Many Calgary ridings still missing party candidates with federal election weeks away

Canada is now nearly a week into its federal election campaign and some Calgary ridings are still missing candidates from some of the country’s biggest parties.

Out of the city’s 11 ridings, Liberal candidates have only been confirmed in five of them, the NDP have seven names confirmed, while the Conservatives already have a full slate of candidates ready to campaign.

“Every day they don’t have a candidate is a day they are losing campaign time, door-knocking time in a very short election campaign,” says Mount Royal University professor and political analyst Lori Williams.

“Given that the Liberals were the ones who called the snap election, and given that it’s a five-week campaign, this is not an ideal position to be in.”

Both the Liberal party and NDP confirm to CityNews they will be running a full slate of candidates country-wide.

The names need to be in before Elections Canada’s nomination deadline, which is three weeks before election day. Canadians will be heading to the polls Apr. 28.

Calgarians will be able to take part in early voting from Apr. 18 to Apr. 21, or on election day. Mail-in voting will also be available, with the deadline for applications on Apr. 22.

“People can also vote at any time now at any of Elections Canada offices,” says spokesperson Leanne Nyirfa. “The final way is election day, April 28, you’ll be voting at your assigned polling station.”

Canada’s electoral map has been redrawn since the last federal election in 2023, which means three new ridings in Alberta and redrawn boundaries and renaming for others, including Calgary McKnight and Calgary Crowfoot.

Residents can find their electoral district by entering their postal code on the Elections Canada website.

Residents need to be registered to vote and can check their status at elections.ca.