Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre

Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre is a large, predominantly rural riding in west-central Alberta that reaches from the British Columbia border to Gull Lake near Bentley in the east. It encompasses the towns of Rimbey, Rocky Mountain House, Sundre, Eckville, and Bentley, along with extensive forestry and ranching country in the foothills of the Rockies. The riding was created in the 2010 boundary redistribution and first contested in 2012.

The riding's political story heading into 2015 was uniquely colourful. Joe Anglin, a former Alberta Greens leader and anti-transmission-line activist, had won the seat for the Wildrose in 2012 but left the caucus in November 2014 amid internal conflicts. He sought to join the PCs but was denied the nomination, and ultimately ran as an independent. The Wildrose nominated Jason Nixon as its new candidate, and with the NDP and PCs also in the field, the riding saw a four-way race shaped by local personality politics and the broader provincial upheaval.

Candidates

Jason Nixon (Wildrose) — Nixon graduated from the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology with a management diploma in 2011 and later took courses at Athabasca University. He served as executive director of The Mustard Seed, a non-profit organization serving the homeless, from 2006 to 2011. He also founded Nixon Safety Consulting, a workplace safety firm serving clients in construction and resource extraction. Nixon became president of the Wildrose constituency association for the riding in 2013 before winning the party's nomination.

Tammy Coté (Progressive Conservative) — Coté ran as the PC candidate in the riding.

Hannah Schlamp (NDP) — Schlamp was the NDP candidate.

Joe Anglin (Independent) — Anglin was born in Massachusetts and served in the United States Marine Corps before moving to Canada, where he obtained citizenship in 1995 and served in the Canadian Coast Guard for six years. He founded ASIG Inc., an international financial services firm specializing in derivatives and energy contracts. From 2006 to 2010, he organized and led the Lavesta Area Group, a coalition of southern Alberta landowners opposing a 500 kV electricity transmission line through their communities. He led the Alberta Greens from 2008 until the party's dissolution in 2009, then joined the Wildrose and won the riding in 2012 before leaving the caucus in late 2014.

Local Issues

The forestry and oil and gas sectors that underpinned the riding's economy were both under pressure heading into 2015. The collapse in oil prices that began in late 2014 led to layoffs and project cancellations that affected workers and businesses throughout the region, particularly in Rocky Mountain House and surrounding communities where energy services employment was concentrated.

Electricity transmission policy was a particularly charged issue in the riding, given Joe Anglin's high-profile career as an opponent of the government's approach to major power line construction. Rural landowners across the riding had been engaged in debates over transmission corridors, property rights, and the provincial government's use of the Electric Statutes Amendment Act (Bill 50) to approve major infrastructure projects without traditional public hearings.

Rural services, including health care access, road maintenance, and school funding, were persistent concerns. Residents in smaller communities worried about hospital closures and physician shortages, and the long distances to specialist care in Red Deer or Edmonton added to the sense that rural Alberta was being underserved by the provincial government.