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Calgary Herald
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Calgary Herald
'Behemoth of Conservative support:' Why Liberals' hoped-for breakthrough in Calgary fizzled
Their campaign did all the right things but ran into a brick wall fortifying Calgary's Conservative fortress, said the campaign manager for Calagary Centre Liberal candidate Linsday Luhnau. Article content Article content It's a sentiment shared by non-Tory candidates, particularly Liberal, whose efforts failed to breach that bastion to realize a much-discussed breakthrough in the city, with four seats supposedly at play. Article content Article content When the dust from Monday's federal election cleared, the Liberals were left with one seat, a status they carried into the contest and their one sitting MP – George Chahal – was defeated. Article content Article content 'Calgary is such a massive behemoth of Conservative support and voters view Conservatives as the home team,' said Hannah Wilson, campaign manager for Lindsay Luhnau, who went down to defeat at the hands of Calgary Centre incumbent Greg McLean. Article content The riding, along with Skyview, McKnight and Confederation, were widely considered fertile for Liberal success among the 11 Calgary constituencies, but in the end, only the latter one fell into the Grit camp, and narrowly at that. Article content Wilson said she's convinced Luhnau and her team ran a top-notch campaign and encountered encouraging signs along the way, including a receptive doorstep audience, an excited volunteer group and motivated Liberal voter base. Article content Article content Article content But that campaign got on its feet five days after the writ was dropped and against a well-established incumbent meant 'we were always playing catch-up.' Article content Luhnau, did well among advance voters, she said but some of the election day locales, such as Inglewood, proved more Conservative-leaning than expected. Article content 'A lot of voters felt left out (by the Liberal government) and that was hard to overcome – I don't think it was Lindsay herself,' she said. Article content Liberal leader Carney, she said, might not have communicated his pro-energy stance clearly enough, added Wilson.
CBC
29-04-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Conservatives control Calgary again, Liberals lead in single seat
The Conservative Party maintained its longstanding dominance in Calgary in tonight's federal election, capturing 10 of the city's 11 ridings. But the Liberal candidate Corey Hogan holds a slim lead in Calgary Confederation over Conservative candidate and former Alberta provincial cabinet minister Jeremy Nixon with one poll remaining to be counted early Tuesday morning. "I am looking forward to being a strong Alberta voice in the government caucus, and making sure that Alberta issues are well understood," Hogan said. "And, that we can mend a bit what has been historically a bit of a divide between ... corporate Calgary and downtown Ottawa. I think that there's a lot we can do to improve relations there." George Chahal, who was the lone Liberal to claim a seat in Calgary in 2021 in Skyview, transitioned to the newly-drawn riding of Calgary McKnight for this election. He was defeated by Conservative Dalwinder Gill, a local real estate agent. Had he won, Chahal would have become Calgary's first-ever two-term Liberal MP. This year, polling suggested the Liberals were in the lead in Calgary McKnight, while Calgary Skyview, Calgary Centre and Calgary Confederation were competitive races. "As I've always said, polls tend to underestimate conservatives in Alberta and it seems that that's the case again," said veteran pollster Janet Brown. In what was thought to be a highly contested seat, Conservative incumbent Greg McLean was victorious in Calgary Centre over Liberal Lindsay Luhnau. Speaking prior to the results being confirmed, McLean said he was pleased to see positive results unfolding for Conservatives in Calgary. "It is a city that has been held back by this Liberal government's policies. I have to wonder, what do Calgarians have to see to understand that the Liberal government is not moving this province forward, is not moving this city forward?" he said. The Conservatives also easily held onto their territory in Calgary Signal Hill, Calgary Heritage, Calgary Shepard and other ridings, where candidates skated by with double-digit victories. Monte Solberg, a Conservative cabinet member under former prime minister Stephen Harper, said the threat of tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump changed the conversation this election season. "However, it is interesting and, as an Alberta conservative, heartening that the beating heart of conservatism is still alive in the big cities in Alberta, and still a reliable source of votes for conservative leaders," he said. Normally a foregone conclusion on election night, Alberta became an area of focus for the Liberal and Conservative parties as the campaign played out. Liberal Leader Mark Carney visited the Red & White Club at McMahon Stadium in early April, while Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre held a rally at a hangar near the Calgary airport late last week. Carney was due to make a second appearance in Calgary on Sunday, but cancelled that event in the wake of the Lapu-Lapu Day festival killings in Vancouver. Other southern Alberta ridings The rest of southern Alberta also went Conservative blue. In Lethbridge, former mayor Chris Spearman wasn't able to become the first-ever Liberal candidate to win the solidly-blue riding, which was once again claimed by Conservative incumbent Rachel Thomas. "It's ultimately just such an honour and a joy. I really look forward to it," Thomas said. Meanwhile, the massive federal riding of Yellowhead, which was redrawn ahead of the 2025 election, was claimed by Conservatives William Stevenson by a big margin. The riding covers a large section of western and central Alberta, including the towns of Banff, Canmore, Jasper, Hinton, Edson, Rocky Mountain House, Carstairs and Sundre.
