By Meagan Wade, The Alberta Party
Calgary, AB – August 6, 2015 – An August by-election allows the provincial NDs to piggyback on the Federal NDP campaign rather than run on their own budget later in the fall, said Alberta Party leader Greg Clark.
They would rather double up their resources and work with their Federal counterparts than let Albertans pass judgement on their first budget later this year,” said Clark. “It begs the question ‘Who’s in charge? Who will stand up for Alberta?’”
Clark said that the summer election call is also designed to catch other parties off guard and suppress voter turnout in a riding that has already seen more than its fair share of elections.
“Calling a by-election when three of five parties have yet to nominate candidates, in a constituency that’s had three elections in 10 months, in the middle of summer will keep voters at home,” said Clark. “I’d be surprised if even 15% of people came out to vote.”
“The NDP doesn’t want a fair fight. They know their only chance to win Foothills is to keep most voters at home and use this surprise election call to catch other parties in the midst of their nomination races,” said Clark. “It’s the same undemocratic approach Albertans rejected when they voted out the PCs.
The people of Calgary-Foothills have been put through a lot in the past ten months. To say I’m disappointed in Rachel Notley would be an understatement.”
Clark said the Alberta Party will field a strong candidate.
“We planned to nominate a candidate by the end of August for what we thought was a fall byelection,” said Clark. “We have several great people who have expressed interest. The people of Calgary Foothills will have a strong Alberta Party candidate on the ballot.