UCP and NDP make final push day before Alberta election
The UCP and NDP are making a final push as voters from across Alberta prepare to go to the polls on Monday to cast their ballot in the provincial election.
UCP leader Danielle Smith spent the final leg of the election race running the 5K in the Calgary Marathon. She crossed the finish line and received a medal for participating.
Smith didn’t hold a media availability over the weekend.
Meanwhile, NDP leader Rachel Notley made her way back to Edmonton after spending several days in Calgary.
She stopped in Red Deer before holding a rally in the provincial capital with her supporters.
“My commitment to you is that our team will work everyday to be the government that you deserve,” Notley said to the large crowd.
Former Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi, along with several former progressive conservative cabinet ministers, will support the NDP.
While, federal conservative party leader Pierre Poilievre and former prime minister Stephen Harper have endorsed the UCP.
Mark Crawford, a political science professor at Athabasca University, says this final push can make all the difference in who comes out on top.
“I would say more important for these two leaders than just about any Alberta election I can remember because of the closeness of the election,” he said.
As the campaign nears the end, there have been some missteps from both parties along the way.
From Smith navigating her party’s controversial candidates, to the ethics commissioner finding she violated the Conflict of Interest Act by making a call to the justice minister about Calgary pastor Artur Pawlowski’s COVID criminal charges.
“The NDP campaign was very well-suited to capitalizing on those early errors that Danielle Smith made,” Crawford said.
“The question is whether maybe the NDP’s misstep was to focus too much on that, and not enough on maybe clarifying its own agenda.”
Prior to the writ being dropped, all but three of the 26 seats in Calgary were held by the UCP. The others belonged to the NDP.
With the UCP’s core support lying in the rural ridings and the NDP’s in Edmonton, Crawford says Calgary will determine the winner.
“The NDP will need 15 or 20 seats in Calgary if things go as the polls have suggested they probably will. The conservatives might only need, let’s say, eight to 12, something like that. So it’s a narrower path to victory for the NDP,” he said.
Advance voting ended on Saturday, with 758,550 people casting a ballot, beating the 2019 record of 696,000.
Unlike advance voting, people can only vote at their assigned polling station on election day.
People can find their exact voting location, which is based on where they live, on the Elections Alberta website.
All polling stations are open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Monday.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Which Canadian cities have the highest and lowest grocery prices?
Where you live plays a big factor in what you pay at the grocery store. And while it's no secret the same item may have a different price depending on the store, city or province, we wanted to see just how big the differences are, and why.
U.S. says Israel's use of U.S. arms likely violated international law, but evidence is incomplete
The Biden administration said Friday that Israel's use of U.S.-provided weapons in Gaza likely violated international humanitarian law but wartime conditions prevented U.S. officials from determining that for certain in specific airstrikes.
Swarm of 20,000 bees gather around woman’s car west of Toronto
A swarm of roughly 20,000 bees gathered around a woman’s car in the parking lot of Burlington Centre.
'State or state-sponsored actor' believed to be behind B.C. government hacks
The head of British Columbia’s civil service has revealed that a “state or state-sponsored actor” is behind multiple cyber-security incidents against provincial government networks.
Mother assaulted by stranger while breastfeeding baby in her car: Vancouver police
A person was arrested in East Vancouver Thursday after allegedly entering a car while a mother was breastfeeding her four-month-old boy.
More than half the Canadians once detained in Syrian camps for suspected ISIS family members have returned home
A total of 29 Canadians have been freed from detention camps in northeast Syria and brought back to Canada since human rights advocates began lobbying for their release years ago.
Rare severe solar storm Friday could bring spectacular aurora light show across Canada
A rare and severe solar storm is expected to bring spectacular displays of the northern lights, also known as aurora borealis, across much of Canada and parts of the United States on Friday night.
Canada abstains from Palestinian UN membership vote but supports two-state solution
Canada was one of 25 countries that abstained from a United Nations vote on Palestinian membership that passed with overwhelming support on Friday.
Amish youth experience a rite of passage called Rumspringa. It’s not what you might think
The idea of “Rumspringa” has a specific spot in the American imagination. A rite of passage for young people in some Amish communities, Rumspringa is seen by most outsiders as a wild time away from strict Amish rules, when teenagers can experiment with the modern vices of the world.