Cooper to resign as MLA and Speaker to take on job as Alberta representative in D.C.

Alberta Speaker Nathan Cooper is set to resign from his role as MLA and take on a new job as the province’s representative in Washington beginning next month.

Cooper, 45, has served as MLA for Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills for close to a decade and will replace former Edmonton Conservative MP James Rajotte in the D.C.-based diplomatic post.

He shared news of his new role in an address to the legislative assembly Wednesday afternoon, saying Premier Danielle Smith had offered him the position and he had accepted.

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“Standing alongside each of you and serving you has been a dream that I’ve lived out each day, but today that dream comes to an end,” he said.

“I believe that we are at a critical time in our province and in our country with respect to how we interact with the world and with the United States of America. How we do that interaction, I believe, is just as important as what we do to interact.”

In a news release, Smith described Cooper’s new role as “focusing on attracting investment, expanding trade opportunities and maintaining the relationships needed to connect Alberta with key decision makers.”

“I look forward to continuing to work closely with Nathan as we advocate for Albertans and for our province’s interests in Washington and across the U.S.,” Smith said.

Government house leader Joseph Schow spoke in the assembly and thanked Cooper for his service.

“We all know we will miss the chamber time with you, with a well-timed joke to break the tension, with your careful and steady hand in managing this chamber.”

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Opposition house leader Christina Grey echoed those sentiments, noting Cooper’s “fairness, humanity, knowledge and deep respect for parliamentary tradition.”

Cooper said his resignation as Speaker takes effect on Monday evening at midnight, with a new Speaker to be selected by MLAs the following day.

He said he will continue as a backbench MLA until his new job commences in June.

Cooper’s departure means there will be three vacancies in the assembly, along with those created by resignations of New Democrat MLAs Rachel Notley (Edmonton Strathcona) and Rod Loyola (Edmonton Ellerslie).

The Edmonton Strathcona byelection must be called by the end of next month, though Smith indicated on her radio show last weekend that the call could come sooner than that.

Minus Cooper, there are 46 UCP members in the assembly, just two more than needed for a majority given no vacancies.

Cooper was first elected in 2015 as a Wildrose candidate and won election again for the UCP in 2019 and 2023 after serving as councillor for the Town of Carstairs between 2010 and 2015.

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In 2017, he became Official Opposition leader after being elected as the interim leader of the UCP and was succeeded by Jason Kenney as leader.

He was first elected by fellow MLAs to the role of Speaker in 2019, where he immediately drew controversy by firing the clerk of the legislature.

MLAs re-elected him as Speaker in 2023.

In April 2021, he apologized for violating the convention of Speaker impartiality after joining 15 other MLAs to sign a letter opposing public health restrictions introduced to fight the spread of COVID-19, saying, “I have regret for my error in judgment.”

Cooper was the 14th Speaker of the legislative assembly, telling MLAs that he had served the eighth longest of all Alberta Speakers, amounting to some 2,177 days or 345 question periods.

mblack@postmedia.com

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