Incumbent MLA Tany Yao’s recent loss to Zulkifl Mujahid in the Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo nomination brought the number of UCP candidates named to run in the May 29 provincial election to 48..The results of the historically close Bonnyville-Cold Lake-St. Paul nomination race have yet to be announced..That will leave 38 spots to fill, with two nomination meetings slated before year’s end..Mujahid, a manager at City Auto Repair in Fort McMurray and a former constituency association member, edged out Yao who represented the constituency since 2015, and Keith Plowman, president of the Fort McMurray Construction Association..Mujahid’s campaign platform — improving local health, education, and infrastructure — resonated with party members..Yao’s loss on December 4 came on the heels of his October 24 appointment as Parliamentary Secretary for Rural Health..He was one of six UCP MLAs who faced a severe backlash from Albertans in late 2020 and early 2021 when caught holidaying away from home while the province was under strict COVID-19 lockdown..Yao’s Mexico holiday resulted in former premier Jason Kenney, who said the MLAs all “demonstrated extremely poor judgement,” stripping him of his Legislature committee responsibilities..The other MLAs who headed to hot spots — Tracy Allard, Jeremy Nixon, Jason Stephan, Tanya Fir, and Pat Rehn — either resigned from posts or had to step down from committee responsibilities..Yao was the second incumbent MLA to lose the nomination. Last June MLA Chris Nelson, who served Edmonton-Decore since 2015, was defeated by Sharif Haji, director of the Africa Centre and former provincial Health and Seniors and Housing employee..The results of the Bonnyville-Cold Lake-St. Paul nomination race held December 10-12 are yet to be announced. The closest nomination election in Alberta history went to a recount when one or two votes separated MLA David Hanson and former MLA Scott Cyr. .Meanwhile, Chestermere-Strathmore is gearing up for Saturday’s nomination to choose between two hopefuls — Chantelle de Jonge and Dharminder Premi..De Jong is a public policy researcher and has a bachelor’s degree with distinction in economics and philosophy from the University of Calgary. Premi is president of SoftForward Technologies Inc..The constituency’s MLA Leela Aheer, who lost in the first round of balloting in the October 6 UCL leadership race, decided not to seek the UCP nomination..On December 20, Edmonton-Beverly Clairview will choose from three UCP candidates — Felix Amenaghawon, Lana Palmer, and Luke Savanto..So far, the NDP have nominated 68 candidates, the Green Party 23, the Alberta Party three, and the Liberals one.
