Jackie Lovely

Before serving with the Legislative Assembly, Ms. Lovely was employed with the Good Samaritan Society, a charitable organization providing care services and programs to aging populations. Previously, she spent over 20 years with a family-owned property management and real estate company and more than 15 years as a project coordinator for a global energy distributor. She was an English as a second language instructor and a member and vice president of the Camrose and Leduc chambers of commerce. She is also a Rotarian.[3]

Ms. Lovely holds an MBA from Cape Breton University, a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Saskatchewan, and a diploma in hotel and restaurant administration from Saskatchewan Polytechnic.[4]

Before being elected to represent Camrose in the 2019 Alberta General Election, as a member of the United Conservative party, she ran unsuccessfully in 2012 and 2015 in the riding of Edmonton-Ellerslie, as the candidate for the Wildrose Party.[5]

In April 2021, she proposed Bill 216, the Fire Prevention and Fire Services Recognition Act, aimed at creating a “Fire Services Recognition Day” within Fire Prevention Week.[6]

On November 23, 2021, Lovely was appointed the Parliamentary Secretary for Status of Women, a position which she held until October 23, 2022.[3]

Lovely was a judge in the Her Vision Inspires contest, a contest announced in February of 2022 that was a partnership between the Legislative Assembly of Alberta and the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians Canadian Region. Young women between the ages of 17 and 25 were asked to describe their "unique vision for Alberta" and what they would do if they were elected to be an MLA.[7]

The winner of the contest, R. Cochrane, in her essay encouraged more women to run for office in order to achieve better representation. She emphasized the importance of supporting especially young women ages 18 to 26 especially, that there needs to be better advertising of programs that encourage them to run for office. Additionally she suggested that there should be a program to pair young women with "women already in office." The second place winner, M. Ovcharenko, emphasized the importance of an engaged electorate and high voter turnout. She also supported an educational curriculum with foundational knowledge for children, along with financial literacy and critical thinking.[8]

The third entry, by S. Silver, placed importance on "healthy families and communities", rather than "personal greed and selfishness", believing there should be a "healthy appreciation for the value young Albertan women have in their ability to carry forward our population into the future." also that society should recognize that "unique strength" and the importance of children rather than seeing them as an "expensive burden." The essay proposed financial support for mothers to help them afford raising a family and medals for having more than two children. The essay received criticism for its statement that "women are not exactly equal to men" and for being against the promotion of women breaking into male dominated careers, along with the author being against the idea that, "While it is sadly popular nowadays to think that the world would be better off without humans, or that Albertan children are unnecessary as we can import foreigners to replace ourselves, this is a sickly mentality that amounts to a drive for cultural suicide."[8] The government confirmed the contest only received five entries.[9]

On August 10, 2022, Lovely confirmed to CBC News that she and Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk were part of the judging panel that awarded the essay $200. Lovely apologized for her role in the essay contest, writing in an email to CBC news that, "As a single mother who has pursued a wide variety of traditionally male-dominated careers, I deeply understand the strength and ability of women." and "Also, as a former ESL teacher who hosted 56 international students, I also value and appreciate the role of newcomers in our province, and will continue working to remove barriers to equity and prosperity for all."[9]

Lovely tabled Bill 205, the Official Sport of Alberta Act. “The sport commonly known as rodeo, including chuckwagon races, is hereby recognized and declared as the official sport of Alberta,” the bill reads, following its introduction in the legislature in December of 2022, which as of March 29, 2023, is yet to pass. Calgary-North MLA Muhammad Yaseen introduced a similar private member’s bill in December 2020 and a committee report recommended it proceed onto next steps to become law.[10]