Alberta MLA Positions on Vaping

Methods

SAAVE (Stop Addicting Adolescents to Vaping and E-Cigarettes), a student advocacy group, contacted each Alberta Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) to learn their opinion on youth vaping regulations. Our group asked whether the MLA would support each of the following three legislative changes:

Ban all vape and nicotine pouch flavors except tobacco
Prohibit single-use vaping devices
Restrict vaping device sales to behind pharmacy counters

SAAVE members systematically addressed each of the 86 Alberta MLAs, using a standardized script to ensure consistency.

SAAVE members each communicated with between two to six MLAs. To maintain uniformity, each student followed a prescribed script when communicating with the MLA, or a staff member, or when leaving messages. The script outlined the three questions and informed MLAs that their responses, including non-responses, would be documented.

We began contacting MLAs on September 23rd, 2024 and we asked that MLAs reply by October 7th, 2024. SAAVE members meticulously recorded all interactions and responses in a centralized spreadsheet. We aimed to create a comprehensive overview of each MLA’s responses to our proposal to ban flavors, to prohibit single use devices and to place vaping devices behind pharmacy counters.

The students assessed each MLA’s response on the basis of five options:

Agree
Disagree
Would not say
Would not respond
Not Contactable

We coded a response as “would not say” only when an MLA responded in a way that appeared to create distraction rather than answer the question.

We coded a response as ‘would not respond’ when MLAs did not respond after three contact attempts.

We coded a response as ‘not contactable’ when the MLA or MLA’s staff created barriers to incoming communication.

Results

Of the 86 current MLAs in Alberta only 2 MLAs, both of whom are UCP MLAs, were in favour of putting vapes behind pharmacy counters and NO MLAs were in favour or any of the other proposed changes. 3 MLAs were explicitly opposed to the suggested changes. Shockingly, 35 Albertan MLAs, which is just over 40%, would not respond to this pressing issue afflicting youth health after 3 separate attempts to reach them via telephone and/or email. 45 MLAs which is over 51% of Albertan MLAs replied but would not state a position meaning they did not directly answer the question of whether or not they would support the proposed changes. This includes the Honourable Adrianna LaGrange, Minister of Health, who did not explicitly state her position regarding the proposed changes.

In summary, 40% of MLAs did not respond despite three attempts to contact them and 51% of MLAs did not state a position. These two categories alone: did not respond or state a position, represent the vast majority of MLAs, 92%. Only 2 MLAs, which is only 2% of Albertan MLAs, were in favour of ANY of the proposed changes.

In the table below, blue indicates MLAs who are party members of the United Conservative Party of Alberta and orange indicates MLAs who are party members of the Alberta New Democratic Party. At the time this survey was conducted, Ms.Jennifer Johnson sat as an independent.

