Todd Loewen moved to the Valleyview area at a young age, in 1967, with his parents and two brothers where he lived on a farm and homestead. In 1989, Loewen purchased his own farm and started a small business.[7] Loewen is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.[8]
Loewen again stood as the candidate for the renamed Wildrose Party in the 2012 Alberta general election in Grande-Prairie-Smoky finishing second with 41 per cent of the vote behind Progressive Conservative and former Reeve of County of Grande PrairieEverett McDonald who captured 46 per cent of the vote.
MLA of 29th Alberta Legislature
In the 2015 Alberta general election Loewen was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for Grande Prairie-Smoky capturing 33 per cent of the vote. Loewen defeated New Democrat candidate Todd Russell (31 per cent) and incumbent Everett McDonald.[9] After the election, Loewen was appointed as the Official Opposition's critic for Environment and Parks, a position he retained when the Wildrose Party merged with the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta in 2017 to form the United Conservative Party (UCP). During the 29th Legislature Loewen came under public scrutiny when he insinuated New Democrat Rod Loyola received illegal election contributions from South America.[10]
In February 2021, Loewen argued for a regional based reopening strategy during the end of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Alberta.[12] In April 2021, Loewen was one of 18 United Conservative members to sign an open letter to Premier Jason Kenney criticizing public health measures aimed to reduce the spread of COVID-19.[13] On May 13, 2021 Loewen posted an open letter calling for Premier Jason Kenney to resign, and in the letter Loewen resigned his position as caucus chair, but did not resign from the United Conservative Party. Loewen's letter criticized Kenney's government for weak negotiations with the federal government, ignoring caucus members, delivering contradictory messages, failures in negotiations with doctors over billing, and the controversy regarding coal mining in the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains.[14][15]
On May 13, 2021, Loewen and fellow UCP MLA Drew Barnes were kicked out of the UCP caucus by a caucus-wide vote after both criticized the UCP government response to COVID-19.[5]
On 1 November 2023 Loewen was interviewed at the Jasper Park Lodge as part of the Alberta Forests Products Association annual general meeting. He lamented the fact that the year was a record breaker for forest fires. He promised a departmental review of the wildfire response and emphasized the value of the forestry management process in deterring catastrophic wildfires. At the time 17,000 Albertans were employed directly by the industry.[18]
