William Stevenson: Conservative Party of Canada candidate for Yellowhead

By Jordan Rein

Conservative Party of Canada

William Stevenson: Conservative Party of Canada candidate for Yellowhead

Apr 7, 2025 | 1:42 PM

William Stevenson, the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) candidate for the newly re-drawn Yellowhead riding, is stepping into the political spotlight after years of behind-the-scenes work.

A professional chartered accountant (CPA) with over 26 years of experience in personal and corporate tax, Stevenson says he has deep roots in the riding, living on his family’s farm southwest of Carstairs. His family has been in the area since the 1880s, and despite the demands of his accounting career, Stevenson says he’s maintained a strong tie to his agricultural background.

Though new to the political frontlines, Stevenson brings to the table around 30 years of behind-the-scenes political experience. Over the past 18 years, he’s worked as a financial agent for Members of Parliament and also politicians on the provincial level. Now, he’s taking the leap, aiming to represent Yellowhead in Ottawa. With this move, Stevenson says, if elected, his knowledge of politics and financial management will be an asset in addressing the concerns of the people in his riding.

The newly redrawn Yellowhead riding is “so much different” from the old one says Stevenson. The sprawling riding stretching from Kananaskis in the south to Grande Cache in the north. The new boundary combines parts of five other ridings, including Banff-Airdrie, Red Deer-Mountain View, and Foothills, covering a diverse array of communities and industries. New to the riding is the town of Sundre, and Stevenson’s home town of Carstairs.

Stevenson says the newly redrawn map presents an interesting opportunity for him personally, as his home town of Carstairs was formerly in Earl Dreeshen’s riding of Red Deer-Mountain View, and his farm was located near the confluence of Blake Richards’ Banff-Airdrie riding— areas of which are now part of Yellowhead including a former section of John Barlow’s Foothills riding.

Yellowhead continues to be extremely diverse in its makeup, says Stevenson, from the tourism-heavy areas of Banff and Jasper to the industrial towns in the north with pulp mills, coal mines, and farming communities, and the Grande Cache penitentiary, he notes the needs of the riding’s residents vary significantly. However, he believes his experience in both business and agriculture would allow him to better represent all the regions in Yellowhead.

If elected, Stevenson’s main priorities will be addressing the cost of living, taxes, and economic challenges. “My focus, because it’s my wheelhouse will definitely be taxes, cost of living and dealing with what’s affecting everybody’s pocketbook right now. That is pretty much universal for the entire riding.”

However, if elected and the CPC forms government, Stevenson predicts his status as a “rookie MP” will preclude him from being in a cabinet post. He says he’d hope to be on a committee focusing on his area of expertise of taxes and cost of living.

Though the riding is vast, with over 800 kilometres to cover, Stevenson says he’s already been putting kilometres on his truck in canvassing the area, logging over 10,000 kilometres since his nomination.

Stevenson says he’ll be in Rocky Mountain House on March 26 to not only meet with the returning officer with Elections Canada to file paperwork, but will also be spending some time knocking on doors and meeting voters in the community.

Stevenson takes over as CPC nominee from MP Gerald Soroka who announced he would not be the party’s nominee in 2025.

So far, along with the CPC nominating Stevenson, three other parties have nominated candidates in the Yellowhead riding:

• Avni Soma has been nominated by the New Democratic Party (NDP).
• Vicky Bayford has been nominated by the People’s Party of Canada (PPC).
• Michael Fark has been nominated by the Liberal Party of Canada (LPC).

EverythingGP has reached out to all declared candidates for an interview.

Voters head to the polls on April 28.

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