By Jack Farrell The Canadian Press

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has called a byelection in a southern Calgary riding for Sept. 14.

Residents in Calgary-Shaw have been without a legislature representative since May, when former United Conservative Party cabinet minister Rebecca Schulz resigned her seat.

Both Smith’s UCP and the Opposition NDP named candidates for the riding in June.

Smith, in a statement Monday, said her party’s candidate, Mike Derry, is community-minded and understands challenges that families and business owners are facing.

“He will be a strong voice for Calgary-Shaw and help us keep taxes low, keep communities safe and grow an economy that continues creating good jobs,” Smith said.

NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi said Calgarians should put their trust in his party’s candidate, Kyle Campbell, and send a message to the premier that they don’t want a government that caters to separatists.

“Albertans deserve a government focused on lowering the cost of living, jobs, and great public services like health care and education,” Nenshi said in a statement.

“Albertans don’t have to stand for this government.”

The newly created Progressive Tory Party, led by former UCP cabinet minister Peter Guthrie, is also expected to run a candidate in the byelection.

Elections Alberta says unofficial results will be shared after polls close on voting day.

The riding, created in 1986, has historically voted conservative with the Opposition NDP winning the seat only once in 2015 as part of what’s known as the “orange wave” that brought former premier Rachel Notley into government.

Smith had said last month that she would wait for summer to pass before calling the byelection, saying it was a time of year that Albertans largely weren’t paying attention to politics.

Schulz, who served as Smith’s environment minister from 2023 to the end of 2025, has become an executive with Whitecap Resources, a major oil and gas producer in Alberta, since leaving office.