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Kenney’s handling of virus a blow to Conservatives

CARRIE TAIT

In Alberta’s coin-toss ridings, the federal election was about provincial politics.

A handful of ridings in Calgary and Edmonton played host to competitive races, while the Conservative Party of Canada continued to dominate the rest of the province. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney’s management of the pandemic has angered voters across the political spectrum, damaging his federal Conservative counterparts at the polls.

Mr. Kenney’s United Conservative Party is in turmoil, with moderates arguing he fumbled the pandemic by lifting public-health restrictions on Canada Day, creating a hospital crisis prior to Labour Day. Meanwhile, the right flank accuses him of overstepping when he introduced a vaccine passport system and reintroduced some restrictions last week.

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and New Democratic Leader Jagmeet

Singh pounced on Mr. Kenney after he declared a state of health emergency and Alberta cancelled all non-emergency surgeries to make room for COVID-19 patients in its ICUs. They pointed to Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole’s previous praise for Mr. Kenney’s pandemic management, implying such failure would be widespread with the Tories in charge in Ottawa.

Mr. O’Toole refused to answer questions about his earlier support for Mr. Kenney and cancelled interviews in the final days of the campaign. He also would not disclose how many CPC candidates are vaccinated against the coronavirus. Further, the Liberal candidate in Calgary Skyview released an ad highlighting Mr. O’Toole’s praise for Mr. Kenney, who served as a cabinet minister under former prime minister Stephen Harper.

Mr. Trudeau’s return to power in the 2019 election angered Albertans, and Mr. Kenney frequently whipped up anti-Trudeau sentiments to bolster the UCP in Alberta. But in urban ridings such as Calgary Centre, waning support for the Conservative incumbent in part reflected voters’ frustration with Mr. Kenney.

“It is traditionally a swing riding,” said Janet Brown, an Alberta pollster. “This is definitely one of those ridings where people want to use the federal election as an opportunity to send a message to the UCP.”

Greg McLean captured the riding for the Conservatives in 2019, defeating Kent Hehr, the Liberal Party incumbent. Mr. Hehr resigned from cabinet after allegations of sexual harassment, but remained in caucus after an inquiry cleared him of intentional wrongdoing. Provincially, the area’s residents are represented by the NDP.

Experts were also closely tracking Calgary Skyview, Calgary Confederation, Edmonton Centre, Edmonton Griesbach and Edmonton Strathcona, where the NDP’s Heather McPherson was running for re-election. Because Alberta is a Conservative stronghold, even a small dent in the party’s head count would be notable.

“There’s such symbolic value when a riding shifts in Alberta,” Ms. Brown said. “If six ridings flip in Ontario, nobody really pays attention.”

Mr. Trudeau made a point of campaigning in Calgary, Ms. Brown said, with the Liberal Leader stumping for George Chahal, a former city councillor, in Calgary Skyview, even though there were tighter races in other parts of the country.

But even with seats up for grabs, Mr. Kenney’s pandemic woes and turmoil in the UCP caucus overshadowed the election in Alberta. His future as Premier is in doubt as local UCP officials are rumoured to be pressing for a leadership review.

“Today is going to be the least interesting day of the week,” Ms. Brown said.

Lisa Young, a political scientist at the University of Calgary, said the UCP’s pandemic performance may have pushed some traditional Conservative voters to the People’s Party of Canada. At the same time, moderate voters may have turned to Liberal or NDP candidates.

“I have never seen people as angry at a government as I’ve seen with respect to the Kenney government in Alberta’s cities,” Prof. Young said.

Alberta cancelled all non-emergency surgeries last week because its intensive-care units are overwhelmed with unvaccinated COVID-19 patients. Alberta and Saskatchewan have the lowest rates of vaccination in the country, and their hospitals are struggling to cope with the crush of serious cases.

Alberta had 954 COVID-19 patients in hospital as of Sunday, and 216 of those were in ICU. There are now more than 20,000 active COVID-19 cases in the province, and front-line health care professionals are calling for the federal government to send support from the military.

I have never seen people as angry at a government as I’ve seen with respect to the Kenney government in Alberta’s cities.

LISA YOUNG POLITICAL SCIENTIST AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY

CANADA VOTES

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2021-09-21T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-09-21T07:00:00.0000000Z

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