EDMONTON -- The Speaker of the Alberta legislature is resigning his seat in the assembly to become the province's representative to the United States.
"Serving this assembly has been one of the greatest honours of my lifetime," Nathan Cooper said Wednesday in a speech to the house announcing his resignation.
"Working as the assembly's chief diplomat has equipped me in, and to be ready for, my next role serving Albertans in a new and meaningful way."
Cooper said he will officially resign as Speaker on Monday, and an election of legislature members for a new Speaker will take place Tuesday.
The Speaker's role is to preside over debates and proceedings in the house in a non-partisan manner.
Cooper said he was the eighth-longest serving Speaker in the province's history, presiding over 340 question periods, "or 12 full days of question periods," as well as more than 2,000 hours of debate.
Cooper was first elected in Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills as a member of the Wildrose Party in 2015.
When the party merged with the Progressive Conservatives two years later, Cooper became the United Conservative Party's first leader on an interim basis before it held a formal leadership race.
Cooper was elected Speaker by fellow MLAs following the 2019 provincial election and was re-elected to the role in 2023.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 7, 2025.