Central Peace—Notley

Central Peace—Notley is a vast rural riding in northwestern Alberta, covering much of the Peace River Country. It includes the towns of Fairview, Falher, Fox Creek, McLennan, Spirit River, and Valleyview, along with numerous villages and hamlets. The riding takes its name from its location in the central Peace region and from Grant Notley, the Alberta NDP leader who represented the area from 1971 until his death in 1984. The riding is home to significant Francophone communities, particularly around the Smoky River area, and to the Treaty 8 reserves of the Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation, Duncan’s First Nation, and Horse Lake First Nation. Created through redistribution, the 2019 contest pitted two sitting MLAs against each other: NDP Energy Minister Marg McCuaig-Boyd, who had represented Dunvegan—Central Peace—Notley since 2015, and UCP MLA Todd Loewen, who had held Grande Prairie—Smoky since 2015.

Candidates

Todd Loewen (United Conservative) --- Arriving in the Valleyview area in 1967, Loewen went on to buy his own farm in 1989 and built a career as a self-employed farmer, outfitter, and taxidermist. His legislative ambitions began with a third-place finish as a Wildrose Alliance candidate in Grande Prairie-Smoky in 2008, followed by a second-place result in 2012, before he captured the seat in 2015.

Marg McCuaig-Boyd (NDP) — McCuaig-Boyd held a bachelor of education from the University of Alberta and a master’s in administration and leadership from San Diego State University. She spent decades as a teacher and administrator in the Peace River School Division before serving as vice-president of the Fairview Campus of Grande Prairie Regional College. Elected in 2015, she was appointed Minister of Energy in Rachel Notley’s cabinet.

Travis McKim (Alberta Party) — McKim ran as the Alberta Party candidate in the riding.

Wayne F. Meyer (Liberal) — Meyer ran as the Alberta Liberal candidate in Central Peace—Notley.

Local Issues

The Peace Country’s oil and gas sector was under severe pressure heading into the 2019 election. The region’s economy depends heavily on conventional oil and gas extraction, and the combination of low commodity prices, pipeline capacity constraints, and the NDP government’s mandatory production curtailment imposed in January 2019 had created significant economic anxiety. The carbon tax was deeply unpopular in the Peace Country, where it increased costs for agricultural operations, transportation, and heating in a region with long, cold winters.

The Trans Mountain pipeline controversy also reverberated in the riding. Premier Notley had championed the pipeline expansion as essential for Alberta’s economic future, and when the Federal Court of Appeal quashed the project’s approval in August 2018, Notley pulled Alberta out of the national climate-change plan in protest. While the premier’s pipeline advocacy earned some respect locally, many voters in the Peace Country viewed the broader NDP policy framework — including the carbon tax and the Climate Leadership Plan’s emissions cap on the oil sands — as harmful to the energy sector.

The contest between McCuaig-Boyd and Loewen reflected the broader electoral dynamic in rural Alberta. McCuaig-Boyd brought the visibility of a cabinet minister to the riding, with credit for investments in local infrastructure and her advocacy for the energy sector from within government. Loewen, deeply rooted in the Valleyview farming community, argued that the NDP’s policies had damaged the region’s primary industries and that the Peace Country needed representation aligned with a pro-development agenda.