Alberta Liberals back in red with traditional logo choice
Green and grey ‘Liberalberta’ logo dropped in rebranding effort
The provincial Liberal party’s logo is back in the red in a possible effort to hitch a ride on the coattails of federal Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, says a local political analyst.
The Alberta Liberals shed their grey and green Liberalberta’ logo it introduced in 2012, reverting to the red logo traditionally associated with them as the party brand undergoes a minor facelift.
“I suspect the party is trying to tap into a latent and growing support in the province for Justin Trudeau,” MacEwan University political scientist Chaldeans Mensah said Monday.
The federal Liberal leader made a visit to Alberta in recent weeks, with stops in Calgary, Okotoks and Edmonton, where he made a speech at an evening rally of a few hundred supporters.
“I think traditionally the Alberta Liberals have tried to distance themselves from their federal counterparts ... but we’ve seen the reach in the nation of the Liberal brand and Justin Trudeau and the potential to perhaps make some inroads in this province,” Mensah said.
Liberal Leader Dr. Raj Sherman said the rebranding had more to do with what the party’s membership wanted. I’ve said from the beginning, a Liberal is a Liberal is a Liberal,” Sherman said.
“We’re a membership-responsive organization. We’re responding to the needs and requestsofourmembers.The Alberta Liberals are undergoing our own resurgence.”
Sherman said while the green logo was “bold and interesting,” many members wanted the party to embrace its historic red identity.
Mensah said the previous rebranding effort may have proven confusing to Alberta voters.
“The party is trying to create a space for itself in the context of Alberta politics, but it has had difficulty in the past trying to separate itself from the NDP on the one hand and also trying to prevent a loss of progressive support to the Conservatives,” he said.