LAKELAND – Over 13,000 United Conservative Party supporters cast ballots in the Bonnyville-Cold-Lake-St. Paul riding, electing the constituency’s new MLA – Scott Cyr.
While vote counts were slow to trickle out, by midnight on May 30, all 21 voting locations were reporting ballots cast in the riding.
By 2 a.m. on May 30, UCP candidate elect Cyr had received a total of 13,309 votes, according to Elections Alberta.
NDP candidate Caitlyn Blake garnered 4,330 votes, about 25 per cent of the vote compared to Cyr’s 75 per cent.
Cyr will replace outgoing UCP MLA David Hanson who served the Lac La Biche-St. Paul-Two Hills riding for four years and then the Bonnyville-Cold-Lake-St. Paul riding for another four years after that.
Prior to the polls closing at 8 p.m. on May 29, Cyr and his supporters hosted a barbecue at the Beaver River Fish & Game Hall in Bonnyville. The festivities continued until the premier elect, Danielle Smith, gave her victory speech, which was then followed by Cyr’s own speech delivered to those still present by the time most of the results had rolled in.
Speaking to LakelandToday.ca shortly after, Cyr said, “It's an incredible honour to be trusted with so many votes. It shows that there's a lot of support when it comes to our local area for the UCP.”
Cyr continued by saying that he is grateful to those who turned out to vote whether or not they supported the UCP with their ballot.
“They contributed towards making sure that their voices were heard,” he said. “And they can know that no matter who you voted for that I'll be there ready to hear and work for each and every one of them.”
After running in a UCP nomination race in late 2022 and now successfully running in the provincial election, Cyr has been busy on various campaign trails over the last year.
“My campaign team, as well as all of the volunteers that were involved, the support staff - everybody contributed to this win. I want to thank them all for it because it wasn't something I did alone, this was a group effort,” Cyr noted.
“I want to thank Caitlyn Blake for her contributions as well, it takes a lot to stand up and I commend her for that, especially with the conservative constituency like ours. People need to recognize that it takes a lot of guts.”
Overall, Cyr felt that the local election campaign was, for the most part, fairly positive on both sides.
“I'm very thankful for that and it's that kind of thing that people want to see when it comes to politics,” he added.
Going forward, Cyr says constituents can expect the same level of professionalism and integrity he committed to during his time as the Bonnyville-Cold Lake MLA from 2015 to 2019.
“I think people forget what their MLA's role is – that is to be a servant leader,” he said. “That means I still need to be out there diligently listening to people's concerns and bringing those concerns to Edmonton... It comes down to representing the local area to the best of my abilities.”
Referring to the mandate shared by Smith during her election night speech, Cyr said, “She really brought in a clearer vision for Alberta, and I can say that it really energized the room.”
LakelandToday.ca was unable to reach candidate Blake for comment prior to the publication of this article.
