Calgary

Here are (most of) Calgary's new MLAs

The United Conservative Party's commanding victory in the Alberta election on Tuesday came with a near sweep of the ridings in Calgary.

3 of the races in the city's 26 ridings are still too close to call

The day after the April 16 provincial election, winners had been projected in 23 out of 26 Calgary ridings, with the UCP reducing the NDP to just three seats in the city. (CBC)

The United Conservative Party's commanding victory in the Alberta election on Tuesday came with a near sweep of the ridings in Calgary.

The NDP — which took 14 of Calgary's 25 ridings four years ago — was only able to hang on to three seats as UCP candidates won at least 20 of Calgary's 26 seats this time.

Three Calgary contests are still too close for CBC News to declare a winner.

All of them, however, are leaning toward the UCP candidates. Elections Alberta continues to tally the votes cast in advance of election day.

Here's a look at (most of) Calgary's new roster of MLAs:

Calgary-Acadia: Tyler Shandro (UCP)

Tyler Shandro is the MLA-elect for Calgary-Acadia. (Tyler Shandro campaign)

Shandro is a University of Calgary-educated lawyer who made Avenue Calgary magazine's Top 40 Under 40 list in 2010.

"Tyler is proud of his volunteer activities in provincial, federal and municipal politics since 1993," his campaign website biography says. He won his seat by a margin of 3,513 votes with 88 of 90 polls tallied.

Calgary-Beddington: Josephine Pon (UCP)

Josephine Pon is the MLA-elect for Calgary-Beddington. (Josephine Pon/Facebook)

Josephine Pon is vice president of Taste of Asia Group Inc., a chain of restaurant. She is also a former board member of Immigrant Services Calgary, according to her LinkedIn page.

Pon, who had been the runner-up in the nomination contest, became the UCP's nominee in March after the party removed Randy Kerr as its candidate.

Kerr was "not forthright in responding to the party's inquiries regarding his financial contribution to the Jeff Callaway leadership campaign," the party's leadership said at the time.

Calgary-Bow: Demetrios Nicolaides (UCP)

Demetrios Nicolaides is the MLA-elect for Calgary-Bow. (Demetrios Nicolaides campaign)

Nicolaides is a political scientist specializing in ethnic-nationalist conflict and eastern Mediterranean geopolitical security, his campaign website says. He also works as a communications expert, coaching senior business leaders.

Nicolaides beat unseated the NDP's Deborah Drever by 3,433 votes with 87 of 89 polls counted.

Calgary-Buffalo: Joe Ceci (NDP)

Joe Ceci has been re-elected MLA for Calgary-Buffalo. (CBC)

Ceci, who served as finance minister in the outgoing NDP government, held on to his seat by 1,594 votes with 92 of 94 polls reported.

The former long-time Calgary alderman held off a strong challenge from the UCP's Tom Olsen, a communications consultant and former newspaper reporter.

Calgary-Cross: Mickey Amery (UCP)

Mickey Amery is the MLA-elect for Calgary-Cross. (UCP)

Amery is a lawyer practising family and real estate law at a small office in east Calgary, his campaign website says.

He handily took the Calgary-Cross seat away from the NDP's Ricardo Miranda, who had been a cabinet member.

Calgary-Edgemont: Prasad Panda (UCP)

Prasad Panda is the MLA-elect for Calgary-Edgemont. (Prasad Panda campaign)

Panda is a professional engineer who has worked in the oil and gas industry around the globe, his campaign website says.

He previously served as the MLA for Calgary-Foothills, acting as the UCP's energy critic. He was elected in 2015 to represent the Wildrose Party.

Calgary-East: Peter Singh (UCP)

Peter Singh is the MLA-elect for Calgary-East. (Peter Singh/Facebook )

Singh is a Calgary-based business owner who has served as president of Fiji Canada Association and the president of Tavua Fiji Society of Calgary. 

During the campaign, Singh's business was searched by RCMP in connection with police's investigation into allegations of voter fraud during the UCP's 2017 leadership race.

Singh has been adamant that he has done nothing wrong.

Calgary-Elbow: Doug Schweitzer (UCP)

Doug Schweitzer is the MLA-elect for Calgary-Elbow. (Doug Schweitzer campaign)

Schweitzer is a lawyer who ran against Jason Kenney, Brian Jean and Jeff Callaway in the 2017 UCP leadership race. 

He took the seat away from the Alberta Party's Greg Clark, who had been that party's only elected member.

Calgary-Foothills: Jason Luan (UCP)

Jason Luan is the MLA-elect for Calgary-Foothills. (UCP)

Luan, who has a master's degree in social work, worked for many years in public service at the provincial and municipal level as social planner and social worker.

He was elected the legislature for Calgary-Hawkwood in 2012 and 2015 for the Progressive Conservatives (PCs).

Calgary-Fish Creek: Richard Gotfried (UCP)

Richard Gotfried has won the seat of Calgary-Fish Creek. (UCP)

Gotfried was first elected the Legislature in 2015 under Jim Prentice's PCs. He held the seat easily on Tuesday, more than doubling the votes of his NDP rival.

Before entering politics, Gotfried worked in senior executive roles in the building and development industry, and with Calgary Economic Development.

Calgary-Glenmore: Whitney Issik (UCP)

Whitney Issik is MLA-elect for Calgary-Glenmore. (Whitney Issik campaign)

Issik has deep roots in Canadian conservative politics, having served as the national policy co-chair for the federal Progressive Conservative Party, She worked on Jason Kenney's leadership bid for the UCP.

She has run a jewellery story in downtown Calgary for 28 years, her campaign website says.

