Federal election 2025: Former MLA, last-minute Liberal look to unseat Uppal in Edmonton Gateway

Edmonton Gateway is a new riding with six candidates seeking election in a race that is forecast as a potentially tight contest between a current MP seeking a fifth term and a late-arriving Liberal candidate, with a former longtime provincial MLA also thrown into the mix.

Covering just under 65 square kilometres in south Edmonton, the new riding stretches as far north as Whitemud Drive to as far south as 30 Ave SW near Beaumont. and between 141 Street to the west and Highway 814 in the east.

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It’s being contested for the first time after being formed in the 2022 federal electoral redistribution out of the current Edmonton Riverbend riding and former ridings of Edmonton Mill Woods and Edmonton—Wetaskiwin.

Polling site 338Canada projects the race as a toss-up between four-term Conservative MP Tim Uppal and Liberal candidate Jeremy Hoefsloot.

Hoefsloot, a 27-year-old lawyer from the hamlet of Tomahawk just west of Edmonton, joined the race on April 5 after the party’s prior candidate, Rod Loyola, was removed when a video from 2009 resurfaced in which he praised terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah.

“When I left work last Friday, I planned on being a lawyer this week,” Hoefsloot told Postmedia in an interview.  “I received word from the party that they they needed someone.”

He described the riding as being home to a young population including families and newcomers to the country, adding he’s looking to provide progressive solutions around cost of living issues and home affordability.

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“Mark Carney and our leadership has given me a lot of hope and a lot of enthusiasm.”

The Conservative Party did not respond to multiple interview requests for Uppal, who criticized the media’s lack of coverage when speaking at an Edmonton-area rally for party leader Pierre Poilievre.

Uppal is the party’s deputy leader and won Edmonton Mill Woods four times since 2008 and will look for a fifth term in the new riding.

Loyola initially planned to switch ridings to neighbouring Edmonton Southeast after being dropped by the Liberals but eventually decided to remain in Gateway to run as an independent candidate.

“We thought, ‘okay, let’s keep going,’ because there’s a lot of people who are saying, ‘I wasn’t just voting for Rod because he was a Liberal. I’m voting for Rod because he’s Rod.”

He pointed to his decade in office as the New Democrat MLA for Edmonton-Ellerslie, a role he left last month, as well as what he believes is his strong support within the riding.

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“I have the community’s backing. I am the most capable, viable candidate to go up against Tim Uppal.”

New Democrat candidate Madeline Mayes has personal reasons for focusing her campaign on affordability.

A 23-year-old recent political science graduate from the University of Alberta, Mayes told Postmedia she grew up as the child of a single mother and knows firsthand the cost of living struggles many in the riding are dealing with.

“I want to see families continue to have the support they deserve, the ability to afford groceries and housing and essential things like dental care, which sometimes feel like a luxury that not everyone gets,” she said.

Mayes is the youngest candidate in the riding and said her generation is feeling the pinch more than most.

“It’s definitely still important to focus on keeping up with what people need.”

People’s Party of Canada candidate Paul McCormack finished fourth in the now-defunct riding of Edmonton Mill Woods in the 2021 election and said he’s running again to offer voters an alternative to the mainstream parties.

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“I just decided sometimes I should take a stand and do something rather than just being one of the whiners,” he said.

“We’re not happy with the established long term parties, they all seem to be somewhat in lockstep in the same direction, and many Canadians aren’t necessarily happy with that.”

Independent candidate Ashok Patel says he’s focused on jobs for youth as a way of reducing issues related to crime and illegal drugs.

Patel emigrated from India in 2002, eventually earning his professional engineer designation and volunteering for federal and provincial conservative organizations.

He’s says he’s running as an independent so voters can be sure his voice would be heard in Ottawa.

“We know parties have their own politics,” he said. “I will speak.”

mblack@postmedia.com

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