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 The Legislative Assembly of Alberta is the deliberative assembly of the province of Alberta, Canada. It sits in the Alberta Legislature Building in Edmonton. The Legislative Assembly currently has 87 members, elected first past the post from sin ...

, representing the

electoral district An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...

of Stony Plain.

Early life

Babcock was the daughter of a pipeliner in the

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

oil industry, and her family lived in many areas across

Western Canada Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West or the Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a Canadian region that includes the four western provinces just north of the Canada� ...

during her childhood. She mentioned that her family's involvement in the oil industry had affected their family life and their economic status.

Career

Babcock worked as a

licensed practical nurse A licensed practical nurse (LPN), in much of the United States and Canada, is a nurse who cares for people who are sick, injured, convalescent, or disabled. In the United States, LPNs work under the direction of physicians, mid-level practitio ...

since 2006 before entering politics in 2015. She had worked in

Kindersley Kindersley is a town surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Kindersley No. 290 in west-central Saskatchewan, Canada. It is located along Highway 7, a primary highway linking Calgary, Alberta and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. At a population of 4,597 ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

as a nurse before moving to

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

. 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 Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities and physical disabilities, providing year-round training and activities to 5 million participants and Unified Sports partners in 1 ...

where she served on the board of directors.

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 The United Conservative Party of Alberta (UCP) is a conservative political party in the province of Alberta, Canada. It was established in July 2017 as a merger between the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta and the Wildrose Party ...

Searle Turton Searle Turton (born 23 June 1979) is a Canadian politician who is the Alberta Minister of Children and Family Services. He was elected in the 2019 Alberta general election to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta representing the electoral distric ...

Illness and death

Babcock was diagnosed with

uterine cancer Uterine cancer, also known as womb cancer, includes two types of cancer that develop from the tissues of the uterus. Endometrial cancer forms from the lining of the uterus, and uterine sarcoma forms from the muscles or support tissue of the uteru ...

in May 2018. She said that she would continue as the MLA for Stony Plain while undergoing cancer treatment. The treatment would take a couple of weeks and did not stop her from pursuing the issues that got her involved in politics. 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. Babcock died from the cancer in

on 25 April 2020, at age 38.

Electoral history

2019 general election

2015 general election

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Babcock, Erin 1981 births 2020 deaths Alberta New Democratic Party MLAs Women MLAs in Alberta 21st-century Canadian politicians Place of birth missing 21st-century Canadian women politicians Canadian nurses Deaths from uterine cancer Women nurses Deaths from cancer in Alberta