Drayton Valley—Devon

Drayton Valley—Devon sat in west-central Alberta, stretching from the Town of Devon on the southwestern outskirts of Edmonton to the Town of Drayton Valley roughly 130 kilometres to the southwest. The riding straddled the Pembina oilfield, one of Alberta's oldest and most productive conventional oil plays, making the local economy heavily dependent on the energy sector. Incumbent PC MLA Diana McQueen had served as a cabinet minister under both Alison Redford and Jim Prentice, holding portfolios including Environment and Water, Energy, and Municipal Affairs. Her high profile made the riding a test of whether cabinet credentials could withstand the anti-PC tide.

Candidates

Mark Smith (Wildrose) — Born in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Smith earned a bachelor of education degree from the University of Alberta and spent thirty years teaching social studies at Frank Maddock High School in Drayton Valley. He was involved in his community through the Calvary Baptist Church in Drayton Valley, where he served on the board for many years. He first became politically engaged with the creation of the Reform Party of Canada in 1987.

Diana McQueen (Progressive Conservative) — McQueen was first elected in 2008 in the predecessor riding of Drayton Valley—Calmar, after serving as mayor of Drayton Valley from 2001 to 2008. Before entering municipal politics she had worked for Amoco Canada. As an MLA she held several cabinet posts: Minister of Environment and Water under Redford, then Minister of Energy, and finally Minister of Municipal Affairs under Prentice. In March 2015, she was given added responsibility for the province's climate change file.

Katherine Swampy (NDP) — Swampy carried the NDP banner in a riding where the party had not traditionally been competitive.

Connie Jensen (Alberta Party) — Jensen ran for the Alberta Party in the riding.

Jennifer R Roach (Green Party) — Roach carried the Green Party banner.

Local Issues

The oil price collapse hit Drayton Valley with devastating force. The town of roughly 7,000 people was deeply reliant on the surrounding Pembina oilfield, and when prices crashed in late 2014, oilfield service companies slashed operations. Local trucking firms reported operating at a fraction of normal capacity, and layoffs rippled through the community. Families that had relied on high-paying oilfield jobs saw their incomes vanish seemingly overnight, and local businesses that depended on oilfield spending felt the downstream effects.

Devon, closer to Edmonton, was somewhat more insulated due to its commuter population, but the town had its own ties to the energy sector and was not immune to the downturn. Across the riding, the collapse underscored long-standing concerns about economic diversification and whether the provincial government had done enough to insulate Alberta from commodity price swings.

Health care services and infrastructure spending were also on voters' minds. Rural communities between Devon and Drayton Valley relied on small-town facilities for primary care, and physician recruitment remained a challenge. Road maintenance on the highways connecting these communities was a perennial concern, particularly given the heavy truck traffic associated with the oil and gas industry.