Nathan Cooper is going to Washington DC
Also: Six thoughts on Danielle Smith’s separatist threats
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After ten years as the MLA for Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills and nearly six years as Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, Nathan Cooper is leaving the Legislature to take up a new job as Alberta’s senior representative to the United States.
In a statement released yesterday, Premier Danielle Smith announced that Cooper would replace representative James Rajotte, who recently stepped down after filling the role since 2020.
“I’m honoured to be entrusted by Premier Danielle Smith with this critical assignment at such a pivotal time,” Cooper said. “Now more than ever, I see this as a vital opportunity to strengthen and advance Alberta’s long-standing relationship with the United States, ensuring stability and collaboration amid global uncertainty.”
It is an understatement to say this would be a challenging task for anyone. The congenial Cooper has good connections to American legislators and political organizations but he will have big challenge ahead navigating the sometimes hostile and always unpredictable political world of President Donald Trump. As Alberta’s Minister-Counsellor in the American capital, he will also have a front row seat to Premier Smith’s freelance diplomatic efforts.
Cooper’s proficient management of frequently unruly Alberta MLAs might have been good training for this job. But being Speaker isn’t just about sitting in the big chair. The Speaker’s job has always been quasi-diplomatic with the wearer of the tricorn hat responsible for both managing the centre of Alberta politics and hosting dignitaries from out-of-province and out-of-country.
The statement announcing Cooper’s new job included testimonials from current and former politicians from both sides of the aisle, including Minister of Finance Nate Horner and former NDP cabinet ministers Deron Bilous and
.“Team Canada needs a strong Alberta in Washington, and Alberta needs strong representation for our trading interests,” said Phillips. “There might be some tough days ahead for the relationship between Canada and the United States, but I know Nathan Cooper will work hard for Albertans and a strong Canada.”
Cooper was first elected to the Legislature in 2015 as a Wildrose Party MLA and served as interim Leader of the United Conservative Party and Leader of the Official Opposition for a short period in 2017. Before his time as MLA he was a town councillor in Carstairs and worked as Chief of Staff of the Wildrose Caucus.
He was re-elected in 2023 with 75.29 per cent of the vote, one of the strongest showings by a UCP candidate in that year’s election.
A by-election in Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills
Cooper said that he will remain an MLA until June 1 so after his resignation a by-election will need to be called in Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills by December 1, 2025. Unless the by-elections in Edmonton-Ellerslie and Edmonton-Strathcona are called before he steps down, there will then be three vacancies in the Assembly.
General elections have produced fairly predictable outcomes in this central Alberta riding, with conservative candidates dominating the field. But two by-elections held there have produced some of the most interesting results in Alberta’s history.
In February 1982, separatist Western Canada Concept candidate Gordon Kesler shocked the nation when he won a by-election in the Olds-Didsbury riding. Kesler rode to victory on a wave of popular dissent and unhappiness with both Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in Ottawa and Premier Peter Lougheed at home.
Kesler’s win marked the first time a separatist MLA had been elected in Alberta, and he spent much of his time in the Legislature railing against the National Energy Program, the metric system, and official bilingualism. His time as MLA was short, as he failed to win re-election after switching to the Highwood riding in the November 1982 election.
A separatist winning a by-election in central Alberta is one thing, but an even more unlikely result happened in the October 1992 by-election in the Three Hills riding when voters elected a Liberal!
Voters were deeply unhappy with Premier Don Getty’s Progressive Conservative government and willing to give Laurence Decore’s right-leaning Liberals a chance. Liberal candidate Don MacDonald won in a landslide, finishing 23.9 points ahead of the PC Party candidate.
But the Liberal wave in central Alberta quickly evaporated after Ralph Klein became Premier and swept the PCs back into power in June 1993. MacDonald was defeated by PC candidate Carol Haley in the redrawn Three Hills-Airdrie riding and he left the Liberals soon after that, running as a Social Credit candidate in Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills in 1997 election (he placed second with 28 per cent of the vote).
Six thoughts on Danielle Smith’s separatist threats
In a video broadcast this week on her social media accounts, Premier Smith released an expanded list of demands to Prime Minister Mark Carney, saying she will appoint a negotiating committee to go to Ottawa, and gave very public tacit support for a referendum on Alberta separation from Canada.
Smith responded to Carney’s win on April 28 by introducing legislation to lower the number of signatures required to trigger a province-wide referendum. She then went out of her way to promote the efforts of the groups preparing to collect signatures to force a vote on Alberta’s independence from Canada.
I am skeptical about Smith’s plans to actually negotiate with the federal government because her threats suggest that she knows she is not entering these negotiations from a position of strength.
NDP leader Naheed Nenshi came right out and called Smith a separatist, a claim that is becoming increasingly hard to argue against. I have believed for a long time that a big part of her goal as premier has been to create this kind of political crisis.
Here are six quick thoughts on Smith’s announcement this week:
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