Todd Loewen

Last updated

The Honourable
Todd Loewen
ECA MLA
Todd Loewen.png
Minister of Forestry and Parks
Assumed office
June 9, 2023
Residence Valleyview, Alberta
Occupationbusinessman, farmer

Douglas Todd Loewen ECA MLA (born September 16, 1966) is a Canadian politician and the Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for Central Peace-Notley. Loewen was first elected in 2015 as a member of the Wildrose Party for the electoral district of Grande Prairie-Smoky. [1] [2] [3] [4] He was afterward elected in Central Peace-Notley as a member of the United Conservative Party and briefly sat as an independent [5] until being welcomed back by premier Danielle Smith.

Contents

On June 1, 2022, Loewen registered his candidacy in the 2022 United Conservative Party leadership election, which was held on October 6, 2022. [6] He finished fifth.

Early life

Todd Loewen moved to the Valleyview area at a young age, in 1967, with his parents and two brothers where he lived on a farm and homestead. In 1989, Loewen purchased his own farm and started a small business. [7]

Political career

Todd Loewen first contested a seat in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta in the 2008 Alberta general election in the Grande Prairie-Smoky electoral district as a member of the Wildrose Alliance, finishing third with 13 per cent of the vote behind Progressive Conservative incumbent Mel Knight and Liberal John Croken. Loewen, following his defeat, served as the Northern Director for the Wildrose board for two years and as one of the three members of the board on the Wildrose leadership nominating committee in 2009. [7]

Loewen again stood as the candidate for the renamed Wildrose Party in the 2012 Alberta general election in Grande-Prairie-Smoky finishing second with 41 per cent of the vote behind Progressive Conservative and former Reeve of County of Grande Prairie Everett McDonald who captured 46 per cent of the vote.

In the 2015 Alberta general election Loewen was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for Grande Prairie-Smoky capturing 33 per cent of the vote. Loewen defeated New Democrat candidate Todd Russell (31 per cent) and incumbent Everett McDonald. [8] After the election, Loewen was appointed as the Official Opposition's critic for Environment and Parks, a position he retained when the Wildrose Party merged with the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta in 2017 to form the United Conservative Party (UCP). During the 29th Legislature Loewen came under public scrutiny when he insinuated New Democrat Rod Loyola received illegal election contributions from South America. [9]

Loewen was elected in the newly formed Central Peace-Notley electoral district in the 2019 Alberta general election capturing 75 per cent of the vote, defeating former New Democrat Minister of Energy Marg McCuaig-Boyd to sit in the 30th Legislature. [10]

In February 2021, Loewen argued for a regional based reopening strategy during the end of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Alberta. [11] In April 2021, Loewen was one of 18 United Conservative members to sign an open letter to Premier Jason Kenney criticizing public health measures aimed to reduce the spread of COVID-19. [12] On May 13, 2021 Loewen posted an open letter calling for Premier Jason Kenney to resign, and in the letter Loewen resigned his position as caucus chair, but did not resign from the United Conservative Party. Loewen's letter criticized Kenney's government for weak negotiations with the federal government, ignoring caucus members, delivering contradictory messages, failures in negotiations with doctors over billing, and the controversy regarding coal mining in the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains. [13] [14]

On May 13, 2021, Loewen and fellow UCP MLA Drew Barnes were kicked out of the UCP caucus by a caucus-wide vote after both criticized the government response to COVID-19. [5]

On June 1, 2022, Loewen registered his candidacy in the 2022 United Conservative Party leadership election, which was scheduled for October 6, 2022. [6]

On October 6, 2022, Loewen received 7.7% of the vote. A total of 6,496 votes were cast for him in the 2022 United Conservative Party leadership election. The following day, he was readmitted into the UCP caucus. [15]

Electoral history

2008 general election

2008 Alberta general election : Grande Prairie-Smoky
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Progressive Conservative Mel Knight 4,76959.43%3.01%
Liberal John A. Croken1,08913.57%-11.81%
Wildrose Alliance Todd Loewen 1,04913.07%–
New Democratic Neil R.M. Peacock83210.37%1.02%
Green Rebecca Villebrun2853.55%–
Total8,024––
Rejected, spoiled and declined31––
Eligible electors / turnout27,05829.77%-5.41%
Progressive Conservative hold Swing 7.41%
Source(s)
Source: The Report on the March 3, 2008 Provincial General Election of the Twenty-seventh Legislative Assembly. Elections Alberta. July 28, 2008. pp.  424–429.

2012 general election

2012 Alberta general election : Grande Prairie-Smoky
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Progressive Conservative Everett McDonald 5,45845.79%-13.64%
Wildrose Todd Loewen 4,91241.21%28.14%
New Democratic Mary Dahr7576.35%-4.02%
Liberal Kevin McLean5834.89%-8.68%
Independent Andrew Muise2091.75%–
Total11,919––
Rejected, spoiled and declined34––
Eligible electors / turnout28,12642.50%12.73%
Progressive Conservative hold Swing -20.64%
Source(s)
Source: "Grande Prairie-Smoky Official Results 2012 Alberta general election". Elections Alberta . Retrieved May 21, 2020.

