Tara Sawyer will be the UCP candidate in Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills
An Alberta farmer will be the United Conservative Party’s (UCP) candidate in an upcoming byelection.
Tara Sawyer, a wheat and barley farmer from Acme, Alta., and chair of Alberta Grains, received an appointment from Premier Danielle Smith to be the UCP’s candidate in Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills.
The byelection is taking place because Nathan Cooper, the riding’s previous MLA, accepted a position within Premier Smith’s government as Alberta’s official representative to the U.S.
Online reaction to Sawyer’s appointment is mixed with some people wishing her well and others wondering why a full nomination process didn’t take place.
With two additional byelections happening in Edmonton-Strathcona and Edmonton-Ellerslie, time became an issue, the premier said.
"I wanted to get all three byelections done at the same time," Smith said, the Red Deer Advocate reported on May 16. "I think for taxpayer purposes it was better to have all three of them at once and we've just run out of time to do a full nomination process.
"Tara Sawyer just emerged as really a spectacular candidate for us," the premier added. "She is the former chair of Alberta Grains and we do need to have some bench strength as we deal with some of the tariffs from China and the impact its going to have on canola and other industries.”
Sawyer became Alberta Grains’ inaugural chair in 2023 after the Alberta Wheat Commission and Alberta Barley amalgamated.
“It has been an honour to represent Alberta’s wheat and barley farmers and help lead this organization during such a transformative time,” Sawyer said in a May 15 statement. “I’m proud of what our board has accomplished together and am confident in the strength of the leadership team taking the reins while I pursue this opportunity to continue serving Albertans in a new capacity.”
With her departure, vice-chair Scott Jespersen, who farms in Spruce Grove, will assume the role of acting chair.