Status quo in Calgary following federal election

It’s more of the same in Calgary after election night on Monday; the Conservatives painting a majority of the city blue, while the Liberals failed to gain any additional Calgary seats.

The Conservatives won in the newly added riding of Calgary-McKnight, allowing them to send one more MP to Ottawa than they did in the 2021 election.

In the process, George Chahal, who was pushed into Calgary-McKnight instead of where he held the seat in Calgary Skyview, was left without a job.

He was looking to become the first Liberal to win consecutive terms in Calgary.

Political analysts say despite more people coming to Calgary from places like Toronto or Vancouver, it doesn’t necessarily translate to more votes for left-leaning parties.

Analyst John Santos says he wasn’t really surprised by the results.

“Why these people are coming out here, a lot of them are motivated by economic concerns, either the desire to make more money, to work in the oil and gas industry perhaps, or to buy a house that is more affordable than Toronto,” he said.

It’s something Conservatives who won in ridings that before election night were expected to be tight races, agree with.

“We’ve been running here on the issues that matter to Calgarians, that matter to Albertans, as far as getting the economy built again, getting our resource sector moving, and making sure we got jobs for our kids, making sure their cost of living doesn’t increase at a faster pace than their annual income,” said Calgary-Centre MP Elect, Greg McLean.

But for Liberals like Calgary-Confederation MP-elect Corey Hogan, who was able to pull off the only win for the party in the city of Calgary in this election, there’s hope.

“This city is changing, this city has changed and I think with Mark Carney in particular being such a strong serious leader in these times being so strong and serious as well, you are going to see more Liberals elected in the future,” he said.