Calgary-Hays

Calgary-Hays occupies the city's deep southeast, anchored by the established suburban communities of McKenzie Lake, McKenzie Towne, and Douglasdale-Douglas Glen, along with the mixed-use Quarry Park development that transformed a former gravel extraction site into one of south Calgary's most dynamic employment and residential centres. The riding had been a reliable conservative stronghold since its creation, and veteran politician Ric McIver, first elected to the seat in 2012, was seeking his fourth consecutive term in the legislature.

Candidates

Ric McIver (United Conservative)* — One of the most experienced politicians in the Alberta legislature, McIver served three terms on Calgary city council before entering provincial politics. Under Premier Kenney, he held the Transportation portfolio and later served as Minister of Municipal Affairs, a role he retained under Premier Danielle Smith. His decades of public service made him one of the few UCP MLAs with continuous involvement in Alberta politics stretching back to the early 2000s.

Andrew Stewart (NDP) — A criminal defence lawyer who ran his own practice, Stewart also supported law students through a non-profit charity that provided year-round free legal services for those unable to afford representation.

Evelyn Tanaka (Green Party) — Tanaka carried the Green Party banner in Calgary-Hays, providing a third option in one of the city's most reliably conservative ridings.

Local Issues

Quarry Park's evolution from industrial brownfield to bustling mixed-use community continued to reshape the riding's southeastern corner. By 2023, the neighbourhood housed thousands of residents alongside major corporate office tenants, a YMCA, a public library, and an expanding array of retail and dining options. The third tower of the deVille residential complex was nearing occupancy, and planning was underway to connect Riverstone Road to 24 Street SE in anticipation of a future Green Line LRT station. However, the Green Line's repeated scope reductions and cost overruns cast doubt on whether the promised transit connection would materialize on any predictable timeline.

Traffic congestion on Deerfoot Trail remained the riding's perennial infrastructure headache. McKenzie Towne and McKenzie Lake residents commuting northward into downtown Calgary faced chronic bottlenecks, and the southeast Bus Rapid Transit line along 17 Avenue SE, while operational, served areas to the north of the riding's core communities. The UCP government's highway investment priorities focused heavily on provincial corridors, and residents questioned whether urban congestion in Calgary's southeast was receiving adequate attention.

The pandemic and its aftermath shaped the riding's political mood in complex ways. Many households in these communities were tied to the energy sector, and while the oil price recovery of 2021-2022 brought relief after years of downturn, it was accompanied by an inflationary wave that eroded purchasing power. Grocery bills, insurance premiums, and utility costs all climbed. McIver's long track record in municipal and provincial government gave him a local profile that few candidates could match, but voter frustration over healthcare access, with Alberta's family doctor shortage deepening sharply in 2022 and 2023, tested even the most established incumbents.