Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says a byelection in Calgary won\u2019t be called until Albertans have more time for politics.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the middle of summer people probably aren\u2019t paying that much attention to politics,\u201d Smith told reporters Thursday in Edmonton.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe probably want to call it closer to when people are returning to normal, but you\u2019ll see an announcement in the coming weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n
Residents in the riding of Calgary-Shaw have been without a legislature representative for about two months, after former United Conservative Party cabinet minister Rebecca Schulz resigned her seat.<\/p>\n
Schulz, who served as Smith\u2019s environment minister from 2023 to the end of 2025, has since become an executive with Whitecap Resources, a major oil and gas producer in Alberta.<\/p>\n
Last month, Smith\u2019s UCP and the Opposition NDP both named candidates for the riding.<\/p>\n
NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi, who won his seat through a June byelection in Edmonton last year, said the premier\u2019s reasoning for holding off on the byelection is \u201cexceptionally bizarre\u201d and that calling it now would pique Albertans\u2019 interest.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s when people pay attention to politics, and we would love it if she called a general election,\u201d Nenshi said.<\/p>\n
He also said he thinks Smith is waiting to call the vote, because she\u2019s afraid her party\u2019s candidate would lose.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re getting a better response than we\u2019ve ever had in Calgary-Shaw,\u201d said Nenshi.<\/p>\n
The riding has voted conservative in all but one election since it was created in 1986.<\/p>\n
The NDP\u2019s Graham Sucha won by 101 votes in the 2015 election, as part of the so-called orange wave that brought the party under former premier Rachel Notley to power after 44 years of Progressive Conservative rule.<\/p>\n
Provincial law requires byelections to be called within six months of a seat becoming vacant, which means a vote in Calgary-Shaw must be announced by mid-November.<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 16, 2026.<\/p>\n
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