Devin Dreeshen has been re-elected as MLA for Innisfail-Sylvan Lake.
The UCP candidate first elected in a 2018 by-election garnered well over 17,000 votes in the riding, far beyond second place finisher Robyn O’Brien of the NDP.
Dreeshen feels the UCP’s positive campaign really resonated with voters.
“Its overwhelming success across the province and especially here in Innisfail-Sylvan Lake,” he exclaims. “It just goes to show that Albertans actually care about policies. They cared about jobs, the economy and pipelines and that was a message that we pushed as United Conservatives and it’s just a very humbling experience to see the results from tonight.”
Dreeshen says he’s proud of the work of his entire team for these results.
“Just proud of the volunteers, proud of the team,” he proclaims. “Politics is a team sport and it’s great, this room is filled with a bunch of them and it’s just great to see everybody come together for a common goal. It’s a pretty exciting and rewarding night but also it’s humbling to see all the different people that helped in their own way.”
Dreeshen admits Alberta’s Carbon Tax will be first-up on the radar once the government is up and running.
“We’re going to work hard,” declares Dreeshen. “This summer we’ve talked about the summer of repeal, we’ve talked about having extra sitting days in the legislature and trying to do big, bold things to get Albertans back on track and get the economy back on track. So looking forward to that hard work to try to attract the investment that’s fled Alberta over the last four years.”
Danielle Klooster, Alberta Party candidate for Innisfail-Sylvan Lake, says at the end of the day, Albertans are not wrong.
“They’re going to choose who they choose and we have to respect that this is a democratic process,” she explains. “We’re really proud of the campaign we ran. We think that we offered a hopeful, positive campaign and Albertans had to choose what was the best option for them.”
“I’m probably most worried that the leader of the UCP is under investigation by the RCMP and what is going to happen with that,” continues Klooster. “It has not come to a conclusion yet and that could potentially be very challenging for Alberta to have to go through. I’m hopeful for better days ahead for the economy, and some of the policies that they presented, while it wouldn’t be the way we’d necessarily go about it, they could have good results.”
Having said that however, Klooster does have some grave concerns for the province.
“They’re saying they’re going to repeal the carbon tax, and I think that makes us vulnerable, but I honestly don’t see them doing that,” adds Klooster. “Then the whole thing about starting a fight with Ottawa. I think Jason Kenney has a plan to be prime minster and Alberta is just a stepping stone for him, so of course he wants to pick a fight with the Liberal government.”
Innisfail-Sylvan Lake (84 of 86 polls reporting 23,465 total votes)
X-17,424 Devin Dreeshen – UCP
3,192 Robyn O’Brien – NDP
2,185 Danielle Klooster – AP
330 Chad Miller – FCP
154 Brian Vanderkley – AAP
102 Ed Wychopen – IND
78 Lauren Thorsteinson – REF
