NDP MLA Kyle Kasawski running for re-election in Sherwood Park
Danielle Smith’s Alberta separation referendum looms over party nominations for next election
MLA Kyle Kasawski was nominated to run for re-election in Sherwood Park by Alberta NDP members at a meeting last weekend in the large suburban hamlet east of Edmonton.
Kasawski currently serves as the opposition’s Affordability and Utilities critic role has been one of the strongest additions to the NDP opposition bench since 2023.
He was voted MLA to Watch in 2025 by Daveberta subscribers.
A former solar power business owner and NAIT instructor, Kasawski was first elected in 2023 after unseating one-term United Conservative Party MLA Jordan Walker. Walker is once again running for the UCP nomination.
Kasawski has been vocal in his opposition to Alberta separatism and called on Premier Danielle Smith to speak out against foreign interference.
The suburban riding just east of Edmonton was represented by NDP MLA Annie McKitrick from 2015 to 2019.
Sherwood Park was a key riding for the NDP in the last provincial election in the party’s campaign to regain support in the suburban and commuter communities that surround Edmonton, which some political watchers refer to as the Edmonton Doughnut. Despite a focused effort and an impressive list of local candidates in the Doughnut, Sherwood Park was the NDP’s lone gain in the region.
Fun fact: Conservative MP Garnett Genuis was the Wildrose Party candidate in Sherwood Park in the 2012 provincial election.
Lethbridge NDP MLA running for re-election: NDP MLA Rob Miyashiro has been nominated to run for re-election in Lethbridge-West. Miyashiro was first elected in the December 2024 by-election to replace NDP MLA Shannon Phillips, who stepped down after representing the riding since 2015.
More NDP MLAs are expected to be nominated as candidates over the next month:
May 27: MLA Jodi Calahoo Stonehouse will be nominated in Edmonton-Rutherford.
May 29: MLA Diana Batten will be nominated in Calgary-Acadia.
June 11: MLA Amanda Chapman will be nominated in Calgary-Beddington.
June 16: MLA David Eggen will be nominated in Edmonton-North West and MLA David Shepherd will be nominated in Edmonton-City Centre.
June 25: MLA Marie Renaud will be nominated in St. Albert.
Calgary-Shaw by-election: The deadline for candidates to enter the UCP nomination in Calgary-Shaw was set for May 29 (the party has since removed the information from its website so it’s unclear if the previously announced deadline remains). Mike Derry, Stewart Jeanes, and Dan McLean are running for the UCP nomination. A by-election is expected to be called after incumbent UCP MLA Rebecca Schulz announces her resignation.
A full list of nominated and nomination candidates can be found on this page:
Still no new electoral map
Political parties are nominating candidates but we still don’t know what the electoral boundaries will look like in the next provincial election. Adding another stumbling block to Leduc-Beaumont UCP MLA Brandon Lunty’s hastily created electoral boundaries committee, the Law Society of Alberta and the Canadian Bar Association now say they won’t help find retired and sitting judges to lead an advisory panel to redraw Alberta’s electoral boundaries.
Yes, Alberta is actually having a separation referendum
There’s a lot happening following Premier Smith’s announcement last week that she has decided to hold a province-wide referendum on October 19, 2026 about Alberta’s separation from Canada. Here are some of the latest updates:
"The party won't be taking a position and I won't be making mine public,” UCP President Rob Smith told CBC Radio this week when asked if he or the governing party would pick a side in the Alberta separation referendum. Most polls show a majority of UCP voters support Alberta separating from Canada.
Environics and Angus Reid have released fresh polling about Albertans response to Smith’s separation referendum.
The Angus Reid survey found that 56 per cent of Albertans believe Smith is handling the issue poorly and 58 per cent believe she is calling the referendum to appease the separatists in her party.
Sixty-nine per cent of Albertans surveyed believe the separatists will never accept a no vote result in the referendum.
The media Q&A session at the press conference wrapping up the Western Premiers’ Conference in Kananaskis focused almost entirely on Smith’s separation referendum, leading to a notable exchange between Smith and Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew over the treaty rights and the duty to consult First Nations.
Lead Not Leave is the latest pro-Canada group to emerge, with former conservative finance ministers Travis Toews and Jim Dinning among the leaders of the group. Toews finished second to Smith in the 2022 UCP leadership contest.
A recording of Smith’s hour and a half long virtual town hall with UCP members on May 23, 2026 has been posted online.
Red Deer-South UCP MLA Jason Stephan quietly stepped down as Parliamentary Secretary for Constitutional Affairs weeks ago after he urged Albertans to sign the Stay Free Alberta separation petition.
During this time in the role Stephan called for Canada to abolish the monarchy and abandon Official Bilingualism.
Éric Grenier has launched an Alberta Referendum Poll Tracker on his excellent The Writ website.
I will be joining a live stream discussion with independent journalist Jeremy Appel on May 29 at 3:00 p.m. MDT to talk about Smith’s separation referendum, the politics that got us here and what we will face over the next four months.
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Dave
The direct link to Eric Grenier's Alberta Referendum poll tracker is here: https://www.thewrit.ca/p/alberta-referendum-poll-tracker
Send us a reminder Friday for your chat with Appel.