Stony Plain

Stony Plain is a provincial electoral district located west of Edmonton in the Parkland region. The riding encompasses the town of Stony Plain, portions of Spruce Grove, and surrounding parts of Parkland County. The area has experienced steady population growth as part of the Edmonton metropolitan region, with the town of Stony Plain reaching approximately 16,000 residents by 2015. Heading into the election, the riding had been held by Progressive Conservatives since 1971, with incumbent Ken Lemke seeking a second term. The broader political landscape was unsettled, as the oil price crash that began in late 2014 had shaken confidence in the long-governing PC dynasty, and the Wildrose opposition had been destabilized by Danielle Smith's December 2014 floor-crossing to the PCs.

Candidates

Erin Babcock (NDP) — Babcock was a licensed practical nurse who had worked in both Saskatchewan and Alberta before entering politics. She ran as the NDP candidate in Stony Plain, seeking to unseat the PC incumbent in a riding the party had never won.

Ken Lemke (Progressive Conservative) — Lemke served as the incumbent MLA for Stony Plain, first elected in 2012. Before entering provincial politics, he had a long career in Stony Plain municipal government, serving as a town councillor beginning in 1995 and then as mayor of Stony Plain from 2007 to 2012.

Kathy Rondeau (Wildrose) — Rondeau ran as the Wildrose candidate in the riding, competing in a three-way race with the NDP and PCs.

Mike Hanlon (Liberal), Sandy Simmie (Alberta Party), and Matt Burnett (Green Party) also sought the seat.

Local Issues

The oil price collapse that began in late 2014 was a defining issue for Stony Plain and the broader Parkland region. With West Texas Intermediate crude falling from over $107 per barrel in June 2014 to below $50 by early 2015, communities in the Edmonton commuter belt felt the economic chill as oilfield service workers faced layoffs and reduced hours. Local businesses dependent on the spending power of energy-sector workers saw declining revenues.

Infrastructure and services in the fast-growing communities of Stony Plain and Spruce Grove were also pressing concerns. The area needed new schools to keep pace with population growth, and multiple school construction projects were underway or planned. Health care access was a perennial issue for residents of the western Edmonton suburbs, who often had to travel into the city for specialized services.

The Prentice government's March 2015 budget added fuel to local discontent. The budget proposed reintroducing health care premiums for Albertans earning over $50,000 annually, along with cuts to post-secondary education funding. For a working-class commuter community like Stony Plain, these measures hit close to home. The combination of economic anxiety over oil prices, frustration with the PC government's austerity measures, and anger over the Wildrose floor-crossing created a volatile political environment in a riding that had been reliably conservative for over four decades.