Joe McWilliams
Lakeside Leader

Scott Sinclair is the United Conservative Party candidate for Lesser Slave Lake. His win in the Feb. 25/26 election was confirmed in a March 9 recount at the UCP office in Edmonton.

“He won by five votes,” says UCP Lesser Slave Lake Constituency Association President Gordon Ferguson.

That’s a gain of two votes over the initial count, which was a third-ballot victory over Martine Carifelle. The vote was close enough that Carifelle felt it was worth challenging it, and requested a recount.

The recount results had to be ratified by the provincial UCP board, which took place at a meeting on March 14. The news of Sinclair’s successful survival of the recount came out the next day.

“It feels really good it’s official,” Sinclair told The Leader on March 15.

Sinclair was “in the room” when the recount was done on March 9, and knew the results, but couldn’t comment until the party did its thing.

In the meantime, he said he met with “quite a few cabinet ministers,” and with the premier. Premier Danielle Smith, Sinclair says, “is going to prioritize helping northern Alberta.”

Next up for Sinclair was to meet with his team and strategize for the campaign. A provincial election is expected near the end of May. One thing he wants to do right off, Sinclair said, is to meet with the three other people who ran for the UCP nomination, “and make sure we’re all pulling on the same rope.”