Alberta analysts and Liberal politicians react to Toronto campaign finish
Posted Apr 6, 2013 2:44 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The action may be in Toronto, but party members in Alberta are boasting the attention is coming in nationwide.
Alberta Liberal Party Leader Raj Sherman has kept a close eye on the conclusion of the race and said he’s been pleased to see candidates talk about the province from the campaign trail back to Toronto.
“Many of the candidates have come to Alberta regularly,” he said. “In a recent byelection, in Calgary Centre of all places, the Liberals had more than 30 per cent of the vote and it’s great to see them make Alberta a key priority.”
Sherman added the biggest challenge for the next leader will be rebuilding a grass-roots organization, a sentiment shared by Mount Royal University political scientist Keith Brownsey, who sums up what many Liberals were feeling Saturday.
“Hope… the local Liberal organizations, be the provincial or federal are filled with hope,” he said. “You need the leader to go around and do just what Trudeau’s been doing.”
“He has recognized that the part organization needs to be built, reestablished from the ground up.”
Brownsey also views the day in Toronto as a coronation for Trudeau and he has to start looking forward and build arguments against the Harper Conservatives based on issues such as environmental protection, rising unemployment and declining housing sales.
David Swann, MLA for Calgary-Mountain View said with the campaign winding to a close, he’s anxious to see how Alberta will be a key for Liberals in the future.
“We have for some years, had some distance between the federal Liberals, it’s time to bridge that and work together and recognize that we share the same values,” he said.
Swann agrees with Brownsey and Sherman that the challenge for the next leader will be compiling the best team and consultants to capture the imagination of Canadians who are disengaged with the political process.
“Alberta matters to federal Liberals in the context of a whole country, it’s about inclusiveness,” Sherman said. “I’m very reassured to see all of the candidates reach out to Alberta.”
