Central Albertans, along with the rest of the country, are going to the polls next month to choose who will next lead them and the country.
Prime Minister Mark Carney asked the governor general Sunday to dissolve Parliament and call a federal election on April 28.
“We need to build the strongest economy in the G7. We need to deal with President Trump’s tariffs. Canadians deserve a choice about who should lead that effort for our country,” said Carney when making the announcement.
The dissolving of Parliament means the end of the Red Deer - Mountain View riding. An electoral boundaries commission decided on new riding boundaries in 2023 and they went into effect when the election was called.
The new Ponoka-Didsbury riding includes Innisfail, Olds, Didsbury, Bowden and portions of Mountain View and Red Deer counties. The 9,573-square kilometre riding has a population of 114,521, according to Elections Canada.
Candidates in the new Ponoka-Didsbury riding had already started to line up in preparation for an expected federal election campaign call.
The Conservative Party of Canada candidate is current Red Deer-Lacombe MP Blaine Calkins, the New Democratic Party of Canada candidate is Logan Hooley, the People’s Party of Canada candidate is Larry Gratton, and the United Party of Canada candidate is party leader Graham Abraham, officials said.
Liberal Party of Canada officials did not immediately return a call seeking information on their possible candidate in the riding. Other candidates are expected to join the race.
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Sundre, Carstairs, Cremona and a portion of Mountain View County are in the newly-configured Yellowhead riding.
Also included in the riding are Banff, Canmore, Crossfield, Edson, Hinton, Rocky Mountain House, Caroline, Jasper, the summer villages of Burnstick Lake, Ghost Lake and Waiparous, Municipal District of Bighorn, Clearwater County, several reserves and portions of Rocky View County, Municipal District of Greenview and Yellowhead County.
The riding’s NDP candidate is Avni Soma from Canmore. The Conservative Party of Canada candidate for the riding is Mountain View County resident William Stevenson. Others are expected to enter the race.
While election day is April 28, advance polls will be held April 18, 19, 20 and 21.
A new session of Parliament was set to begin on Monday, March 24.
On Jan. 9, then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that he was resigning as the Liberal Party leader once a new leader was chosen.
A proclamation was issued that day proroguing the first session of the 44th Parliament. All proceedings before Parliament were brought to an end.
During the period of prorogation, the speaker, the prime minister, ministers and parliamentary secretaries remain in office, and all members of the House retain their full rights and privileges.
All government bills that had not received royal assent prior to prorogation ceased to exist.
On March 9, Mark Carney won the Liberal party leadership and was chosen to succeed Justin Trudeau as prime minister. Carney was sworn-in as prime minister on March 14.