CTV News
29-04-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Liberals need partners, all parties ‘must pull together' against U.S. threat: political expert
The Liberal Party of Canada is set to form a minority government in the wake of Monday night's federal election, and that will come with challenges, one expert says. 'Presuming that the Governor General asks them to form government, they're going to have to find some partners out there, whether formally or not, to get their legislation passed,' said Trevor Harrison, professor emeritus of political sociology at the University of Lethbridge. It's how the system works, Harrison says, and we'll just have to deal with it. 'Going into negotiations with the United States, with a very unpredictable president, it would be nice to have a very strong government that doesn't have to keep going back to find if it has support on things,' he said. 'On the other hand, Canadians have always been pretty good at compromising coalitions and we're going to have to do that even more so if it's a minority government. 'All the parties have to pull together to deal with, really, the threat from the south.' Harrison says Monday night brought a few surprises in the east, but to the west in the Prairies and Alberta, not so much. That part of the country remains, largely, Conservative blue. Michelle Rempel Garner was quickly declared the winner in Calgary Nose Hill, marking the first Conservative win of many in Calgary and the rest of southern Alberta. In Calgary and southern Alberta, declarations had been made for Conservative candidates in the following ridings at the time of this writing: Michelle Rempel Garner in Calgary Nose Hill; Stephanie Kusie in Calgary Midnapore; Damien Kurek in Battle River-Crowfoot; David Bexte in Bow River; John Barlow in Foothills; Rachael Thomas in Lethbridge; Glen Motz in Medicine Hat-Cardston-Warner; Bailey Burton in Red Deer; Shuv Majumdar in Calgary Heritage; Blake Richards in Airdrie-Cochrane; Blaine Calkins in Ponoka-Didsbury; William Stevenson in Yellowhead; David McKenzie in Calgary Signal Hill; Pat Kelly in Calgary Crowfoot; Jasraj Hallan in Calgary East; Tom Kmiec in Calgary East; and Greg McLean in Calgary Centre. The Conservatives' Greg McLean retook Calgary Centre after a back and forth battle with the Liberals' Lindsay Luhnau. The Conservatives' Greg McLean retook Calgary Centre after a back and forth battle with the Liberals' Lindsay Luhnau. Harrison noted at the time he spoke to CTV News Calgary, the Liberals were still hoping to pull a couple of seats in Calgary. But at the time of this writing, the Liberals Calgary Confederation looked less likely than just an hour or so before, and it looked like the Liberals were also going to lose their seat in Calgary McKnight as well. Calgary Skyview also appeared to be a loss. 'We are going to be seeing recounts,' Harrison said. 'That could bring its own surprises.' It looked like the Liberals' George Chahal was going to lose his seat in Calgary McKnight. The loss was not yet declared at the time of this writing. It looked like the Liberals' George Chahal was going to lose his seat in Calgary McKnight. The loss was not yet declared at the time of this writing. Harrison says it's going to be interesting to see how Alberta's United Conservative government interacts with the new Liberal government. He notes Premier Danielle Smith was laying out demands to whomever won before the election even occurred. 'This is not exactly a handshake way of engaging with a new government,' he said. '(It's) part of the DNA of the UCP, but it also runs long in Alberta politics, is you run against Ottawa, and particularly you run against Liberal governments.' With files by Brendan Ellis and Camilla Di Giuseppe
CBC
24-04-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Red ripple in blue Calgary? Liberals eye record gains in Conservative stronghold
