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Calgarians set to deal with double dose of election campaigning

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CALGARY -

October’s municipal election date has been slated for several months, with candidates vying for a seat on city council.

Sunday’s federal election call is giving Canadians 36 days to decide who they want representing them in Ottawa. 

Having to elections so close together will give Calgarians plenty to think about politically in the coming weeks.

“People are going to be looking at what the alternatives are and particularly who might really have a chance of winning,” said Mount Royal University political scientist Lori Williams. 

Ward 11 candidate Devin Defraine, who is running for the first time, says he has been campaigning for 10 months. 

Defraine believes all candidates need to be clear with voters on why they are seeking election. 

“So much information is going at the voters, left, right, and centre, and part of our job as candidates is to get out there to sort through what is going on federally, what is going on municipally,” he said. 

“We’re going to have to create that separation.”

Calgary Confederation, a federal riding created in 2015, has been awash in Tory blue since, with Len Webber representing the Conservatives in that riding. 

But Williams believes it could be one that flips, along with five others in the province. 

“The attitude toward the federal government has sort of been a little bit more mixed recently because even though there are still the claims, and justifiable claims for Alberta's interests in Canada,” she said. 

The Liberals have Murray Sigler running against Webber, a former interim CEO with the Calgary Chamber of Commerce who says he is a fiscal conservative, but not at the cost of social programs. 

The Liberals have been criticized for calling an election in the middle of fourth wave of infections.

 “Couldn’t be a better time for an election,” said Sigler. 

“Because it is such a tough time, we need that certainty, we need a four or five-year game plan. That’s what business wants, that’s what people want in their lives. They want clarity.”

Williams believes if the Liberals form government again, and one is elected from Alberta, it could spell good news on the cabinet front.

“There's no question that if we've got Liberals elected in Alberta and the Liberals form government, we will have Liberals at the cabinet table from Alberta,” said Williams. 

Canadians head to the polls Sept. 20, while Calgarians, and all Albertans, will be at the municipal ballot box the following month, to vote for a new mayor and council on Oct. 18.

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