Several candidates from both the UCP and the Alberta NDP have temporarily suspended their election campaigns as a result of the wildfires sweeping through Alberta.
Alberta declared a provincial state of emergency on Saturday evening.
Todd Loewen, the UCP candidate for Central Peace-Notley said on social media he will be temporarily pausing his election campaign.
“A very abnormal 2023 wildfire season has hit our province and continues to threaten our homes and businesses. My mind is not on politics or campaigning at this time.
Additionally, my services are required with Alberta’s Emergency Management Cabinet Committee,” said Loewen, who is the Alberta minister of Forestry, Parks and Tourism.
Andrew Boitchenko, the candidate for the UCP Drayton Valley-Devon riding, also said his campaign would be temporarily suspended.
The Alberta NDP announced that six campaigns are impacted by the Alberta wildfires causing mass evacuations across the province.
The suspensions include the following six Alberta NDP campaigns operating in ridings with active evacuation orders:
- Drayton Valley-Devon
- Lesser Slave Lake
- Central Peace-Notley
- Lac Ste. Anne-Parkland
- West Yellowhead
- Grande Prairie-Wapiti
UCP leader Danielle Smith said at a news conference on Saturday that she requested feedback from Elections Alberta on what to do in the event of a fire or flood during the campaign.
“The feedback that I got is that it would be very unusual to move election day,” Smith said.
“The communities affected would be planning for advanced polls and so I think at this stage it’s a bit early to make any additional call, but the initial feedback I got from Elections Alberta is that they would proceed to make accommodations in the areas that had been affected,” Smith said.
“I will reach out to the leader of the official opposition if things escalate or get worse in the coming weeks to see whether she would offer additional advice,” Smith said.
Political analyst Jason Ribeiro said suspending campaigns as wildfires surge is appropriate, but cancelling the election would be “remarkably unprecedented.”
“We’ve gone through this in the pandemic where accommodations have been made, they’ve shifted to mail-in ballots and, again, we don’t know how large the affected areas are and how many communities will be affected by the time we get to end of May,” he said.
There are a lot of accommodation options that can be made by Elections Alberta “that don’t subvert or suppress democracy,” he said.
“I do think there’s a fine line, especially for candidates or leaders that haven’t experienced or been tested in the way that some of them are about to be. But at the end of the day, leadership has a higher calling.”
Despite calling a state of emergency for the province early Saturday evening, Danielle Smith attended a candidate fundraiser later that night — what Ribeiro said was “a clear call … that shouldn’t have been made.”
“Certainly, she’s trying to walk-back that appearance by saying ‘I’m going to Edmonton and getting to work,’” Ribeiro said. “I do empathize with the trickiness this might pose for some candidates — it doesn’t do away the sympathy and empathy that I have for people who are losing everything right now. And candidates and leaders need to recognize that and there should be no distinction between those two things.
“My bar is pretty high in terms of candidate conduct and party conduct and leader conduct.”
Smith and Notley ‘under extreme scrutiny’, not the time for ‘political football’
Sarah Biggs, a strategist, political commentator and partner with OLSEN + BIGGS Public Affairs, lauds the decision of candidates to temporarily suspend campaigning.
“I think it’s the right thing to do,” said Biggs. “Pausing is not a bad thing. It’s taking a breather for 48 or 72 hours, helping your community. All those candidates are community leaders, and we need to let individuals — men and women — running to be able to go back and help their communities that’s what we need to focus on right now.
Biggs adds that all Albertans are watching how events unfold and any attempt to use the wildfires for “political football” will not go unnoticed.
“The two leaders will be under extreme scrutiny for the next few days, and they are going to have to be mindful of what they are intending or what they are doing.”
Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley and Smith were both at the Edmonton Expo Centre Sunday where many evacuees are seeking shelter.
Smith said she has made sure Notley receives the same updates as she does so that both leaders are on the same page.
“I’ve told her that if she needs any additional information to let us know,” Smith said.
“There’s gonna be a hard campaign that we still have to do, but I think in these next few days we’re just wanting to make sure Albertans know leadership is unified and they get the supports that they need.”
Smith said she suspended her events Sunday to do an assessment on the wildfire situation and find out what people’s needs are.
Notley added a similar sentiment saying she was at the evacuation centre to let people know “the government — regardless of what’s going on with the election — is going to have your back. We’re going to do everything we can to support you and others in your community.”
Notley said she is visiting a few campaign offices to speak with volunteers but will otherwise not be doing any public-facing campaign events.
— With files from Meaghan Archer and Ryan White, Global News