Abela in race for the riding, sets sights on becoming MP

Posted on February 27, 2025 by Taber Times

By Cal Braid
Taber Times
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

 The Conservative Party will soon be selecting a new candidate to run for MP in the Bow River riding in the next municipal election, and Taber Police Chief Graham Abela hopes to fill the role. For the last 10 years, MP Martin Shields has served and been a voice for southern Alberta in Ottawa, but he will not be seeking re-election.

 The move from police chief to member of parliament is a more natural progression than it might appear to be at first glance. As Abela explained in a Feb. 21 interview with the Times, policing is more than just strict law enforcement; it’s community work.

 “I kind of see it as just an extension of my current role, actually,” Abela said. “It’s a service to the community and it’s just doing it in a different way. I’ve always had a calling to be involved in the community and involved in public service. I see this just as another way of doing that.”

 He brings decades of local experience to the table after being a police officer for 31 years within the riding and the chief of police since 2016. It’s an uncommonly broad skill set that adds weight to his campaign motto of ‘proven leadership and sound judgment.’

“I’ve demonstrated that over the years many times,” he said. “Whether it was leading the investigation into the school shooting or leading the response to the bomb threats file that we had in our community.”

 He also highlighted his willingness to be a voice and leader during the COVID crisis and on other issues impacting the community that are within the federal government’s control, like the decriminalization of drugs. And on that issue, Abela spoke as both chief and politician.

 “Sitting at the leadership tables of the Alberta Chiefs of Police and Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police and influencing decisions associated with public policy – that, in my view, will better the lives of Canadians,” he said.

 To him, having safe communities means a number of things. First, that laws are in place to ensure that our towns don’t allow for a revolving door of criminality. People that commit serious, violent crimes and repeat offenders preying upon rural Albertans have no place in the social structure. He believes such offenders should be “locked up and held.”

 “There’s a reverse onus if you commit offenses when you’re already on statutory release, right? So definitely that law and order piece,” he said.

 Safe communities also means economically stable communities. Part of that is guarding major economic drivers. 

“It’s about making sure that we’re looking after our producers that are in the area; our sugar beet producers, potato producers, meat and poultry and swine producers, and farmers. Things like trying to lower their input costs, which includes getting rid of this carbon tax. That’s just increasing the price of everything unnecessarily.”

 In the past, one of the riding’s economic drivers was oil and gas. Over the years, some of the resources were depleted, but Abela is interested in advancing technologies that will allow for an energy rebound in the region.

 “Especially north of Brooks, towards the Red Deer River,” he said. “And you know, we need to ensure that we have the ability to market those resources to places other than just the United States. So we really do need to get our resources through, and pipelines to our coastal water.”

 He also stressed the importance of boosting Canada’s capacity as a self-contained energy provider and market.

 Strong families are an integral component of safe communities, too. 

“I’ve raised my family in the riding. I’ve been through the blood, sweat, and tears of raising teenagers. I’ve been married for 21 years, and my kids graduated from the same high school I attended. We’re a multi-generational family in the riding, and I’m all about families.”

 Someone approached Abela in August 2024, told him he was a good candidate, and asked him to make the application. He saw a rare opportunity open up, as local MPs that get elected tend to stay for quite some time in the position.

 “I thought, you know, even though I’ve still got several years left on my contract as the police chief, I wanted to take the opportunity to at least put my name in the ring – and see if the members of the party are willing to elect me to represent them in Ottawa,” he said.

 He expressed a distaste for the “awful policies” made under the longstanding Liberal majority. 

“We need to get back to the conservative values in my view of individual responsibility and living within the social contract. Family first, families need to be healthy and well. And I find that if we focus on that, a lot of the ills that have happened in people’s lives, people become resilient to it, and they’re able to overcome the challenges that they face,” he said.

 The chief has been taking some time off from his day job to focus on his candidacy, and said he was very upfront with the police commission about his ambitions. 

“When I knew that I was going to be putting my name in for the nomination race, I approached the commission and I let them know that I was going to be doing it. They were supportive, and we laid out the rules right there.”

 In the nomination race, the Conservative Party of Canada will select a candidate among the regional nominees, and that candidate will go on to run for MP against the other parties’ candidates as part of the general federal election.

 “If I have the privilege of being selected, then we wait for a federal election,” he said. When the federal election is underway, he will have to take a formal leave of absence if he’s the candidate. If he wins as MP, he said he will resign as chief of police.

 To him it’s a new and different way to serve Canadians. 

“I felt a calling to do it, and I put my name in the ring. If it happens, it happens, and I’ll try my best,” he said. “I think I’ve got the character and the skills and education and the ability to do it, to represent us well, and hopefully they select me as a candidate. If they don’t, I respect the members of the party, and I’ll support whoever they put in.”

According to the Bow River Conservative Association, as of Feb. 25 the date for the Bow River CPC nomination vote has not been set.