Alberta boys Pierre Poilievre and Mark Carney return to the province of their youths
It was Alberta Week in Canada's federal election campaign
It was Alberta Week in the federal election campaign with the two party leaders who grew up in the western province returning to wave their party flags and rally supporters.
Pierre Poilievre in Edmonton
Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre caught the most attention by headlining a big rally in a warehouse in Nisku, an industrial area south of Edmonton in the Leduc-Wetaskiwin riding, that is estimated to have attracted between 9,000 and 12,000 supporters. The location south of Edmonton was ideal to draw supporters from the capital region and central Alberta - where Conservative support in this election is solid.
The rally included a special appearance by former prime minister Stephen Harper, who endorsed Poilievre at the event.
Harper’s appearance served a few purposes. First, the former prime minister is well-respected, fondly remembered by many Canadian voters, and any Conservative leader would benefit from Harper lending them his credibility. Second, Harper’s endorsement ensured Poilievre avoided any awkward questions about why the other big Conservative in Alberta politics - Premier Danielle Smith - wasn't at the rally.
Smith shared the stage with Poilievre at a similar rally in Edmonton last year, but her recent charm offensive in Donald Trump's America and threats to create a national unity crisis if the Liberals are re-elected have not been helpful for the Conservative Party’s campaign efforts in this federal election.
The Conservatives are still expected to win most of the ridings in Alberta.
More on the Conservatives
While in Edmonton, Poilievre announced his party’s plan to “crack down on tax cheats,” which would focus Canada Revenue Agency investigations on offshore tax havens, and appears to be partly designed to target Carney’s own history of financial decisions.
Poilievre’s cringe-worthy questioning of Globe & Mail reporter Laura Stone about crowd sizes was probably not the right tone for the Conservative leader to strike after the successful rally the night before.
Foothills Conservative candidate John Barlow was in the Okanagan campaigning with Kelowna Conservative candidate Tracy Gray.
Calgary-Shaw United Conservative Party MLA Rebecca Schulz and Calgary-Fish Creek UCP MLA Miles McDougall were spotted at Conservative candidate Stephanie Kusie’s re-election campaign launch in Calgary Midnapore.
Former UCP President Cynthia Moore, now chairperson of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, was campaigning with Calgary Centre Conservative Greg McLean.
Mark Carney in Calgary
Liberal leader Mark Carney was in Calgary and spoke to a rally of around 2,000 party supporters at the Red and White Club at McMahon Stadium. While Alberta has not been fertile ground for the Liberal Party for a long time, the party has experienced some recent electoral success in Calgary and Edmonton.
The Liberal Party’s surprising jump in public opinion polls has left the party optimistic that it could pick up additional seats in Alberta. But the ballooning nature of the Liberals support in Alberta, which most polls show had rocketed to around the 30 per cent range, means that local organizations weren’t really prepared for the red wave of support.
Despite being the governing party for the past decade, the Liberal campaign is organizationally flying by the seat of its pants in Alberta.
It was only a few months ago, during the final days of Justin Trudeau’s time as Prime Minister, that Liberals in Alberta were reconciled for a historic defeat. Now, the party has had to scramble to nominate candidates and organize campaigns in ridings they never expected to be competitive in this election.
In Calgary, the Liberals have high hopes for George Chahal in Calgary McKnight, Hafeez Malik in Calgary Skyview, Lindsay Luhnau in Calgary Centre, and Corey Hogan in Calgary Confederation. In Edmonton, the Liberals are optimistic about the chances of Eleanor Olszewski in Edmonton Centre and Amarjeet Sohi in Edmonton Southeast.
More on the Liberals
Carney announced plans in Calgary to “make Canada the world’s leading energy superpower,” which would include investing in critical minerals, building clean energy projects quickly, and build out an East-West electricity grid.
Former deputy prime minister Anne McLellan released a video endorsement of Olszewski in Edmonton Centre. McLellan represented the area as a Liberal MP from 1993 to 2006.
McLellan and former Saskatchewan NDP Premier Roy Romanow recently co-authored an op-ed in the Globe & Mail titled “As Westerners, our belief in Canada is unconditional” in response to former Reform Party leader Preston Manning's op-ed claiming Carney was a threat to national unity.
The last time the Liberal Party earned more than 30 per cent of the vote in Alberta in a federal election was in 1968.
The Liberals are the only major party without a full slate of candidates in Alberta. They have candidates nominated in 36 of Alberta’s 37 federal ridings.
Zarnab Zafar was originally nominated as the Liberal candidate in Ponoka-Didsbury but was registered with Elections Canada as an Independent, meaning that there will be no Liberal candidate on the ballot in this central Alberta riding. Zafar ran for the provincial Liberals in Calgary-Beddington in the 2023 election.
Jagmeet Singh in Edmonton
NDP leader Jagmeet Singh was in Edmonton last week to campaign with Trisha Estabrooks in Edmonton Centre. The NDP are hoping this riding could be a third pickup for the party in Alberta.
The NDP doubled their seat total in the province when Blake Desjarlais won in Edmonton Griesbach in 2021 by unseating Conservative Kerry Diotte. Desjarlais is running for re-election, and so is his caucus mate, Heather McPherson, who has represented Edmonton Strathcona since 2019.
McPherson is a safe bet for re-election, with her riding considered one of the safest NDP seats in the country, and Desjarlais is in a rematch with Diotte in what is expected to be a close race.
Despite promising results across Edmonton ridings in the 2021 federal election, the NDP’s drop in the national polls in this election means that, in Alberta, the party’s hopes lie in these three central Edmonton ridings.
More on the NDP
Singh called out Carney for not opposing health privatization plans announced by Premier Smith in Alberta, a challenge the Liberal Prime Minister will have to face if his party is re-elected on April 28.
The CBC’s Jason Markusoff writes about how NDP MLAs are engaging in the federal election campaign:
"Under new guidelines for New Democrat MLAs, they're permitted to campaign for federal candidates but are encouraged not to announce endorsements or post about it on social media, a provincial caucus spokesperson confirmed."
NDP MLAs spotted on the federal campaign trail include Edmonton-Beverly-Clareview MLA Peggy Wright, Edmonton-Glenora MLA Sarah Hoffman, Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood MLA Janis Irwin, and Edmonton-North West MLA David Eggen.
Former Ontario NDP MP Charlie Angus is bringing his “Elbows Up Tour” to Edmonton on April 13. Angus is expected to be joined by NDP candidates from Edmonton and area at the event.
A lot is happening in provincial politics in Alberta
The federal election has captured a lot of my attention over the past few weeks, but there is no shortage of politics happening at the provincial level in Alberta:
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