Erin Babcock

Erin Babcock
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for Stony Plain
In office
5 May 2015 – 19 March 2019
Preceded byKen Lemke
Succeeded bySearle Turton
Personal details
Born(1981-06-06)6 June 1981
Died25 April 2020(2020-04-25) (aged 38)
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Political partyAlberta New Democratic
OccupationNurse, politician

Erin Babcock (6 June 1981 – 25 April 2020) was a Canadian nurse and politician who was elected in the 2015 Alberta general election to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, representing the electoral district of Stony Plain.[1][2]

Early life

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Babcock was the daughter of a pipeliner in the Alberta oil industry, and her family lived in many areas across Western Canada during her childhood.[3] She mentioned that her family's involvement in the oil industry had affected their family life and their economic status.[3]

Career

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Babcock worked as a licensed practical nurse since 2006 before entering politics in 2015.[4] She had worked in Kindersley, Saskatchewan as a nurse before moving to Edmonton.[5] Babcock worked closely with elderly and stroke patients as well as patients with serious mental and physical health issues. While in Kindersley, Babcock was involved in the Special Olympics where she served on the board of directors.[5]

Legislative Assembly of Alberta

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In the 2015 Alberta general election, Babcock defeated incumbent Progressive Conservative MLA Ken Lemke to represent Stony Plain. In the 2019 Alberta general election, Stony Plain was dissolved and became Spruce Grove-Stony Plain, and she was defeated by the nominee of the new United Conservative Party, Searle Turton.

Illness and death

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Babcock was diagnosed with uterine cancer in May 2018.[6] She said that she would continue as the MLA for Stony Plain while undergoing cancer treatment.[6] The treatment would take a couple of weeks and did not stop her from pursuing the issues that got her involved in politics.[7] As part of her campaign, Babcock had promised to fight for fair access to health care across Alberta and this continued to be an issue during her treatment.[8] Babcock died from the cancer in Edmonton on 25 April 2020, at age 38.[9][10]

Electoral history

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2019 general election

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2019 Alberta general election: Spruce Grove-Stony Plain
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
United Conservative Searle Turton 15,843 59.35% 11.15%
New Democratic Erin Babcock 7,836 29.36% 12.38%
Alberta Party Ivan G. Boles 2,597 9.73% 4.58%
Alberta Independence Jody Crocker 417 1.56%
Total 26,693
Rejected, spoiled and declined 47 77 16
Eligible electors / turnout 37,296 71.74%
United Conservative pickup new district.
Source(s)
Source: "82 - Spruce Grove-Stony Plain, 2019 Alberta general election". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
Alberta. Chief Electoral Officer (2019). 2019 General Election. A Report of the Chief Electoral Officer. Volume II (PDF) (Report). Vol. 2. Edmonton, Alta.: Elections Alberta. pp. 399–403. ISBN 978-1-988620-12-1. Retrieved April 7, 2021.

2015 general election

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2015 Alberta general election: Stony Plain
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
New Democratic Erin Babcock 7,268 37.83% 29.83%
Wildrose Kathy Rondeau 5,586 29.07% -8.69%
Progressive Conservative Ken Lemke 4,944 25.73% -19.49%
Liberal Mike Hanlon 657 3.42% -3.39%
Alberta Party Sandy Simmie 538 2.80% 1.49%
Green Matthew Burnett 220 1.15% 0.25%
Total 19,213
Rejected, spoiled and declined 66
Eligible electors / turnout 32,852 58.68% 3.80%
New Democratic gain from Progressive Conservative Swing 0.65%

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Riding results: Stony Plain". Edmonton Journal. May 6, 2015. Retrieved May 20, 2016.
  2. ^ "Spruce Grove, Stony Plain vote NDP". Spruce Grove Examiner. May 6, 2015. Archived from the original on July 16, 2015. Retrieved May 20, 2016.
  3. ^ a b "Member's Statement: Pipeliner's Daughter". Facebook. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
  4. ^ "Erin Babcock - NorQuest College - Edmonton, Alberta". www.norquest.ca. Canada. Archived from the original on October 28, 2019. Retrieved October 29, 2019.
  5. ^ a b "Ms. Erin Babcock - MLA for Stony Plain". Leading Influence. Retrieved October 29, 2019.
  6. ^ a b "Alberta MLA battling uterine cancer will keep working during 'aggressive treatment'". Global News. Retrieved November 4, 2019.
  7. ^ "Erin Babcock (@msebabs) | Twitter". twitter.com. Retrieved November 4, 2019.
  8. ^ "Stony Plain MLA intends to keep working through cancer treatment | The Star". thestar.com. May 7, 2018. Retrieved November 4, 2019.
  9. ^ "Former Stony Plain MLA Erin Babcock dies of cancer". Edmonton Journal. April 26, 2020.
  10. ^ Mitchell, Laine (April 26, 2020). "Former Stony Plain MLA Erin Babcock dies of cancer". Edmonton. Retrieved April 28, 2020.