Premier Smith did not endorse Marshall Chalmers for Chestermere Mayor

Written By Wyatt Claypool, Posted on June 23, 2024

Chestermere’s mayoral byelection has been quite contentious this past month with the fight between two former Chestermere Mayors Jeff Colvin and Marshall Chalmers.

Jeff Colvin was ousted alongside 3 other Chestermere city councilors for alleged misuse of city funds by a unilateral decision by Alberta’s Minister of Municipal Affairs Ric McIvor. Colvin and former councilors Mel Foat, Blaine Funk, and Stephen Hanley deny they were involved in the misuse of funds. They claim McIvor is trying to railroad them to help McIvor’s political allies in Chestermere, including Marshall Chalmers who is McIvor’s brother-in-law.

Recently, there have been calls going around claiming that Alberta Premier Danielle Smith endorsed Chalmers and wanted UCP members to support his candidacy for mayor. The National Telegraph has obtained a tape of such a call being made to a UCP member claiming the Premiers team wants UCP members to back Chalmers.

Peter Wiechler, a UCP Director for Calgary has countered these claims that Smith backs Chalmers by stating anyone saying such things is “unequivocal lying” and that Premier Smith “will not endorse anybody in this election because she does not interfere with municipal elections.” 

Weichler exclaimed at the beginning of his statement that the situation in Chestermere is a “travesty.”

The byelection will take place tomorrow, June 24.

Wyatt Claypool

Wyatt is a student at Mount Royal University, where he is the president of its Campus Conservative club. In his writing, he focuses on covering provincial and federal politics, firearms regulation, and the energy sector. Wyatt has also previously written for The Post Millennial.