ATHABASCA/BARRHEAD/WESTLOCK – Incumbent MLA Glenn van Dijken will once again run as the United Conservative Party (UCP) candidate for the Athabasca-Barrhead-Westlock constituency in the upcoming 2023 election, having narrowly defeated challenger Isaac Skuban in the two-day nomination contest held on Dec. 9-10.
According to the UCP website, voting took place at four different polling stations set up in Smoky Lake and Athabasca on Friday, and Barrhead and Westlock on Saturday.
Though the final results have yet to be confirmed by the party, a total of 947 votes were reportedly cast over the two days, with van Dijken receiving 500 and Skuban receiving 447.
In an interview on Dec. 11, van Dijken acknowledged that it was “a fairly hotly-contested race” but he was thankful to all those who volunteered to help his campaign and all those who came to vote.
“I look forward to representing our United Conservative Party in the next provincial election in May 2023,” he said.
It is worth noting that this is the first time van Dijken has faced a challenger for the local UCP nomination since 2018, when he defeated Thorhild farmer Monty Bauer by claiming 70 per cent of the 891 ballots cast in what was then the newly formed riding of Athabasca-Barrhead-Westlock.
His challenger this time around – Skuban – has served as the Division 5 councillor for Westlock County since 2019. He is also studying political science and economic studies at the University of Alberta and has sat on the board of the local UCP constituency association.
The Barrhead Leader was unable to reach Skuban prior to publication deadlines, but when he first announced his candidacy earlier this year, he indicated he was seeking the nomination because of the divisions within the party.
“What pushed me to run is seeing the conservative movement slowly decrease in the polls and seeing the internal struggle happen within the party. I know I can speak up and be effective,” he said.
“I just think what’s happening in the party right now wouldn’t have happened if we had different people in the mix. I think we’re going to see a lot of nominations challenged across the province.”
That prediction turned out to be prescient, as a number of incumbents were indeed challenged over the past year.
van Dijken pointed out that the incumbents in Innisfail-Sylvan Lake, Red Deer North and Wetaskiwin-Camrose all contended with very close contests, while Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo MLA Tany Yao lost his nomination race to challenger Zulkifl Mujahid.
“It’s all been very close, and I think part of that is a reflection of the … frustration amongst the members with regards to COVID response,” he said, noting that the issue had also been raised in his communications with UCP members.
van Dijken acknowledged that anything involving COVID restrictions has been very polarizing, and as a result, it has not been easy “for anyone in elected office” to try and work through the pandemic. However, it was now time to heal some of those fractures within society.
When asked if the close result prompted any concern about the upcoming election, van DIjken said the UCP government ran in 2019 on a platform of around 275 commitments and over 90 per cent of them have been completed.
He said the UCP will be able to demonstrate that successful record of achievements in the 2023 election and also come up with a new platform of what they intend to accomplish over the next four years.
“Alberta is in a very good spot right now, especially in our region. We have all four main industries – agriculture, energy, forestry and tourism – doing quite well,” he said.
“We have turned a corner, and I believe Alberta is in a very good position for growth in the future.”
-with files from Les Dunford and George Blais