A veteran political organizer in Calgary asked Lindsay Luhnau if she'd consider running for the Liberals last fall. It was an easy "no thanks" for Luhnau, director of a local investment co-operative — Justin Trudeau's party was polling miles behind the Conservatives, and the leader's name was mud nationwide, let alone in blue Alberta's biggest city. Then in March, after Mark Carney became Liberal leader, Luhnau reached out to the politico again. Was it too late to get her nomination papers in, after all? "This was not really a winning proposition six months ago," the Calgary Centre candidate said, as she canvassed blocks in a Marda Loop neighbourhood dominated by red signs bearing her name. This part of the riding went Conservative by almost 20 points in the last election. With the Liberals hugging onto a national polling lead that defies their previously dismal odds, the party is now campaigning with hopes of achieving the unprecedented and once-unthinkable. Four red seats in Calgary. Luhnau is hopeful in Centre, which the Liberals held for a single term in 2015. North of the Bow River, the party believes it can flip Calgary Confederation, the other inner-city district. In the city's northeast, George Chahal is defending the turf he won in 2021 in Calgary McKnight, trying to make history as the first two-term Liberal MP in Calgary history. And just north of his riding, Hafeez Malik is pushing in the redrawn riding of Calgary Skyview, where Conservatives have been marred by infighting and controversy over their candidates' nomination. "We have an opportunity to win more seats, but we're going to have to work right to the end to make sure we're able to do that," Chahal told CBC News. In the middle of the campaign's final week, the Centre, Confederation and Skyview ridings are rated as toss-ups, according to seat projections from polling aggregators 338 Canada and The Writ (by Éric Grenier, the researcher behind CBC's Poll Tracker). Calgary McKnight was forecast by both as a Liberal hold, while both researchers predicted the other seven Calgary seats would likely stay Conservative. Liberal hopes for Calgary are unusually high, but most campaigners are aware that history and habit aren't on their side in this traditionally Conservative city. They'll need elements to all line up in their favour to rack up multiple wins here, in a city which has been represented by a grand total of three Liberals MPs in all elections since the 1970s. Carney's leadership seems to be one of those factors putting wind in Liberal sails. Chahal was one of the earliest Liberal MPs to openly call for Trudeau's resignation last year, and he can sense the aversion to voting for the party has eased. "With Mark Carney, the fear factor is gone," Chahal said. Liberal aspirations are tied to wooing more voters like Marda Loop resident Christopher Thierman, a self-described fiscal conservative who has long voted that way. The retired telecommunications worker said he admired Carney when he was Bank of Canada governor under then-prime minister Stephen Harper, and has been turned off by the Conservatives now deriding the economist. But something else has deterred him from his usual Conservative vote — leader Pierre Poilievre. Thierman has backed Centre's Conservative candidate Greg McLean in the past, but won't this time. "I told him I cannot support his party. I cannot support American-style politics," Thierman said of Poilievre's bare-knuckle political style. McLean, who has twice won election in a downtown-area riding with a progressive political streak, has long positioned himself as a moderate in the Conservative ranks. His campaign has produced its own pamphlets, rather than the standard-issue pamphlets with big pictures of Poilievre and slogans like "axe the tax" that other campaigns distribute. One piece of McLean's campaign literature instead features his own picture and while one headline declares "Vote for Leadership," neither the Conservative leader's name or image appear on it. McLean, the only incumbent MP in these four Liberal-targeted ridings, did not agree to an interview for this story. Nor did the other Conservative candidates. But in an interview Thursday with the Calgary Eyeopener, McLean acknowledged some of the pushback he gets at doors about Poilievre. "People worry about tone, and I can tell you that when you're the leader of the Opposition, your job is to be heard," the Centre candidate said. "I'm very certain that when he's going to be prime minister he's going to grow into that role very effectively as well. Watch and wait." McLean also highlights the need for change, and how Carney doesn't represent it, given the Liberal platform adds additional spending and deficits