2015 general election

2015 Alberta general election : Grande Prairie-Smoky
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Wildrose Todd Loewen 5,34333.17%-8.04%
New Democratic Todd Russell5,00931.10%24.75%
Progressive Conservative Everett McDonald 4,96830.84%-14.95%
Liberal Kevin McLean7874.89%-0.01%
Total16,107––
Rejected, spoiled and declined42––
Eligible electors / turnout32,93049.04%6.54%
Wildrose gain from Progressive Conservative Swing -1.25%
Source(s)
Source: "Grande Prairie-Smoky Official Results 2015 Alberta general election". Elections Alberta . Retrieved May 21, 2020.

2019 general election

2019 Alberta general election : Central Peace-Notley
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
United Conservative Todd Loewen 10,68075.17%10.31%
New Democratic Margaret McCuaig-Boyd 2,77019.50%-15.66%
Alberta Party Travis McKim6514.58%–
Liberal Wayne F. Meyer1060.75%–
Total14,207––
Rejected, spoiled and declined55378
Eligible electors / turnout19,74572.46%–
United Conservative notional hold Swing +17.8%
Source(s)
Source: "55 - Central Peace-Notley, 2019 Alberta general election". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta . Retrieved May 21, 2020.

2023 general election

2023 Alberta general election : Central Peace-Notley
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
United Conservative Todd Loewen 9,28077.68+2.51
New Democratic Megan Ciurysek2,21618.55-0.95
Alberta Independence Rodney Bowen2381.99–
Alberta Party Lynn Lekisch1661.39-3.19
Solidarity Movement Nancy O'Neill460.39–
Total11,94699.42–
Rejected and declined700.58
Turnout12,01658.53
Eligible voters20,529
United Conservative hold Swing +1.73
Source(s)
Source: Elections Alberta [16]

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References

  1. ↑ Klinkenberg, Marty; Stolte, Elise (May 8, 2015). "Fresh faces in the Wildrose Opposition". Edmonton Journal . Archived from the original on May 19, 2015. Retrieved May 19, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Live Alberta election results 2015: Real-time results in the provincial election | Globalnews.ca". Archived from the original on 2019-07-31. Retrieved 2015-05-06.
  3. ↑ "GP-Smoky Wildrose Party Candidate Profile: Todd Loewen". Daily Herald Tribune. April 30, 2015. Archived from the original on May 18, 2015. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  4. ↑ Rinne, Fred (May 6, 2015). "Winds of change in the Peace". Daily Herald Tribune. Archived from the original on May 18, 2015. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  5. 1 2 "Drew Barnes & Todd Loewen expelled from UCP Caucus". Western Standard. May 13, 2021. Archived from the original on May 14, 2021. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  6. 1 2 Junker, Anna (2022-06-01). "Independent MLA Todd Loewen enters UCP leadership race". The Edmonton Journal. Archived from the original on 2022-06-02. Retrieved 2022-06-15.
  7. 1 2 "Todd Loewen Wildrose candidate". Fox Creek Times. November 9, 2011. ProQuest   903610252.
  8. ↑ Fisher, Erica (May 11, 2015). "Wildrose MLA Todd Loewen plans to keep government honest". My Grande Prairie Now. Archived from the original on March 1, 2021. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  9. ↑ "Wildrose MLA stands by 'disrespectful' remark about Rod Loyola". CBC News . June 1, 2017. Archived from the original on May 31, 2021. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  10. ↑ Shokeir, Peter (April 17, 2019). "'A resounding vote': UCP's Loewen wins in Central Peace-Notley". Daily Herald Tribune. Archived from the original on May 14, 2021. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  11. ↑ Lumsden, Michael (February 9, 2021). "MLA Loewen pushing for regional reopening strategy". My Grande Prairie Now. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  12. ↑ Lumsden, Michael (April 7, 2021). "Allard, Loewen among MLAs calling for new restrictions to be dropped". My Grande Prairie Now. Archived from the original on April 19, 2021. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
  13. ↑ Bennett, Dean (May 13, 2021). "'We did not unite around blind loyalty to one man': Jason Kenney faces internal call to quit". CBC News . The Canadian Press. Archived from the original on May 13, 2021. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  14. ↑ Penner, Shaun (May 13, 2021). "MLA Loewen stepping down as UCP caucus chair, calls for Kenney to resign". Everything GP. Archived from the original on May 13, 2021. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  15. ↑ "Member Information". www.assembly.ab.ca. Archived from the original on 2022-10-14. Retrieved 2023-04-16.
  16. ↑ "55 - Central Peace-Notley". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta . Retrieved June 9, 2023.
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