Mike Ellis (Canadian politician)

• Nathan Neudorf
• Kaycee Madu

• Politician
• police officer

The Honourable Mike Ellis ECA MLA
Deputy Premier of Alberta
Incumbent
Assumed office June 9, 2023

Michael George Ellis ECA MLA (born January 9, 1973) is a Canadian politician who has represented Calgary-West in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta since 2014, sitting as a member of the Progressive Conservatives and later the United Conservative Party (UCP). Ellis was sworn in as Deputy Premier and Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services in Alberta. Prior to entering politics, he worked as a police officer.

Background

Ellis was born and raised in Calgary, where he was a police sergeant with the Calgary Police Service between 2003 and 2015. ^[1]

He is married with three children. ^[2]

Political career

Ellis was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta in a by-election on October 27, 2014, as a Progressive Conservative (PC). ^[1] He was re-elected in the 2015, 2019, and 2023 provincial elections and has also been the government whip.

He had previously challenged his predecessor, Ken Hughes, in a nomination contest in the same district for the 2012 Alberta general election, ^[3]

Premier Jason Kenney named Ellis as Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions in a 2021 cabinet shuffle. ^[4]

Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services

Ellis was appointed Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services by Premier Danielle Smith on October 24, 2022, upon Smith's victory of the 2022 United Conservative Party leadership election. ^[5]

In December 2022 Ellis updated the Alberta Police Act to include an independent committee that handles complaints made towards police. ^[6]

Ellis has introduced plans to have police carry mandatory body cams. ^[7]

Ellis gave the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT) $4.4 million to combat gang and gun violence. ^[8]

Ellis supported Danielle Smith during her leadership bid, saying she shared his "values for improving public safety." ^[9]

During the 2023 Alberta general election, Ellis joined the far-right Rebel News' hosts Ezra Levant and Sheila Gunn Reid for their live-coverage of the event. ^[10] Ellis continued as Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services in the June 2023 cabinet shuffle. ^[11] In April 2025, the National Police Federation and RCMP Deputy Commissioner Rob Hill said that comments made by Ellis in the Legislative Assembly about the state of rural policing misled the public. ^{[12] [13]}

Deputy Premier of Alberta

Following the defeat of Kaycee Madu in the 2023 Alberta general election and the cabinet reshuffling of Nathan Neudorf, Ellis was sworn in as the sole Deputy Premier of Alberta on June 9, 2023, replacing both Madu and Neudorf, who had served jointly as Deputy Premier of Alberta under Premier Danielle Smith from October 24, 2022 until June 9, 2023. ^{[11] [14]}

Election results

v t e 2023 Alberta general election : Calgary-West
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	United Conservative	Mike Ellis	12,793	56.67	-9.44
	New Democratic	Joan Chand'oiseau	9,468	41.94	+16.48
	Green	Jason McKee	313	1.39	–
Total			22,574	99.15	–
Rejected and declined			193	0.85
Turnout			22,767	66.25
Eligible voters			34,363
	United Conservative hold		Swing		-12.96
Source(s) Source: Elections Alberta [15]

v t e 2019 Alberta general election : Calgary-West
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	United Conservative	Mike Ellis	14,974	66.11	-6.08
	New Democratic	Gulshan Akter	5,768	25.47	-2.34
	Alberta Party	Frank Penkala	1,610	7.11	–
	Liberal	Yasna Oluic-Kovacevic	298	1.32	–
Total			22,651	–	–
Rejected, spoiled and declined			65	40	6
Eligible electors / turnout			32,570	69.76%	13.25%
	United Conservative hold		Swing
Source(s) Source: "26 - Calgary-West, 2019 Alberta general election". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta . Retrieved May 21, 2020.

v t e 2015 Alberta general election : Calgary-West
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Mike Ellis	8,312	46.79%	2.50%
	New Democratic	Mizanur Rahman	4,940	27.81%	24.72%
	Wildrose	Gerard Lucyshyn	4,512	25.40%	-16.18%
Total			17,764	–	–
Rejected, spoiled and declined			75	20	22
Eligible electors / turnout			31,604	56.51%	20.78%
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing
Source(s) Source: "27 - Calgary-West, 2015 Alberta general election". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta . Retrieved May 21, 2020.

v t e Alberta provincial by-election, October 27, 2014: Calgary-West Resignation of Ken Hughes on September 26, 2014
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Mike Ellis	4,836	44.29	−5.56
	Wildrose	Sheila Taylor	4,530	41.58	+4.25
	Liberal	David Khan	927	8.51	+1.05
	New Democratic	Brian Malkinson	337	3.09	+0.08
	Alberta Party	Troy Millington	264	2.42	+1.45
Total			10,894	—	—
Rejected, spoiled and declined			17	7	1
Eligible electors / turnout			30,541	35.73	—
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		−
Source(s) Alberta. Chief Electoral Officer (2015). Report on the October 27, 2014 By-elections in: Calgary-Elbow, Calgary-Foothills, Calgary-West, Edmonton-Whitemud (PDF) (Report). Edmonton: Legislative Assembly of Alberta; Chief Electoral Officer. ISBN   978-098653678-6 . Retrieved April 20, 2021.

References

1. "Calgary-West elects PC Party's Mike Ellis". CBC News, October 27, 2014.
2. "Calgary-West: The issues, the candidates". Calgary Sun , October 25, 2014.
3. "Mike Ellis out of second PC party Calgary-West contest" Archived 2014-10-28 at the Wayback Machine . Calgary Herald , February 21, 2012.
4. von Scheel, Elise; Bellefontaine, Michelle (July 8, 2021). "Alberta Premier Jason Kenney shuffles his cabinet". CBC News .
5. "Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services". www.alberta.ca. Retrieved 2023-03-22.
6. "Alberta to create Police Review Commission for misconduct investigations, still finalizing RCMP participation". Edmonton. 2022-12-08. Retrieved 2023-03-22.
7. Cummings, Medeleine (March 14, 2023). "Body-worn cameras to be mandatory for all police officers in Alberta, province says".
8. "Alberta announces $4M in police funding to address gangs, gun violence".
9. Green, Arthur C. (21 September 2022). "Smith endorsed by MLA Ellis from Calgary West". Western Standard. Retrieved 2023-03-22.
10. "MLA Mike Ellis joins Rebel News' Live Coverage of Alberta Election Night". YouTube . 30 May 2023.
11. "Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services". www.alberta.ca. Retrieved 2023-06-10.
12. "RCMP association slams Alberta Public Safety Minister". Red Deer Advocate. 2025-04-14. Retrieved 2025-05-08.
13. "RCMP joins police union in accusing Alberta public safety minister of spreading misinformation | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Retrieved 2025-05-08.
14. @MikeEllisUCP (June 9, 2023). "I am incredibly honoured and privileged to be appointed as Deputy Premier and to continue the important work as Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services. I look forward to rolling up my sleeves with this cabinet and getting to work for all Albertans! #ableg" (Tweet). Retrieved 2023-06-10– via Twitter.
15. "26 - Calgary-West". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta . Retrieved June 8, 2023.