Livingstone-Macleod

Stretching across Alberta's southwestern corner from the foothills ranching country to the prairie flatlands, Livingstone-Macleod is anchored by communities including High River, Claresholm, Fort Macleod, Pincher Creek, the Crowsnest Pass, Black Diamond, and Turner Valley. The Piikani First Nation and vast tracts of ranchland define much of the riding's character. First-term MLA Roger Reid, who won for the UCP in 2019, chose not to seek re-election in November 2022, setting the stage for a contested nomination that saw controversy when the initial UCP nominee, Nadine Wellwood, was disqualified by the party after past social media posts comparing vaccine mandates to the Nazi regime surfaced. A second nomination race followed, producing Chelsae Petrovic as the UCP standard-bearer.

Candidates

Chelsae Petrovic (United Conservative) — A nurse with over thirteen years of healthcare experience and the mayor of Claresholm at the time of her nomination. Petrovic won a do-over UCP nomination vote in March 2023 after the party disqualified the original nominee. She campaigned on healthcare access, rural infrastructure, and representing the riding's agricultural communities.

Kevin Van Tighem (NDP) — A retired Parks Canada official whose career included seven years in Waterton, eight years in Jasper, and four years as superintendent of Banff National Park. An author of fourteen books on nature, conservation, and western Canadian landscapes, Van Tighem had spent three decades living in the Livingstone-Macleod area. He was active with the Livingstone Landowners Group, which opposed coal mining exploration on the eastern slopes of the Rockies.

Kevin Todd (Alberta Party) — The Alberta Party candidate for Livingstone-Macleod in the 2023 election.

Local Issues

Coal mining on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains became the most volatile issue in Livingstone-Macleod between 2019 and 2023. In May 2020, then-Environment Minister Jason Nixon rescinded the 1976 Coal Policy that had restricted surface mining in the most sensitive mountain and foothills zones. The decision triggered a backlash from ranchers, conservationists, and municipal leaders across southwestern Alberta who feared damage to watersheds, selenium contamination of waterways, and disruption of grazing lands. The Livingstone Landowners Group organized opposition and commissioned studies on water quality impacts. Although the UCP government reinstated protections and imposed a moratorium on new coal exploration in 2022, trust had been damaged, and the issue remained a potent campaign topic.

Healthcare access in rural communities was a persistent concern. Ambulance response times in far-flung parts of the riding, physician shortages in smaller towns, and the pandemic-era strain on hospitals fuelled anxiety about the sustainability of rural medical services. The closure or reduced hours of rural emergency departments across Alberta during this period heightened these worries for residents who depended on facilities in Fort Macleod, Pincher Creek, and the Crowsnest Pass.

The riding's ranching and agricultural economy contended with drought conditions in 2021 that forced producers to sell livestock early, followed by high input costs for feed, fuel, and fertilizer in 2022. Inflation and interest rate increases added financial pressure to family farming operations that had already weathered the disruptions of COVID-19. Land-use tensions between recreational access, conservation, and resource extraction continued to shape the political landscape in a riding where competing visions for the foothills remained unresolved.