Smith’s decision to not hold by-election in Calgary-Elbow raising questions
Global News
Incoming Premier Danielle Smith announced Saturday there won't be a by-election in Calgary-Elbow, which has had a vacant seat since September.
Following the announcement that incoming premier Danielle Smith won’t call a by-election in Calgary-Elbow, some people who live in the area are wondering why the seat will be left vacant until the next election in the spring.
Calgary-Elbow hasn’t had a representative in the legislature since former UCP minister Doug Schweitzer resigned from his post at the beginning of September.
“I guess I’m wondering why Danielle Smith wouldn’t run in this riding if there’s an opening,” area resident Don Smith told Global News. “It doesn’t make any sense because it means we don’t have an MLA for the next, whatever, eight months.”
Over the weekend, Smith declared her intention to run in a by-election in the rural riding of Brooks-Medicine Hat. It comes after UCP MLA Michaela Frey said she wouldn’t run for re-election in 2023, and resigned her seat on Friday.
At a press conference in Medicine Hat on Saturday, Smith said she had no plans to call a by-election in Calgary-Elbow ahead of the next provincial election, which is scheduled for May 2023 under fixed election date legislation.
“There is also a convention as well that if you’re within a year of having a general election that you don’t need to call by-elections,” Smith said. “We may as well just stick with the convention of having the adjacent MLA take care of the issues in the riding.”
Smith added there may be other sitting MLA’s that could step away instead of running for re-election and that she doesn’t want to set a precedent to have “a rolling series of by-elections.”
Five of the six ridings that border Calgary-Elbow are represented by the UCP, while Calgary-Buffalo is an NDP riding represented by long-time MLA Joe Ceci.
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