Voters in the southern Alberta federal riding of Macleod, which includes High River and other communities severely damaged in the flooding of June 2013, will head to the polls on Monday to determine their representative in the seat vacated by Ted Menzies.
Candidates say the 2013 disaster and the government’s response, has been a key issue throughout the campaign.
The riding has been represented by conservative parties for more than five decades and political experts question whether the emotions of flood impacted voters will influence the byelection’s results.
“We don't know enough about the effect of natural disasters on elections, specifically byelections in particular, to say anything very concrete though turnout might increase,” said Melanee Thomas, a political scientist with the University of Calgary. “If I was going to make one prediction it might be that more people would be inclined to vote.
Voters in Macleod will select from the following candidates (listed alphabetically):
- Larry Ashmore (Green)
- John Barlow (Conservative)
- Aileen Burke (New Democratic)
- Dustin Fuller (Liberal)
- David J. Reimer (Christian Heritage)
The Macleod byelection is one of four byelections scheduled for Monday as voters in the ridings of Fort McMurray-Athabasca, Trinity-Spadina (Ontario), and Scarborough-Agincourt (Ontario) will elect their new Members of Parliament.
