Lakeland

Re-created during the 2012 redistribution after having existed from 1997 to 2004, Lakeland stretches across east-central Alberta from the outskirts of Edmonton to the Saskatchewan border. The North Saskatchewan River and its tributary, the Vermilion River, flow through the riding. Major communities include the Alberta portion of Lloydminster, Bonnyville, St. Paul, Vermilion, Vegreville, Smoky Lake, and Athabasca.

Candidates

Shannon Stubbs (Conservative) — Born near Chipman, Alberta, in 1979, Stubbs earned a Bachelor of Arts in English and political science from the University of Alberta. During her university years, she interned in the office of Opposition Leader Preston Manning and worked as an assistant to MP Deborah Grey. She later worked in the Alberta provincial government, ran as a Progressive Conservative candidate in Edmonton-Strathcona in the 2004 Alberta election, and subsequently joined the Wildrose Party, serving as leader Danielle Smith's chief of staff from 2010 to 2012 and as the party's director of legislative affairs from 2012 to 2014.

Garry Parenteau (Liberal) — Parenteau served as Oil and Gas Director with the Fishing Lake Metis Settlement and was a public administrator and advocate for Indigenous rights. He campaigned on veterans' services, government accessibility, and support for First Nations communities.

Duane Zaraska (NDP) — Zaraska carried the NDP banner in a riding that encompassed significant Indigenous and Metis communities and where the party hoped to make inroads following the Alberta NDP's 2015 provincial victory.

Danielle Montgomery (Green Party) and Robert George McFadzean (Libertarian) also stood for election.

About the Riding

Lakeland is an agricultural and energy-producing riding whose economy blends grain and cattle farming with conventional oil and gas extraction. The Alberta side of Lloydminster, the riding's largest community, straddles the Saskatchewan border and serves as a regional commercial centre for the surrounding heavy oil producing region. Bonnyville and the surrounding area contribute to in-situ oil sands production. St. Paul, known for its 1967 UFO landing pad tourist attraction, anchors the Metis settlements of the region, while Vegreville is home to a large Ukrainian-Canadian heritage community and the iconic Vegreville Pysanka, a giant Easter egg sculpture. Athabasca, at the riding's northwestern edge, is the site of Athabasca University, Canada's leading open and distance learning institution. The riding includes several First Nations and Metis settlements. Federal issues during the 2015 campaign centred on energy sector regulation and market access, agricultural trade policy, Indigenous services and housing, veterans' affairs, and rural infrastructure investment.