2004 Candidates:
Christopher Davies (NDP)
Sarah Henkel-Sutmoller (Green Party)
Myrna Kissick (Social Credit)
Richard Marz (PC)
Gordon Quantz (Alberta Alliance)
Brian Vasseur (Separation Party)
Tony Vonesch (Liberal)

Maps from Elections Alberta will open in a new window.

Riding Profile:
This riding in south-central Alberta stretches from the Red Deer River in the east to the area around Cremona in the west. In the 2004 redistribution the boundaries changed somewhat, with an agricultural section in the far west transferred to Banff-Cochrane, while in the southeast a section of the old Drumheller-Chinook riding - including the community of Carbon - was added. Major communities include Olds, Didsbury, Carstairs, Trochu and Three Hills, as well as Olds College.

Agriculture is the major employer, with retail a distant second. Household incomes, at $53,174, are below the Alberta average. Seven per cent of residents are considered low income. More than two-thirds of the people here were born in Alberta, while seven per cent are immigrants. People of German origin make up nine per cent of the population. More than 96 per cent say their language at home is English, the second-highest rate in Alberta.

Political History:
Right-leaning parties have fared well in this riding. Richard Marz, the incumbent, is a Conservative. In his first election win in 1997, the runner-up was Social Credit candidate Don MacDonald. In 2001, Social Credit ran third, behind Marz, who won easily, and second-place finisher Liberal Gayleen Roelfsema. Before Marz, PC Roy Brassard won three elections here. In 1986 he defeated Elmer Knutson, founder of the Confederation of Regions party. In 1989 the runner-up was the Social Credit's Ray Young. Liberal Dinna Gole placed second to Brassard in 1993. From 1971-82 the riding was represented by Robert Clark of the Social Credit Party. After his resignation in 1982, a byelection made Gordon Kessler of the separatist Western Canada Concept an MLA. Kessler's election brought the riding and the party into the national spotlight, but the attention was short-lived: that same year Tory Stephen Stiles won the seat in the general election. Stiles served from 1982-86.

In 2001, voter turnout was 61.3 per cent - the fifth highest in the province.