Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills

Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills spans the agricultural heartland of south-central Alberta, taking in Kneehill County and parts of Mountain View County. The riding's population centres — Olds, Didsbury, Carstairs, Three Hills, Trochu, Crossfield, and several smaller towns — sit amid some of the province's most productive grain and cattle country. Nathan Cooper, who first won the seat for the Wildrose Party in 2015 and then transitioned to the UCP, was elected Speaker of the Legislative Assembly in 2019, a role that required him to serve as a non-partisan presiding officer rather than a traditional constituency advocate. He sought a third term in 2023 with the expectation of returning to the Speaker's chair.

Candidates

Nathan Cooper (United Conservative) — The incumbent MLA, first elected in 2015 and serving as Speaker of the Legislative Assembly since 2019. A lifelong Carstairs resident, Cooper had previously served two terms on town council and worked as chief of staff for the Wildrose Official Opposition. As Speaker, he presided over a legislature that saw heightened tensions during the COVID-19 pandemic, including protests on the legislature grounds and contentious debates over public health orders.

Cheryl Hunter Loewen (NDP) — A lawyer born in Didsbury and raised in Carstairs who had worked as a volunteer clinic lawyer for the Edmonton Community Legal Centre. Hunter Loewen served on the board of Athabasca University and as an Alberta Citizens' Appeal Panel member. She campaigned on education and healthcare priorities.

Local Issues

The COVID-19 pandemic and the UCP government's management of public health restrictions generated sharp divisions within this deeply conservative riding between 2019 and 2023. Anti-lockdown sentiment was strong in rural Alberta, and protests at the legislature — over which Cooper presided as Speaker — reflected broader frustrations with masking requirements, vaccine mandates, and business closures. Some constituents felt the government had gone too far with restrictions, while others criticized the speed of reopening. The tensions contributed to Jason Kenney's leadership review loss in May 2022 and reverberated through rural ridings like Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills.

Agriculture faced a severe test in 2021 when drought conditions across the prairies devastated crops and forced ranchers to reduce herds or purchase feed at inflated prices. Parts of Kneehill County and Mountain View County declared agricultural disasters. The drought, followed by rising input costs for fertilizer and fuel in 2022, squeezed farm margins and reinforced the sector's vulnerability to climate variability. Olds College, a key institution for agricultural research and education in the riding, continued to play an important role in developing innovations like precision agriculture and carbon sequestration techniques.

Healthcare access in rural communities was another concern. Family physician shortages left several towns without a full-time doctor, and residents relied on emergency departments that occasionally faced temporary closures due to staffing gaps. The riding's distance from major hospitals in Red Deer or Calgary made local healthcare infrastructure a matter of urgency for voters, regardless of political stripe.