For the fourth time in ten years, St. Albert is sending Michael Cooper to Ottawa.
The incumbent Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) won re-election in St. Albert — Sturgeon River on April 28 with 63.9 per cent of the vote, as of 10:30 a.m. Tuesday morning.
Cooper won St. Albert — Sturgeon River in what turned out to be a decisive victory, with him recording 48,063 votes. Liberal Party candidate Lucia Stachurski came in second, with 22,483 votes (29.9 per cent). Dot Anderson of the New Democratic Party (NDP) came in third with 3,631 votes (4.8 per cent). People's Party of Canada candidate Brigitte Cecelia came in fourth with 824 votes (1.1 per cent), while Jeff Willerton with the Christian Heritage Party (CHP) came in fifth place with 252 votes (0.3 per cent).
Cooper addressed a crowded room of supporters at St. Albert Rugby Football Club Monday night after he had been re-elected and results continued to pour in.
"It's the greatest privilege of my life to serve as the Member of Parliament for our community, and I'm honoured and humbled by the decisive result tonight," Cooper said, while acknowledging the disappointment his supporters were feeling in the room regarding the national results, as Mark Carney and the Liberals once again formed a minority government.
Of his own victory, Cooper said that along with hearing about cost-of-living pressures at the doors, he primarily heard from voters in the riding that people wanted change.
"They were frustrated with the past 10 years under the Liberals, and they were looking to a Conservative Government led by Pierre Poilievre," he said.
Only a few short months ago, it seemed like that would have been what we'd gotten, with some polls showing the Conservatives up by 20 points following Justin Trudeau's resignation announcement in January 2025.
Cooper said that he always believed the race would tighten up, and some major shifts in the geopolitical scene contributed to that.
"Between the end of last year and now, the biggest change is that Justin Trudeau stepped down. It cannot be underestimated the extent to which Justin Trudeau was a drag on the Liberal Party, and so with a change in leadership that made a big difference," he said.
Another major factor leading up to the election was the escalating trade war between Canada and the United States, as well as President Donald Trump's repeated comments about making Canada a 51st state. Cooper said this also had an impact on the results,
Malcolm Parker, a supporter at the event, said he doesn't see anything changing with Mark Carney's election, and was worried he would just fill the cabinet with the same group of MPs Trudeau had.
Another supporter at the event, Gilbert Cantin, told the Gazette he was happy to see Cooper re-elected and that he helped volunteer in his campaign. The national results were a disappointment for him though.
"We could go back to the same thing we had in the last four years. Which I wish doesn't happen," Cantin said.
Another supporter, Colin Bell, recently moved to St. Albert after an extended stay in the United States. He said he thought this was his first Canadian federal election since 2010, and said he felt Cooper's committee work is something that stood out to him.
"He presses to get answers to questions. And he has always seemed very dedicated to representing the best interests of the riding, but also of Canadians in general, and that meant a lot to me," Bell said. He added that he felt the Conservatives were best to deal with the economy and immigration.
Cooper said it was good news for the Conservatives is that the Liberals are once again forming a minority government, and that he's looking forward to getting back to work.
"We will be a strong opposition, and significantly greater in numbers in terms of Members of Parliament, and we will work to hold Mark Carney to his promises and hold the government to account," he said.
