Trudeau eyes new blood in Alberta ridings
Liberal candidates expected to be in place this fall
Hoping for a breakthrough in Tory-blue Alberta, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau plans to have candidates — including some high-profile Calgarians — in place this autumn ready to fight next year’s federal election.
In Calgary for the kickoff of Stampede just days after a round of byelections saw the Liberals come up short in two Alberta ridings, Trudeau said Friday the party “still has a lot of work to do” but Albertans are “more enthusiastically inclined” toward the Grits.
Trudeau, who had his son Xavier and daughter Ella-Grace in tow, watched the Stampede Parade before mainstreeting down Stephen Avenue in the afternoon.
He later spent 20 minutes in the grandstands of the rodeo grounds chatting with Chima Nkemdirim, chief of staff to Mayor Naheed Nenshi. The Liberals have been actively trying to recruit Nkemdirim to run in Calgary Centre, where the party narrowly lost a 2012 byelection.
Trudeau said he wants to have the “vast majority” of nominations done this fall — including target ridings such as Calgary Centre — to give candidates a year to take on Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservatives ahead of the next vote, slated for October 2015.
“This year is about team and planning. That’s what people are looking for,” he said in an interview as he walked through the Stampede grounds.
“And that’s a nice point of contrast to the current prime minister, who’s not really emphasizing team.”
The party already has two candidates in key city ridings, with MLA Darshan Kang nominated in Calgary Skyview and lawyer Matt Grant in Calgary Confederation.
The Liberals haven’t held an Alberta riding since 2004 and haven’t won a seat in Calgary since 1968, when Trudeau’s father, Pierre, led the party to a smashing national victory on the waves of “Trudeaumania.”
Trudeau — who as a child saw Alberta sour on his father over the hated National Energy Policy — said he doesn’t want to form government without strong representation from the province.
And he sees hopeful signs in the party’s showing in the Fort McMurray-Athabasca byelection, where it took 35 per cent of the vote after a major push, and even in the Macleod vote, where the Liberals’ 17 per cent of the vote marked a fourfold increase over 2011.
“We’re not supposed to do anything there,” said the Papineau MP.
“There’s definitely an openness and an interest on the ground that I think is really, really exciting.”
The third-place Liberals also won two Toronto seats Monday, including a riding previously held by the NDP.
Michelle Rempel — the Conservative minister of state for western economic diversification — earlier this week dismissed concerns about the growth of the Liberal vote and said the signals from the byelections were positive for the Tories.
“Governments don’t usually win byelections,” the Calgary CentreNorth MP said Thursday.
“We have an excellent track record compared to other governments for winning byelections. Certainly we’ll continue to work hard and make sure we’re reaching out to our communities and shoring up our vote.”
But Trudeau also received a warm personal reception in Calgary, with a multitude of passersby both downtown and at the Stampede grounds approaching him to shake hands or have their pictures taken with him. “People like him,” Nkemdirim said in a brief interview. “People sense he’s genuine.”
Nkemdirim said he is “still thinking” about a potential run for the federal Liberals and suggested he may make a decision in the next couple of months.
Trudeau said there are other potential candidates in Calgary Centre if Nkemdirim doesn’t run, but he compared him to Toronto byelection winner Adam Vaughn for his strong urban background.