Federal byelections set in Heritage, Midnapore

Voters in south Calgary will go to the polls in April to replace two Conservative heavy hitters.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday announced five federal byelections for April 3, including votes in Calgary Heritage and Calgary Midnapore.

The seats are vacant because of the resignation as MPs of former prime minister Stephen Harper and Jason Kenney, the former cabinet minister who stepped down to run for the provincial Progressive Conservative leadership.

The seats have long been Conservative strongholds, with both Harper and Kenney taking more than 60 per cent of the vote in the 2015 federal election.

A recent poll conducted for Postmedia by Mainstreet Research showed the Conservatives at 64 per cent support in Calgary among leaning and decided voters, with the Liberals at 26 per cent. The NDP were at four per cent in the city, trailing the Greens, who came in at five per cent.

Mainstreet president Quito Maggi said the Liberals are in a tough spot in both races but noted that support for the governing party in Calgary is clustered in certain areas of the city.

“Midnapore, Jason Kenney’s old riding, it’s a fortress (for the Conservatives) ... Heritage, on the other hand, it’s changed a little bit, the demographics,” he said Wednesday.

“If the Conservatives take it for granted or take it easy, they could see a much closer race than they are expecting.”

Most candidates are already in place in each riding. In Calgary Heritage, the Conservatives have nominated Bob Benzen, the Liberals are running Scott Forsyth and the NDP are represented by Khalis Ahmed.

Stephanie Kusie is running for the Conservatives in Calgary Midnapore, while the Liberals have nominated Haley Brown, the NDP Holly Heffernan and the Greens Ryan Zedic.

The other federal byelections on April 3 are being held in Saint-Laurent in Montreal and the Ontario ridings of Markham-Thornhill and Ottawa-Vanier.