Calgary-Currie

Tucked into Calgary's inner southwest, Calgary-Currie blends established residential streets with one of the city's most active corridors of urban renewal. The riding stretches from the 17th Avenue entertainment and shopping district on its northern edge through the brick-and-stucco bungalows of Killarney-Glengarry, Rutland Park, and South Calgary. Knob Hill and Richmond sit near the centre, while the former Canadian Forces Base Calgary, redeveloped as the mixed-use Currie community, has added hundreds of new homes over the past decade. Bankview, perched above 14th Street, offers apartment living with downtown views. The population includes a cross-section of young professionals, established families, and retirees, with a higher proportion of post-secondary-educated residents than the provincial average. In 2023, UCP incumbent Nicholas Milliken — who had served as Mental Health and Addictions Minister under Premier Smith — faced NDP challenger Janet Eremenko in what became one of Calgary's most closely watched races.

Candidates

Janet Eremenko (NDP) — A lifelong Calgarian with a degree in International Development from the University of Guelph, Eremenko spent over a decade working in social policy and community development, with a focus on poverty reduction. Before the campaign, she worked in fund development for a national charity that provides low-interest loans to help skilled immigrants bridge their foreign credentials. She previously ran as the NDP candidate in Calgary-Elbow in 2019 and sought a Calgary city council seat in 2017, making this her third run for public office.

Nicholas Milliken (United Conservative)* — Elected in 2019 by just 191 votes over NDP incumbent Brian Malkinson, Milliken practised commercial litigation before entering politics. He holds degrees in commerce and law. Premier Kenney appointed him Infrastructure Minister in June 2022, and Premier Smith subsequently named him the province's first full Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, a portfolio that put the government's recovery-oriented approach to the opioid crisis at the centre of public debate.

Local Issues

The opioid crisis and addiction policy were unavoidable topics given Milliken's role as Mental Health and Addictions Minister. The UCP government had championed a recovery-oriented model emphasizing treatment and abstinence-based programs, while the NDP advocated for a broader approach including supervised consumption sites and harm reduction. Overdose deaths in Alberta reached record levels in 2021 and remained elevated through 2022, and residents in inner-city-adjacent communities like Bankview and South Calgary saw the human cost of the crisis in their neighbourhoods.

Densification and housing affordability collided in Calgary-Currie. The Killarney-Glengarry area redevelopment plan, paused in 2018, had not advanced significantly, leaving residents uncertain about the future character of their streets as infill projects continued on a lot-by-lot basis. Meanwhile, the Currie development neared buildout, adding density that some residents welcomed for its walkability and others critiqued for its impact on traffic and parking. Across the riding, rising home prices and rents reflected Calgary's broader housing crunch.

The 17th Avenue corridor's vitality and its challenges were campaign touchpoints. Small businesses along the strip had survived the pandemic but faced rising commercial rents and staffing shortages, while residents on the adjacent residential streets grappled with noise, parking, and the pace of mixed-use redevelopment pushing further into their neighbourhoods.