Erin Babcock
Erin Babcock | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for Stony Plain | |
| In office 5 May 2015 – 19 March 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Ken Lemke |
| Succeeded by | Searle Turton |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 6 June 1981 |
| Died | 25 April 2020 (aged 38) Edmonton, Alberta, Canada |
| Political party | Alberta New Democratic |
| Occupation | Nurse, 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
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
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
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
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
2019 general election
| 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. ISBN 978-1-988620-12-1 . Retrieved April 7, 2021. | ||||||||
2015 general election
| 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% | ||||||
Source(s)
Source: "81 - Stony Plain Official Results 2015 Alberta general election". Elections Alberta. Retrieved May 21, 2020. | ||||||||
See also
References
- ^ "Riding results: Stony Plain". Edmonton Journal. May 6, 2015. Retrieved May 20, 2016.
- ^ "Spruce Grove, Stony Plain vote NDP". Spruce Grove Examiner. May 6, 2015. Archived from the original on July 16, 2015. Retrieved May 20, 2016.
- ^ a b "Member's Statement: Pipeliner's Daughter". Facebook. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
- ^ "Erin Babcock - NorQuest College - Edmonton, Alberta". www.norquest.ca. Canada. Archived from the original on October 28, 2019. Retrieved October 29, 2019.
- ^ a b "Ms. Erin Babcock - MLA for Stony Plain". Leading Influence. Retrieved October 29, 2019.
- ^ a b "Alberta MLA battling uterine cancer will keep working during 'aggressive treatment'". Global News. Retrieved November 4, 2019.
- ^ "Erin Babcock (@msebabs) | Twitter". twitter.com. Retrieved November 4, 2019.
- ^ "Stony Plain MLA intends to keep working through cancer treatment | The Star". thestar.com. May 7, 2018. Retrieved November 4, 2019.
- ^ "Former Stony Plain MLA Erin Babcock dies of cancer". Edmonton Journal. April 26, 2020.
- ^ Mitchell, Laine (April 26, 2020). "Former Stony Plain MLA Erin Babcock dies of cancer". Edmonton. Retrieved April 28, 2020.