Calgary Shepard

Calgary Shepard occupies the city's southeastern quadrant, created through the 2012 redistribution from parts of the former Calgary East and Calgary Southeast ridings. Named for the historic hamlet of Shepard east of the city, the riding stretches from the established community of Acadia in the north through the master-planned suburbs of McKenzie Towne, New Brighton, and Copperfield, and south to the newer lake communities of Auburn Bay and Mahogany. By 2015, several of these developments were still under active construction, making Shepard one of Calgary's fastest-growing ridings.

Candidates

Tom Kmiec (Conservative) — Born in Gdansk, Poland, Kmiec immigrated to Canada as a child and was raised in Quebec, attending French-language schools under the province's Bill 101 framework. He earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Concordia University and a master's degree in American government from Regent University in Virginia. Before seeking election, he worked as manager of policy and research at the Calgary Chamber of Commerce.

Jerome James (Liberal) — An engineer at SNC-Lavalin, James was a Calgary resident who volunteered with the Global Shapers community and the World Partnership Walk, and was an advocate for international development and evidence-based policy.

Dany Allard (NDP) — An information technology professional who had worked with oil and gas companies in Calgary, Allard lived in south Calgary with his wife and daughter. He volunteered with Brown Bagging for Calgary's Kids and the Calgary Folk Club.

Also running was Graham MacKenzie (Green Party).

About the Riding

McKenzie Towne, one of the riding's anchor communities, was developed beginning in the mid-1990s as a new urbanist experiment with a traditional town centre, grid-pattern streets, and a commercial high street modelled on small-town Alberta. Communities farther south — New Brighton, Copperfield, Auburn Bay, and Mahogany — followed a more conventional suburban layout centred on private lakes and homeowners' associations. The riding's northern tier includes Acadia and Fairview, older neighbourhoods built in the 1960s with bungalows and walk-up apartments. The Deerfoot Trail freeway runs along the riding's western edge, connecting residents to downtown, while 130th Avenue SE emerged as a secondary commercial corridor with big-box retail. The South Health Campus, opened in 2012 near the riding's western boundary, provided the area's first major hospital. Calgary Shepard reflected the diversity of Calgary's newer suburban growth. In 2015, the oil-price downturn and its ripple effects on construction, retail, and professional services employment were top-of-mind concerns for many residents.