Tories beat back red tide in capital

Party retains most of Edmonton’s 11 seats in ‘ bittersweet’ victory

The Conservative fortress in Edmonton firmly resisted the mood for change that swept across the country and put the Liberal majority into power under Justin Trudeau on Monday.

The Conservatives held on to most of the 11 seats in the city and region, but the Tories, including cabinet veteran Rona Ambrose, will now sit as the official Opposition as Stephen Harper’s decade in power comes to an end.

“I know this victory is a little bittersweet, but I’m so proud to be your representative,” Ambrose told about 65 supporters in a Spruce Grove restaurant. “I love this riding.” Veteran New Democrat Linda Duncan held on for a third term in Edmonton Strathcona while the Liberals, at press time, were in a tight race in Edmonton Centre between Liberal Randy Boissonnault and Conservative James Cumming.

In Edmonton Mill Woods, Liberal Amarjeet Sohi squared off with veteran Tory Tim Uppal.

The hard- fought battle waged back and forth all night between Uppal and Sohi, a city councillor recruited by the Liberals.

By mid- evening, high profile New Democrat Janis Irwin was defeated in Edmonton Griesbach by rookie Conservative Kerry Diotte, dashing hopes of NDP Leader Tom Mulcair gaining another seat in the city.

Conservative winners included Matt Jeneroux in Riverbend, Kelly McCauley in Edmonton West and Michael Cooper, who defeated Independent incumbent Brent Rathgeber in Edmonton St. Albert.

Rathgeber said Trudeau’s message “of hope over fear resonated nationally.”

“There’s also a lot of disaffected Conservatives who have fallen off the Stephen Harper bandwagon over the last five years for a variety of reasons,” said Rathgeber, including wedge politics, or the meanspiritedness, or the autocratic way the PMO micromanages Ottawa.

New Democrat and Liberal hopes for a bigger breakthrough were partly dashed because of fatal vote splitting on the left, said Chaldeans Mensah, a political scientist from MacEwan University.

“The Tories have benefited from the lingering effects of the provincial NDP victory,” Mensah said.

“Across the country, we saw the NDP vote fell away as people went to the Liberals to stop Harper, but that didn’t happen in Edmonton. The opposition parties stayed in their boxes.”

Also, the Liberals in the city could not take advantage of the wave of Trudeau support that rolled across Canada because their support base it just too low, Mensah said.

Meanwhile, the forces of the right — Wildrose and Tories — stung by the NDP provincial victory, were determined to make a point in this election, Mensah said.

Conservative candidates who did not attend riding forums were rewarded, he said.

“But that’s consistent with Alberta’s political culture ( which) is conservative,” he added.

“Still, this is the end of the Harper era and the stage is set for the Conservative party to redefine itself under a new leader. Whether it will turn to the progressive side or remain a Calgary- dominated force remains to be seen.”

Edmonton and Calgary Conservatives seats are among the safest in the country, but opposition parties had high hopes for in this election.

The retirement of three longtime Tory MPs — James Rajotte, Laurie Hawn and Peter Goldring — new riding boundaries and the victory of the NDP in the provincial election bolstered the mood for change.

As the two- month campaign progressed, voter frustration with 10 years of Harper leadership quickly emerged and in Alberta encouraged both parties on the left.

Early in the campaign, the New Democrats were ahead of the pack, polling above 30 per cent and encouraged by Rachel Notley’s victory in Alberta.

But Trudeau began to gain momentum after strong performances in the debates and moving the party platform to the left of the New Democrats.