
Joe Anglin, the riding’s former Wildrose-turned-Independent MLA who placed fourth during the 2015 general election that saw Nixon elected, was not particularly surprised by the election’s results.
The Alberta Party candidate said during a phone interview in the lead up to the election that he only expected to win “if hell freezes over.”
“I know the political landscape,” he said, calling himself “more of a realist.”
However, he expressed disappointment with the chambers of commerce in the area that did not organize any candidate forums to offer constituents the opportunity to hear each party’s platforms in person.
“They always have in the past,” he said.
Additionally, he expressed dismay over what he described as a “really divisive” election that was fuelled by emotions and rhetoric more than reason and respect.
“It’s a shame that people voted out of anger. I sensed that from a lot of people,” he said.
But regardless of whether someone agrees or disagrees with the Notley government, that should not warrant anger, he said.
“I felt the election was ugly in a lot of ways.”
People essentially had their minds made up, and Anglin said he did not believe the most important issues were really discussed.
But whatever the reasons motivating Albertans to cast a ballot, people were more motivated to vote than ever. The advanced polls drew out a record-breaking number of people, with roughly triple the amount of votes cast during the 2015 election’s advanced polls.
“With over 696,000 ballots cast provincewide in five days, my appreciation goes out to all the election officers who worked tirelessly to provide so many accessible and convenient voting options for electors,” said Chief Electoral Officer Glen Resler in a press release.
The ballots cast by electors within their electoral division — roughly 473,000 — were to be counted following the close of polls their respective electoral divisions. But the ballots cast by electors at locations outside their electoral divisions — about 223,000 — will be counted in the days following the election, it said.