to the federal books. "So far what he's shown is much more of the same as before." Len Webber, the retiring three-term Conservative member for Confederation, said this election feels more like his first federal election run in 2015 than it did his next two in 2019 or 2021. But in that race a decade ago, he recalls the Liberals threw everything at him and he still won — albeit by 1,500 votes, instead of more than 20,000 and 10,000 in the following two contests. It may feel tighter than those landslides, Webber said, but he's feeling good about keeping his former seat in the party's tent after campaigning with this year's Conservative contender Jeremy Nixon in the Parkdale neighbourhood recently. "I would say the better doors far outnumbered the not-so-friendly doors," Webber said. He's not the only sitting MP to lend Nixon and fellow Calgary candidates some support — a potential sign of the competitiveness they're feeling. Given how solidly blue some Calgary ridings tend to be, experienced Conservatives in some suburban ridings spend much of their campaign periods in other provinces, door-knocking with candidates hoping to gain seats in the Toronto area, Winnipeg and B.C.'s Lower Mainland. But with a red tide seeming to lap onto the home shores in 2025, Shuv Majumdar (Calgary Heritage) canvassed in April in Centre and some of the other tight Calgary races, as has Stephanie Kusie (Midnapore) and Blake Richards (Airdrie-Cochrane). Poilievre himself is scheduled to hold a "whistle stop" rally near the Calgary airport on Friday afternoon. Chahal is lending similar incumbent support to Skyview candidate Malik, appearing regularly with him at community events. That riding includes parts of northeast Calgary that were strong for the Liberals in 2021, but also large northern communities west of Deerfoot Trail that have been Conservative strongholds. But in both McKnight and Skyview, the Conservative candidates were appointed right before the campaign's launch, over the protests of several people who'd been selling party memberships to run in nomination races that were never held. Ranbir Singh Parmar, one of the former Conservative hopefuls in McKnight, has switched to the Liberals. A former president of the Dashmesh Culture Centre, a major Sikh gurdwara, he endorsed Malik over the Conservatives' Amanpreet Singh Gill, who was also once the gurdwara's president. "It's a very awkward situation for the party at the moment," said Balwinder Sahota, the president of Skyview's Conservative electoral district association. His own daughter, the riding's former MP, also wanted to run in the never-held nomination — and he told CBC News he's now helping other Conservatives in the city, but not Gill in Skyview. Calgarians' chilliness toward the federal Liberals goes back much farther than the climate-change and energy policies of Justin Trudeau, or even his father. No Liberals were ever elected in the city until the wartime election of 1940, when both of a smaller city's seats went red (but then reverted to Conservative in the next campaign). Harry Hays, the namesake of Calgary's federal office building, won as a Liberal in Calgary South in 1963 but lost two years later; and Patrick Mahoney was a one-term wonder for that seat in 1968. A long drought was snapped in 2015 by successful Liberals in Centre and Skyview, but there was a wipeout in 2019 before Chahal's lone win in 2021. In other words, three Liberal seats out of Calgary's 11 would be the most ever in the city; getting four would double the party's previous record. In Confederation, the Liberals had to switch candidates after dumping their initial one in the first week. He was replaced by Corey Hogan, a University of Calgary vice-president and political podcaster, whose name recognition has helped bring a surge of volunteers into his campaign office, his team says. And taking advantage of the fact the provincial NDP has swept the area in the most recent Alberta contest, Hogan's campaign has distributed brochures that depict this contest as between Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith. The brochures highlight some of Smith's controversial comments that draw comparisons between Poilevre and U.S. President Donald Trump, and note that his Conservative rival, former MLA Jeremy Nixon, has most recently worked