Campaigning in the Wild Rose constituency ramps up this week in the run-up to a May 2 federal election called Saturday after a non-confidence vote brought down the government a day earlier.
As of press time Monday, candidates in the Sundre-area Wild Rose riding were incumbent Blake Richards (Conservative), Jeff Horvath (NDP), Michael MacDonald (Green Party), and former provincial judge John Reilly (Liberal).
On Friday, opposition MPs voted 156 to 145 on a Liberal motion that said the House of Commons agrees with a report tabled earlier in the week that found the government in contempt of Parliament for not supplying enough information on the cost of F-35 fighter jets, justice reforms and projections for corporate profits and tax rates.
It marks the fifth time a non-confidence vote has occurred in Canada's history and the first time it has occurred based on contempt of Parliament.
Governor General David Johnston agreed to Prime Minister Stephen Harper's request Saturday to dissolve Canada's 40th Parliament.
That left Conservative Blake Richards, Member of Parliament for Wild Rose constituency without a federal seat and back on the campaign trail, unnecessarily he said, for the second time in three years.
ìIt's not an election we wanted but I'm proud of PM Stephen Harper and our Conservative team and I'm ready to fight for the future of Canada,î remarked Richards.
The former Olds native expected to release further details yesterday of where his campaign offices were to be located.
On Saturday he said offices would be set up in his current hometown of Airdrie as well as in Canmore. He also named Ruth Lyster as his campaign manager.
In preparation for the expected non-confidence vote, several political parties named their constituency candidates earlier last week.
The NDP has a full slate of Alberta candidates in place, having nominated or identified candidates in all 28 Alberta federal constituencies.
ìWe're more prepared than ever before,î said NDP Alberta campaign manager Lou Arab, six days before the election was called.
Jeff Horvath will take another run at the Wild Rose federal seat under the NDP banner.
The Canmore resident earned the third highest votes in the constituency during the 2008 federal election - 4,352 to Richards' 36,682 and Green Party candidate Lisa Fox's 6,389.
The Green Party this time around has selected Mike MacDonald as its candidate in Wild Rose.
The Village of Waiparous resident said he joined the Green Party because he believes that Canadians want and deserve better governance.
As for whether the Green Party will ever form government in Canada, MacDonald said that's not necessarily the goal.
ìDemocracy is not about power. It is about every Canadian having a voice. Last election one million Canadians asked for a Green voice,î he said.
The Green Party has yet to win a seat in Parliament. MacDonald said he hopes to become the first Green MP elected in Alberta.
Liberal candidate Reilly, who reportedly joined the Wild Rose race Monday, has said earlier that he believes Harper Tory plans for justice reform are misdirected.
ìI think their justice policies are going to incarcerate thousands of people that don't need to be incarcerated,î Reilly reportedly said.
On his Twitter account, Reilly wrote Monday that he is running for the ìpreservation of democracy. The people of Canada must show concern about the contempt of Parliament.î
The Libertarian Party of Canada, which ran a candidate in the riding in 2008, had not announced a candidate this time around as of Monday afternoon.
The timing of the election doesn't bode well for the economy, said Richards.
ìOpposition parties are hungry for an election that is not needed and is in fact, detrimental to the (economic) recovery at this fragile stage,î Richards said in a release Friday.
The Conservative government had just tabled its 2011 budget last week, which Richards said was designed to build on the successes that the stimulus phase of the party's Economic Action Plan had in helping Canada emerge from the global recession.
Dates for Wild Rose candidate debates and forums had not been announced at press time.
- with files from Dan Singleton
