After 47 years, Liberals finally make presence known in a Calgary federal election
Article content
When Trudeaumania swept the nation in 1968 and the Liberals won a single seat in Calgary, Neil Armstrong had yet to set foot on the moon, colour television was a luxury and home computers were a dream.
Trudeaumania struck again Monday, this time with Justin Trudeau — son of Pierre Elliot — at the helm, steering the Liberal from third party status to a majority government.
It took another Trudeau to capture a seat in Calgary, a city the Grits have been unable to crack in 47 years since Pat Mahoney won in Calgary South in 1968.
Monday’s stunning election saw the Liberals not only win a majority, but also get elected in Calgary Skyview — with former Liberal MLA Darshan Kang capturing the riding. The Liberals also won in Calgary Centre, where former Liberal MLA Kent Hehr surged late in the night to a narrow victory.
At a trendy downtown bar, party faithful — many clad in Liberal red shirts and garb — hooted, hollered and hugged as Canada’s so-called natural governing party returned to power after nearly a decade in the political wilderness.
“There is a shift from Conservative to Liberal; it’s central, socially progressive, fiscally conservative, which is the right balance,” said supporter Patrick Hlavac-Winsor. “That’s what Canada needs and it’s about time.”
Trudeau made a concerted effort to woo Calgary voters in the months leading up to the longest federal election campaign in living memory.
Over 78 days, Trudeau stopped in Calgary no fewer than three times — including a final stop on Sunday — pumping up supporters and candidates, wooing Mayor Naheed Nenshi with promises of infrastructure funding, and drawing large crowds in Stephen Harper’s home turf.
This occurred in a city where many still harbour resentment over Pierre Trudeau’s much-reviled National Energy Program from the 1980s — although that disdain is dissipating, said David Taras, a political analyst at Mount Royal University.
“The ghost of the NEP still walks the streets of Calgary, but fewer and fewer people see that ghost,” Taras said. “There has been a generational change, policies have changed, the economy here has changed and there is much more prosperity.”
Canadians should expect a Liberal government will be focused on urban issues, Taras added.
“You have a government based in the big cities that will be very conscious of big-city issues,” Taras said. “Urban transportation, LRT lines, university campuses, research and development … and Calgary will be part of that.”
The Liberals promised to invest $125 billion in infrastructure over 10 years, more than double the $65 billion the Conservative government allocated for new and existing infrastructure projects.
During a campaign stop in Calgary, Trudeau promised $1.5-billion in funding for the city’s $4.6-billion LRT Green Line and millions more on flood mitigation projects.
Daryl Fridhandler, a longtime Liberal supporter and adviser to former Calgary mayor Dave Bronconnier, said he originally wasn’t convinced the party would make a breakthrough in the city.
“If you had asked me in June I would have said, ‘Don’t waste your time in Calgary,’” Fridhandler said.
He attributed the long-awaited breakthrough in Calgary to local campaigns running a strong ground game and to Trudeau’s presence.
“The star candidate can add five to 10 per cent of what the leader brings to the table,” Fridhandler said. “(But) it really depended on Justin raising the tide as well.
“It seems like those couple of things have really come together here,” he said.
But many Tory supporters in Calgary aren’t happy with the prospect of a Liberal national government.
Frank Atkins, the University of Calgary economist who supervised Harper’s master’s thesis, sees Trudeau’s plan to run a deficit akin to the big-spending Liberal governments of the 1970s.
“God help the economy. I’m serious because this is like father, like son. We have to remember what Pierre Elliot Trudeau did to this economy,” said Atkins.
“It’s the same thing all over again.”
On Monday, Conservative supporters in Calgary were dismayed by the stunning loss, fearing a Liberal government under Trudeau would spell disaster for the country.
“It’s going to be overreach, it’s going to be high taxes; they’re going to tax companies and jobs are going to move elsewhere,” said Loren Hawley. “This is an over, and over, and over again story.”
With files from James Wood, Bryan Weismiller, Calgary Herald
thowell@calgaryherald.com
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.