for the UCP caucus. Confederation also has a noticeable smattering of NDP signs throughout the riding, in an election where polls show support for Jagmeet Singh's party has plummeted in Alberta and the rest of the country. Unlike her Liberal and Conservative rivals, university instructor Keira Gunn has been campaigning in Confederation for more than a year. But she's fighting the perception this has become a Liberal-Conservative race — Hogan's campaign is circulating flyers that report polling aggregator 338 Canada is projecting a toss-up between the red and blue parties, with the NDP only forecast to score a few percentage points. "It's got to be frustrating for you," one NDP supporter in the Sunnyside neighbourhood told Gunn as she canvassed there last week. It is. Gunn stresses to everyone she can that 338 Canada isn't reporting on a riding-specific poll, but rather uses a mathematical model to extrapolate how provincial and national poll numbers may swing past results. She vows to endorse a different electoral system — proportional representation — regardless of this election's results. "I don't want things to move to a two-party system," Gunn said. "I want people to feel good about voting." Some lawns in Confederation have both her sign and Hogan's, suggesting strategic voting considerations are a matter for debate even within some households. Confederation is one of the few Calgary ridings in which the Conservatives didn't win more than 50 per cent of the vote last time, which suggests that the non-Conservative vote all tilting one way could prove decisive. In other places, like Centre and Skyview, Liberal victory may depend on changing some traditionally Conservative minds. Luhnau recognizes that many Calgarians will remain inaccessible to her party. "You're gonna have people who are not going to vote for us because we're Liberals, for sure, regardless," she said. These four seats in Calgary might not determine the election. But a substantially less blue political map of Calgary might reveal something about the city that hasn't been the case before.
CBC
14-04-2025
- Politics
- CBC
16 races set in southern Alberta as election day approaches
Social Sharing The list of candidates running in Alberta is set, and the 2025 federal election is two weeks away, on Monday, April 28. There are 91 candidates running in 16 ridings across Calgary and southern Alberta. Some of those ridings are brand new, and the electoral map looks a bit different this election because of a redistribution of federal districts based on data from the 2021 Canadian census. Nearly all 16 ridings have had their boundaries redrawn, even if only slightly. All of Calgary's electoral boundaries have shifted. Notably, the ridings of Calgary McKnight and Airdrie-Cochrane are new, with the former's boundary being taken largely from the southern portion of what used to be Calgary Skyview. The current riding of Calgary Skyview now covers much of the northeastern limits of the city. The 16 ridings in southern Alberta are: Airdrie-Cochrane Bow River Calgary Centre Calgary Confederation Calgary Crowfoot Calgary East Calgary Heritage Calgary McKnight Calgary Midnapore Calgary Nose Hill Calgary Shepard Calgary Signal Hill Calgary Skyview Foothills Lethbridge Medicine Hat-Cardston-Warner For a breakdown of the ridings in northern and central Alberta, click here. Four of the 16 ridings in Calgary and southern Alberta are open races with no incumbent. Of the incumbents running, 11 are Conservative and one is a Liberal who is running in a new riding because of redrawn riding boundaries. The Conservatives, Liberals and New Democrats have candidates running in all 16 of those ridings, while the Green Party and People's Party are running 12 and 11 candidates respectively across Calgary and southern Alberta. Some candidates are running in various ridings with the endorsement of other political parties or with no political party affiliation. Candidates with no political party can run either as an independent or non-affiliated candidate. Five such candidates are running in ridings in Calgary and southern Alberta. voter information service website. Advance polling stations will be open April 18-21, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. online voter registration service before election day.
