Jason Stephan is a Canadian tax lawyer, chartered accountant and politician elected in the 2019 Alberta general election to represent the electoral district of Red Deer-South in the 30th Alberta Legislature as a member of the United Conservative Party. Stephan is the founder of the Red Deer Taxpayers Association.
Political career
MLA Stephan currently serves on the Standing Committee on Alberta's Economic Future as well as the Standing Committee on Public Accounts. Mr. Stephan has previously served on the Select Special Committee to Examine Safe Supply, the Standing Committee on Privileges and Elections, Standing Orders and Printing, as well as the Select Special Information and Privacy Commissioner Search Committee among others.
Jason Stephan has been an outspoken critic of Canada's equalization system and of the federal government's Just Transition Plan, often speaking to them as ways the federal government takes advantage of Alberta.
As a legislator, MLA Stephan has pushed for accountability on multiple projects, including the AHS expansion of the Red Deer Hospital and more funding into primary care.
In January 2021, Stephan was found to be vacationing in Phoenix, Arizona, during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and was asked to resign from his position on the Treasury Board as a result. He defended his choice by stating that “International travel, in and of itself, does not negatively impact Alberta’s COVID curve if it is done responsibly.” He also said that "I do not consider myself an exception to health guidelines. I have never asked Albertans to do things that I myself would not do – and that includes not travelling". Later that year, Stephan requested for a public inquiry into harms of COVID-19 restrictions, often being more critical of restrictions during the pandemic.
During the 2024 United Conservative Party Annual General Meeting, Stephan supported a member statement in the legislature, stating that he supported the citizen initiative process to be used to hold a referendum on “late-term abortion.” As minister of constitutional affairs, he became the first Alberta MLA to publicly express support for an independence referendum. In March 2026, Stephan reiterated his support for an independence referendum in an op-ed to Western Standard.
A recall petition against Stephan was approved by Elections Alberta on November 14, 2025. Signature collection ran from November 26, 2025, to February 23, 2026, and did not gather the required 14,508 signatures.
Electoral history
2023 general election
| ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| United Conservative | Jason Stephan | 13,469 | 56.06 | -4.25 | ||||
| New Democratic | Michelle Baer | 9,976 | 41.52 | +15.98 | ||||
| Green | Ashley MacDonald | 274 | 1.14 | +0.22 | ||||
| Wildrose Loyalty Coalition | Jesse Stretch | 160 | 0.67 | – | ||||
| Solidarity Movement | Pamela Liebenberg | 146 | 0.61 | – | ||||
| Total | 24,025 | 99.36 | – | |||||
| Rejected and declined | 155 | 0.64 | ||||||
| Turnout | 24,180 | 61.81 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 39,120 | |||||||
| United Conservative hold | Swing | -10.11 | ||||||
Source(s)
Source: Elections Alberta | ||||||||
2023 UCP Red Deer-South nomination contest
March 4, 2023
| Candidate | ||
|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | |
| Jason Stephan | 591 | 71.7 |
| Adele Poratto | 233 | 28.3 |
| Total | 824 | 100.00 |
2019 general election
| ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| United Conservative | Jason Stephan | 16,159 | 60.31% | 8.11% | ||||
| New Democratic | Barb Miller | 6,844 | 25.54% | -10.31% | ||||
| Alberta Party | Ryan Mcdougall | 3,244 | 12.11% | 6.82% | ||||
| Freedom Conservative | Teah-Jay Cartwright | 299 | 1.12% | – | ||||
| Green | Lori Curran | 246 | 0.92% | -0.48% | ||||
| Total | 26,792 | – | – | |||||
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | 161 | 58 | 12 | |||||
| Eligible electors / turnout | 37,495 | 71.92% | 19.90% | |||||
| United Conservative gain from New Democratic | Swing | 13.27% | ||||||
Source(s)
Source: "79 - Red Deer-South, 2019 Alberta general election". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved May 21, 2020. | ||||||||
