Red Deer-Lacombe MP Blaine Calkins will be making the rounds with plenty of new constituents ahead of the 2025 federal election.
The 9,573-square kilometre new riding is officially titled Ponoka-Didsbury and has a population of 114,521 according to Elections Canada.
It includes the City of Lacombe; the towns of Bentley, Blackfalds, Bowden, Didsbury, Eckville, Innisfail, Olds, Ponoka, Rimbey and Sylvan Lake; the villages of Alix and Clive; the summer villages of Birchcliff, Gull Lake, Half Moon Bay, Jarvis Bay, Norglenwold, Parkland Beach and Sunbreaker Cove; the Municipal District of Lacombe County; Parts of Ponoka County and parts of Red Deer County.
"I'm honoured to be representing the new riding of Ponoka-Didsbury as your Conservative Candidate for the upcoming election," said Calkins, the Conservative Party of Canada candidate, in a social media post on Monday.
"Ponoka-Didsbury includes both Ponoka County and Lacombe County, as well as Sylvan Lake and the Communities of Spruce View, Innisfail, Bowden, Olds and Didsbury."
Calkins won 64.2 per cent of the vote in the 2021 Federal Election in Red Deer-Lacombe. He also won the riding in 2015 and 2019.
Calkins' new riding does not include Rocky Mountain House (which is in the newly-drawn Yellowhead riding) or Wetaskiwin (which is in the Leduc-Wetaskiwin riding). Stettler, Camrose, and Drumheller are all part of the Battle River-Crowfoot riding.
The newly-drawn Red Deer riding includes Red Deer, the Town of Penhold; the villages of Delburne and Elnora as well as parts of Red Deer County. The conservative candidate for that riding is Burton Bailey.
Prime Minister Mark Carney asked the governor general Sunday to dissolve Parliament and call a federal election on April 28.
Advance voting is set for Friday, April 18, Saturday, April 19 Sunday, April 20 and Monday, April 21.
The Ponoka and District Chamber of Commerce has announced it will hold an all candidates federal election forum on Tuesday, April 15 at the Stagecoach Saloon on the Ponoka Stampede Grounds. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. and the from will run from 7 to 9 p.m.
