“The MP in Calgary Centre is a very valued position,” said Glenn Solomon, president of Calgary Centre’s Conservative riding association. The riding has been held by various conservative parties since it was created in 1966 and is considered a safe Conservative seat in a province where the Conservatives hold 25 of the province’s 28 seats. Mr. Richardson won the last election with 57.7 per cent of the vote and by a margin of 19,770 votes. The NDP hold one seat, there's one Independent Conservative, one vacancy, and 25 Conservatives in Alberta.
“You’re actually respected as being a Member of Parliament, you do a lot with local communities and businesses, and there are some automatic privileges you have, such as sitting on the Stampede Board, which is one of the most coveted boards in Calgary,” said Mr. Solomon.
When Mr. Richardson stepped down as MP for Calgary Centre in June it set off a stampede to replace him as the MP for the city’s most urban riding. Mr. Richardson vacated his seat on May 30 to take the role of principal secretary to Progressive Conservative Premier Alison Redford following her party’s come-from-behind victory over Danielle Smith’s Wildrose Party in the province’s April 23 election.
Mr. Solomon confirmed that at least half a dozen people are currently considering a run at the Conservative candidacy for the byelection. Former Calgary Herald columnist and pundit Joan Crockatt, former Calgary alderman and Alberta MLA Jon Lord, and current Calgary alderman John Mar have gone public with their intentions to seek the nomination, while other names have been speculated but remain unconfirmed.
In addition to the prestige of the Calgary Centre seat, Mr. Solomon said that the riding association’s resources will be another advantage to the eventual nominee.
“I’d predict that the Conservative candidate will be the member of Parliament and that the nomination race is going to be the real fight, because we know how to win elections in this riding. It’s not that we take it for granted—it’s that we’re prepared to put in the work and effort,” said Mr. Solomon.
Mr. Richardson consistently took between 51 and 58 per cent of the popular vote in Calgary Centre over the last four elections, beating out the second-place Liberal candidates by between 10,000 and 20,000 votes. In other Alberta ridings the Conservatives are more dominant. By comparison, Conservative Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney (Calgary Southeast, Alta.) won his riding with more than 76 per cent of the vote in 2011, while Conservative MP Rob Anders (Calgary West, Alta.) won his riding with nearly 62 per cent of the vote last year.
The Conservative riding association’s nomination committee and the Conservative Party of Canada have yet to confirm anyone as a candidate for the nomination. Anyone seeking the nomination requires the approval of both the riding and the party to be considered. Nominations close on Aug. 2, and the nomination is supposed to be held between Aug. 24 and Aug. 28, according to party rules.
Individuals seeking the party’s nomination must provide a nomination petition signed by at least 25 current members residing within Calgary Centre who have been members of the Conservative Party for a minimum of 21 days before signing the nomination petition.
Although no one has been officially accepted as candidate for the nomination yet, Ms. Crockatt, who only recently became a member of the federal Conservative Party following her departure from the Herald, was out making the rounds during the Calgary Stampede in an attempt to woo Calgary Centre Conservatives and enlist more members.
“We’re treating this as equally competitive as the byelection,” Ms. Crockatt told The Hill Times in an interview this week. “We know this riding has been conservative since 1966, so there is competition to see who’s going to represent it for the Conservative Party.”
Ms. Crockatt said that seeking the nomination involves showing support for the Conservative Party’s track record and policies, but also convincing membership that you are the best candidate for the party.
“There probably aren’t many bookies who would take odds against this riding going Conservative in the next election, but it’s never a given. You have to go out and make your case to people,” Ms. Crockatt said. “The Conservatives are not entitled. We’ll have to fight hard in this race and make sure we win it.”
Mr. Lord is also anticipating a competitive race for the Conservative nomination in Calgary Centre. He said he expects both the nomination race and the byelection race to be tight.
“We geared up early and we’ve been hitting it hard and fast. We weren’t waiting until the fall because I anticipated that it would be a very early call,” said Mr. Lord, who served two terms as alderman in Calgary and one term as an MLA in former Alberta premier Ralph Klein’s Progressive Conservative government. “As far as the nomination goes, the earlier the better as far as I'm concerned.”
Calgary Centre has a long history of being represented by the moderate wings of conservative political parties. The seat was held for more than twenty years by Mulroney-era Cabinet minister Harvie Andre before turning to the populist Reform and Canadian Alliance parties from 1993 until 2000. In 2000, then federal PC leader Joe Clark held the seat for a term before stepping down following his party’s merger with the Canadian Alliance in 2004. Lee Richardson, widely considered one of last remaining ‘Red Tories’ in Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s (Calgary Southwest, Alta.) Conservative caucus, represented Calgary Centre from 2004 until the spring of 2012.
Mr. Solomon said that the riding’s urban demographics set the riding apart from more suburban and rural ridings within Alberta, and more like ridings found in the downtown cores of many other Canadian cities.
“It’s no different from Ottawa Centre, Edmonton- Strathcona, or downtown Toronto,” said Mr. Solomon, noting that Calgary Centre tends to be younger with a diverse immigrant population and a wide range of income brackets within the riding. “In terms of ridings in Alberta, it tends to be more focused on the centre of the political spectrum.”
“Calgary Centre Conservatives tend to select their candidates very carefully. They tend to select someone who is representative of the community. We attract a plethora of start candidates,” Mr. Solomon told The Hill Times. “We have a very good political machine in Calgary Centre, in terms of volunteers, members and money, and we work very hard to win this seat every time.”
Original Article
Source: hill times
Author: Chris Plecash
No comments:
Post a Comment