With less than a week until Albertans head to the polls and several Calgary ridings shaping up to be close races, some local candidates are intensifying efforts to connect with voters in the final stretch of the federal election campaign. Read More
’We’re still going out every single day, introducing ourselves as much as possible’
‘We’re still going out every single day, introducing ourselves as much as possible’
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With less than a week until Albertans head to the polls and several Calgary ridings shaping up to be close races, some local candidates are intensifying efforts to connect with voters in the final stretch of the federal election campaign.
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Liberal candidate Bryndis Whitson was door-knocking inside apartment buildings in Calgary Signal Hill on Monday, in an effort to meet residents face-to-face and avoid some of the wintry weather sweeping across the city. Whitson said her campaign remains just as energized as when the writ dropped nearly a month ago.
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“We’re still trying to talk to everyone in the community,” she said. “We’re still going out every single day, introducing ourselves as much as possible.”
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Whitson said key concerns she’s hearing from voters are about getting Canadian goods to market, reducing interprovincial trade barriers and affordability. On energy and natural resources, Whitson said she hears concerns about the Liberal platform, especially with respect to building pipelines.
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“They’re concerned about pipelines, and they’re concerned about what would our oil and gas policy truly be,” she said.
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“(Leader Mark) Carney really listens, and . . . we’ve emphasized how important pipelines are.”
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Projections from 338Canada show the Conservatives leading in Signal Hill with 54 per cent of votes, while Whitson is polling at 38 per cent — an improvement from 2021, when the Liberals earned just 19.4 per cent of the vote to the Conservatives’ 59.8 per cent.
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Whitson said most people she’s spoken to identify as previously being either Conservative or NDP voters, but said many indicate they are reconsidering for this election.
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“I had one guy who said, ‘My dad helped Diefenbaker in 1949, and I am voting Liberal this time.’ ”
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John Diefenbaker served as Canada’s prime minister from 1957 to 1963 under the Progressive Conservative banner. He began his federal political career as an MP for Lake Centre, Sask., in 1940.
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Whitson started door-knocking in October 2023, as a candidate for the Liberal nomination in her riding. About 18 months later, she still finds energy in meeting constituents.
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“I’m just as excited to meet people at the door,” she said. “The ability to have conversations with people at the door and really learn about them and their concerns has been really motivating and energizing for me, and it’s what keeps me going.”
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She said her interactions with voters have been mostly positive, but points to recent vandalism of her campaign signs, including antisemitic symbols and homophobic slurs, as challenges she has had to address in recent days, trying to remove the vandalism as quickly as possible.