Alberta Party ramps up efforts

The Alberta Party is looking to get on Calgary voters’ radar as it prepares for next year’s provincial election.

Stephen Mandel, the former Edmonton mayor who became party leader in February, was in Calgary on Wednesday evening for a meeting aimed at reaching out to both party members and the public.

“It’s really about everybody. We’re trying to get some more excitement,” Mandel said.

The Alberta Party ’s three legislature seats are all in Calgary, though only former leader Greg Clark was elected under the party’s banner. Since last fall, former NDP MLA Karen McPherson and former Progressive Conservative Rick Fraser crossed the floor to join the party.

Mandel hasn’t spent much time in the spotlight since his leadership victory, but said that’s because he’s been focused on getting candidates in place for the 2019 vote to ensure it has candidates in all 87 ridings.

He said there are 50 candidates across the province in various stages of the nomination process.

“We hope to have by the end of June maybe 15, 16 candidates in Calgary,” said Mandel.

As a centrist party pitching a message of fiscal responsibility and social progressivism, the Alberta Party must elbow its way into the duel between Premier Rachel Notley’s NDP government and Jason Kenney’s United Conservative Party.

That’s a challenge that requires a lot of hard work, acknowledged Mandel, with outreach both on the ground and on social media.

Amy Shantz, the president of the party’s Calgary-North West constituency association and organizer of Wednesday’s event, said many Calgarians are still getting to know Mandel and the Alberta Party.

“I think a lot of people don’t know clearly what is the Alberta Party stance, or where do they fit,” she said. “I want to help make people more aware.”