Members of the Legislative Assembly	Constituency	Position on flavour bans	Position on banning single use devices	Position on vapes behind pharmacy counter
Ms. Nagwan Al-Guneid	Calgary-Glenmore	Would not say	Would not say	Would not say
Honourable Mickey Amery	Calgary-Cross	Would not say	Would not say	Would not say
Mr. Brooks Arcand-Paul	Edmonton-West Henday	Would not say	Would not say	Would not say
Honourable Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk	Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville	Would not say	Would not say	Would not say
Ms. Diana Batten	Calgary-Acadia	Would not say	Would not say	Would not say
Mr. Andrew Boitchenko	Drayton Valley-Devon	Would not say	Would not say	Would not say
Mr. Parmeet Singh Boparai	Calgary-Falconridge	Not Contactable	Not Contactable	Not Contactable
Mr. Eric Bouchard	Calgary-Lougheed	Opposed*	Opposed*	In favour*
Mr. Gurinder Brar	Calgary-North East	Would not say	Would not say	Would not say
Ms. Jodi Calahoo Stonehouse	Edmonton-Rutherford	Would not say	Would not say	Would not say
Honourable Joe Ceci	Calgary-Buffalo	Would not say	Would not say	Would not say
Ms. Amanda Chapman	Calgary-Beddington	Would not respond	Would not respond	Would not respond
Honourable Nathan Cooper	Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills	Would not respond	Would not respond	Would not respond
Mr. Scott Cyr	Bonnyville-Cold Lake-St. Paul	Would not respond	Would not respond	Would not respond
Mr. Lorne Dach	Edmonton-McClung	Would not say	Would not say	Would not say
Ms. Chantelle de Jonge	Chestermere-Strathmore	Opposed	Opposed	Opposed
Mr. Jasvir Deol	Edmonton-Meadows	Would not say	Would not say	Would not say
Honourable Devin Dreeshen	Innisfail-Sylvan Lake	Would not respond	Would not respond	Would not respond
Mr. Nolan Dyck	Grande Prairie	Would not respond	Would not respond	Would not respond
Honourable David Eggen	Edmonton-North West	Would not respond	Would not respond	Would not respond
Mr. Court Ellingson	Calgary-Foothills	Would not respond	Would not respond	Would not respond
Honourable Mike Ellis	Calgary-West	Would not respond	Would not respond	Would not respond
Ms. Sarah Elmeligi	Banff-Kananaskis	Would not say	Would not say	Would not say
Ms. Janet Eremenko	Calgary-Currie	Would not respond	Would not respond	Would not respond
Honourable Tanya Fir	Calgary-Peigan	Would not respond	Would not respond	Would not respond
Honourable Kathleen Ganley	Calgary-Mountain View	Would not respond	Would not respond	Would not respond
Mr. Shane Getson	Lac Ste. Anne-Parkland	Would not say	Would not say	Would not say
Honourable Nate Glubish	Strathcona-Sherwood Park	Would not say	Would not say	Would not say
Ms. Nicole Goehring	Edmonton-Castle Downs	Would not respond	Would not respond	Would not respond
Honourable Christina Gray	Edmonton-Mill Woods	Would not respond	Would not respond	Would not respond
Honourable Pete Guthrie	Airdrie-Cochrane	Would not say	Would not say	Would not say
Mr. Sharif Haji	Edmonton-Decore	Would not respond	Would not respond	Would not respond
Ms. Julia Hayter	Calgary-Edgemont	Would not respond	Would not respond	Would not respond
Honourable Sarah Hoffman	Edmonton-Glenora	Would not respond	Would not respond	Would not respond
Honourable Nate Horner	Drumheller-Stettler	Would not say	Would not say	Would not say
Ms. Rhiannon Hoyle	Edmonton-South	Would not say	Would not say	Would not say
Honourable Grant Hunter	Taber-Warner	Would not respond	Would not respond	Would not respond
Mr. Nathan Ip	Edmonton-South West	Would not say	Would not say	Would not say
Ms. Janis Irwin	Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood	Would not say	Would not say	Would not say
Honourable Brian Jean	Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche	Not Contactable	Not Contactable	Not Contactable
Ms. Jennifer Johnson	Lacombe-Ponoka	Would not say	Would not say	In favour
Honourable Matt Jones	Calgary-South East	Would not respond	Would not respond	Would not respond
Mr. Kyle Kasawski	Sherwood Park	Would not say	Would not say	Would not say
Mr. Samir Kayande	Calgary-Elbow	Would not say	Would not say	Would not say
Honourable Adriana LaGrange	Red Deer-North	Would not say	Would not say	Would not say
Honourable Todd Loewen	Central Peace-Notley	Would not respond	Would not respond	Would not respond
Mr. Martin Long	West Yellowhead	Would not respond	Would not respond	Would not respond
Ms. Jackie Lovely	Camrose	Would not say	Would not say	Would not say
Mr. Rod Loyola	Edmonton-Ellerslie	Not Contactable	Not Contactable	Not Contactable
Mr. Brandon Lunty	Leduc-Beaumont	Would not say	Would not say	Would not say
Mr. Myles McDougall	Calgary-Fish Creek	Would not say	Would not say	Would not say
Honourable Ric McIver	Calgary-Hays	Would not say	Would not say	Would not say
Dr. Luanne Metz	Calgary-Varsity	Would not say	Would not say	Would not say
Honourable Dale Nally	Morinville-St. Albert	Would not say	Would not say	Would not say
Honourable Nathan Neudorf	Lethbridge-East	Would not say	Would not say	Would not say
Honourable Demetrios Nicolaides	Calgary-Bow	Would not respond	Would not respond	Would not respond
Honourable Jason Nixon	Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre	Would not say	Would not say	Would not say
Honourable Rachel Notley	Edmonton-Strathcona	Would not respond	Would not respond	Would not respond
Ms. Rakhi Pancholi	Edmonton-Whitemud	Would not respond	Would not respond	Would not respond
Ms. Chelsae Petrovic	Livingstone-Macleod	Would not say	Would not say	Would not say
Ms. Angela Pitt	Airdrie-East	Would not respond	Would not respond	Would not respond
Ms. Marie Renaud	St. Albert	Would not say	Would not say	Would not say
Mr. Garth Rowswell	Vermilion-Lloydminster-Wainwright	Would not say	Would not say	Would not say
Honourable Irfan Sabir	Calgary-Bhullar-McCall	Would not say	Would not say	Would not say
Honourable Rajan Sawhney	Calgary-North West	Would not say	Would not say	Would not say
Honourable Marlin Schmidt	Edmonton-Gold Bar	Would not say	Would not say	Would not say
Honourable Joseph Schow	Cardston-Siksika	Opposed	Opposed	Opposed
Honourable Rebecca Schulz	Calgary-Shaw	Would not say	Would not say	Would not say
Mr. David Shepherd	Edmonton-City Centre	Would not respond	Would not respond	Would not respond
Honourable R.J. Sigurdson	Highwood	Would not respond	Would not respond	Would not respond
Honourable Lori Sigurdson	Edmonton-Riverview	Would not say	Would not say	Would not say
Mr. Scott Sinclair	Lesser Slave Lake	Would not say	Would not say	Would not say
Mr. Peter Singh	Calgary-East	Would not say	Would not say	Would not say
Honourable Premier Danielle Smith	Brooks-Medicine Hat	Would not say	Would not say	Would not say
Mr. Jason Stephan	Red Deer-South	Would not respond	Would not respond	Would not respond
Ms. Heather Sweet	Edmonton-Manning	Would not say	Would not say	Would not say
Ms. Lizette Tejada	Calgary-Klein	Would not say	Would not say	Would not say
Honourable Searle Turton	Spruce Grove-Stony Plain	Would not say	Would not say	Would not say
Mr. Glenn van Dijken	Athabasca-Barrhead-Westlock	Would not respond	Would not respond	Would not respond
Mr. Ron Wiebe	Grande Prairie-Wapiti	Would not respond	Would not respond	Would not respond
Honourable Dan Williams	Peace River	Would not respond	Would not respond	Would not respond
Honourable Rick Wilson	Maskwacis-Wetaskiwin	Would not respond	Would not respond	Would not respond
Mr. Justin Wright	Cypress-Medicine Hat	Would not respond	Would not respond	Would not respond
Ms. Peggy Wright	Edmonton-Beverly-Clareview	Would not respond	Would not respond	Would not respond
Mr. Tany Yao	Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo	Would not respond	Would not respond	Would not respond
Honourable Muhammad Yaseen	Calgary-North	Would not respond	Would not respond	Would not respond

Methods

Results

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