Lac Ste. Anne—Parkland

A rural riding northwest of Edmonton encompassing all of Lac Ste. Anne County and portions of Parkland County, this constituency takes in communities including Mayerthorpe, Sangudo, Alberta Beach, Onoway, and Darwell. The landscape is a patchwork of mixed farmland, boreal forest, and lake country, with Lac Ste. Anne itself serving as both a recreational draw and a site of deep spiritual significance for Indigenous peoples, particularly the annual pilgrimage that brings tens of thousands of visitors to the lake each summer. The local economy blends agriculture, forestry, and oil and gas servicing with a growing number of acreage residents who commute to Edmonton or Spruce Grove. Incumbent MLA Shane Getson, who defeated former NDP Agriculture Minister Oneil Carlier in 2019, sought re-election in a rematch against Carlier.

Candidates

Shane Getson (United Conservative) — A NAIT-trained civil engineering technologist with fifteen years of experience managing pipeline and linear infrastructure construction projects, Getson won the riding in 2019 and spent his first term focused on transportation infrastructure, rural broadband, and advocacy for the energy and construction sectors. He served as a government backbencher and was vocal on issues related to pipeline construction and rural economic development.

Oneil Carlier (NDP) — A former Saskatchewan farm kid from Val Marie, Carlier worked for two decades as a geotechnical technician with the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration before moving to Alberta in 2002 to represent the Public Service Alliance of Canada. He was elected MLA for Whitecourt—Ste. Anne in 2015 and served as Minister of Agriculture and Forestry in the Notley government. After losing to Getson in 2019, he sought the NDP nomination again in early 2022 to attempt a comeback.

Local Issues

Rural health care access was the dominant concern in a riding where residents often travel significant distances to reach medical facilities. The nearest full-service hospitals are in Whitecourt, Westlock, and the Edmonton region, and residents in communities like Mayerthorpe and Sangudo worried about the province-wide pattern of emergency department closures due to staffing shortages. The campaign to bring a dialysis unit to Whitecourt, which had been an issue in 2019, continued, and broader physician recruitment challenges left many residents without a family doctor.

The 2019–2023 period saw continued tension over energy and resource development in the riding. Pipeline construction projects brought employment but also environmental and land-use debates. The forestry sector, important to communities connected to mills in Whitecourt and beyond, faced uncertainty from softwood lumber trade disputes with the United States and shifting timber supply allocation policies. Getson's background in pipeline construction and his advocacy for streamlined project approvals appealed to the riding's resource-sector workers, while Carlier pointed to his cabinet experience and relationships with rural communities as assets.

Broadband internet access remained a practical frustration for rural residents and agricultural producers who depended on connectivity for precision farming, market access, and daily life. The pandemic had exposed the digital divide between urban and rural Alberta, and both candidates acknowledged the need for investment in rural telecommunications infrastructure. Road maintenance, particularly the condition of secondary highways connecting the riding's scattered communities, was another perennial concern.