Calgary-Hays: Ric McIver (UCP)

Ric McIver returns to the Alberta Legislature to represent Calgary-Hays. (UCP)

This is McIver's third successful bid for a seat in the legislature. He held several cabinet posts in the previous Progressive Conservative governments, including Transportation, Infrastructure, as well as Jobs, Skills, Training, and Labour.

McIver was a Calgary alderman for three terms before entering provincial politics.

Calgary-Klein: Jeremy Nixon (UCP)

Jeremy Nixon is MLA-elect for Calgary-Klein. (UCP)

Prior to his involvement in provincial politics, Nixon had a 15-year career in non-profit leadership and management, working with organizations such as the Mustard Seed, Canadian Mental Health and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Calgary, his campaign site says.

He was the executive director of the Wildrose Party and later worked on the merger between that party and the PCs to form the UCP. He became executive director of the UCP for a time.

His brother, Jason Nixon, was re-elected in Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre.

Calgary-Lougheed: Jason Kenney (UCP)

Jason Kenney has been re-elected MLA for Calgary Lougheed and is the incoming premier of Alberta. (Chris Wattie/Reuters)

Kenney's win is the culmination of his three-year goal of uniting Alberta's political right and leading his United Conservative Party to a majority election win over NDP.

Kenney served as a member of Parliament in Ottawa from 1997 until 2016, first with the Reform Party, then the Canadian Alliance and finally with the Conservative Party of Canada.

He held several cabinet portfolios, including Citizenship Immigration and Multiculturalism, and National Defence. He was first elected to the Alberta Legislature in 2017 by-election.

Calgary-McCall: Irfan Sabir (NDP)

Irfan Sabir has been re-elected MLA representing Calgary-McCall. (CBC)

Sabir was first elected in 2015 under the NDP banner and served as Rachel Notley's minister of Community and Services, as well as the former Human Services department.

Before entering politics, Sabir practised law with firms specializing in Indigenous legal arbitration and legislation.

Calgary-Mountain View: Kathleen Ganley (NDP)

Kathleen Ganley has been elected MLA for Calgary-Mountain View, a new riding for her. (Kathleen Ganley/Facebook)

Former justice minister Ganley holds one of just three Calgary seats for the NDP. She beat the UCP's Jeremy Wong by a few thousand votes.

The race also saw Liberal Party Leader David Khan lose his bid for a seat in the legislature with a fourth-place showing.

Before entering politics, Ganley worked as a lawyer specializing in labour, employment and human rights. She also holds two bachelor degrees, one in philosophy and the other in psychology.

Calgary-North: Muhammad Yaseen (UCP)

Mohammad Yaseen
Muhammad Yaseen is MLA-elect for Calgary-North. (UCP)

Yaseem has worked in the energy sector for almost four decades, starting out as a field technologist and later earning a master's degree in engineering and an MBA.

"My utmost priority is to build pipelines to attain market access for our natural resources," his campaign website says.

Calgary-North East: Rajan Sawhney (UCP) 

Rajan Sawhney is MLA-elect for Calgary-North East. (UCP)

Sawhney has degrees in political science and economics, as well as an MBA. She has worked in the oil and gas industry for about 20 years in economics and business development, according to her campaign website.

She has been an active community volunteer and fundraiser. 

Calgary-North West: Sonya Savage (UCP)

Sonya Savage is MLA-elect for Calgary-North West. (UCP)

Savage has worked in the pipeline sector for the past 12 years and most recently was the senior director of policy and regulatory affairs at the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association.

She has a master's of law in environment and energy, and worked as a lawyer for 13 years.

She has been active in conservative political circles her whole life, starting from her time as president of PC Youth in the 1980s.

Calgary-Peigan: Tanya Fir (UCP)

Tanya Fir is MLA-elect for Calgary-Peigan. (UCP)

Fir has worked as a human resources advisor in the oil and gas industry for almost two decades, her website says. She volunteers with Calgary Reads.

She won more than twice the number of votes than her closest competitor, the NDP's Joe Pimlott.

Calgary-Shaw: Rebecca Schulz (UCP)

Rebecca Schulz is MLA-elect for Calgary-Shaw. (Rebecca Schultz/Facebook)

Schulz, who holds a master's degree from Johns Hopkins University, has worked in many industries, including education and energy, her website says.

She worked in the office of former Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall.

Calgary-South East: Matt Jones (UCP)

Matt Jones is MLA-elect for Calgary-South East. (Matt Jones campaign)

Jones more than tripled the vote of his NDP challenger, Heather Eddy, to take the Calgary-South East seat. He is an investment banker and a chartered financial analyst.

He became the UCP candidate late in the race after Eva Kiryakos dropped out over a revelation that she had retweeted a story about "Germany's (Muslim) migrant rape crisis" and posted others against transgender bathrooms in Alberta schools. 

Calgary-West: Mike Ellis (UCP)

Mike Ellis has been re-elected in Calgary-West. (UCP)

Mike Ellis spent 12 years as a police officer, earning a Calgary Police Service CPS distinguished service award.

He was elected to the Alberta Legislature in a 2014 by-election to represent Calgary-West.

He served on the Alberta Secretariat for Action on Homelessness.

3 Calgary races still unclear

Three other Calgary races remain too close to call but they lean towards the UCP candidates.

In Calgary-Currie, the UCP's Nicholas Milliken leads NDP incumbent Brian Malkinson by 392 votes.

In Calgary-Falconridge, the UCP's Devinder Toor has a narrow 163-vote edge over the NDP's Parmeet Singh Boparai.

In Calgary-Varsity, Jason Copping of the UCP leads the NDP's Anne McGrath by 790 votes.

Advance polls still being counted may change these results.

With files from John Gibson