MLA Tracy Allard announces she won’t seek reelection in the spring

Grande Prairie UCP MLA Tracy Allard announced Saturday that she will not be seeking reelection in the spring.

Allard made the announcement in a letter to her constituents that was posted on her social media. In the letter, she also publicly announced she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in March 2020 — right as the COVID-19 pandemic commenced.

She said the neurodegenerative disease is something she is managing, but does not align with the lifestyle of a political politician.

“I have decided not to seek reelection and to step away from the public life to focus on my health and my family,” Allard said in the letter.

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Allard did not have the smoothest stay in office. She received public backlash and lost her position as municipal affairs minister, after taking a trip to Hawaii against pandemic travel regulations two years ago

She was then quietly appointed parliamentary secretary of civil liberties by Premier Danielle Smith in December.

Allard said it has been a “tremendous honour” to serve the Grande Prairie community since she took office in 2019.