Four new Liberal MPs in Alberta promise they’ll be heard

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While no red wave swept across Alberta on election night, voters in Calgary and Edmonton elected the largest number of Liberals in a generation to represent them in Ottawa. After a symbolic breakthrough in the province's two largest cities, Alberta's four new Liberal MPs contend that they will have a loud voice in Justin Trudeau's Ottawa.

Liberal triumphs have been uncommon in Alberta. The party's provincial wing has been in free fall for a decade, and federal candidates have struggled to gain traction in urban ridings. Most of Monday night's wins were close, with one new Liberal MP's margin of victory just 79 votes, prompting a judge to order a recount that will happen next week.

"We did what a lot of people didn't think was possible," said newly elected Edmonton Centre MP Randy Boissonnault, who got about 1,200 more votes than his Conservative opponent. "The voice of Alberta will be heard loudly in the 184-person caucus. Full stop."

Beyond their ridings, Alberta's new Liberals also have an added layer of responsibility: to represent an entire province. For these new MPs, fighting for an energy policy that is palatable in Alberta's cities means fighting on behalf of rural ridings that will lack a presence in the new Liberal government.

After growing up in a family that relied on Alberta's oil patch, Mr. Boissonnault says he sees no contradiction between the views of the urban progressive voters who elected him and calls to grow Alberta's oil industry.

With Liberal governments in Ottawa, Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick, he says he is convinced the Energy East pipeline will be built after a new framework is implemented to guide the proposal.

"Energy East, which is worth two Northern Gateways in terms of volume, can be turned on. It's good for Alberta, Quebec and New Brunswick," he said. "We're pro Keystone, pro Energy East and if we can figure out the right line west, let's build west."

Incoming Liberal MP Kent Hehr, drinking coffee out of a blue reusable travel cup at the Good Earth shop across the street from his campaign headquarters in Calgary Centre, said he believes shipping oil to tidewater is in Canada's "national interest."

"The Alberta economy is important to the nation and, in fact, oil sands development has many benefits for all regions of this country," he said. "I think our party understands we need access to the west coast, east coast, and the United States. I'm agnostic as to how you get there."

Canada, he argues, is nearing "consensus" on the pipeline debate and that potential oil customers will walk away unless the country creates tougher environmental regulations.

Beyond energy politics, Amarjeet Sohi says his 79-vote win in Edmonton-Mill Woods shows that feelings of western alienation could be subsiding as Alberta's urban voters find common cause with urban voters elsewhere in Canada.

"That feeling in Alberta that we weren't part of [the national conversation], among my friends and the people I move around, we don't have that sense that Alberta is somehow different," said Mr. Sohi, an outgoing city councillor in Edmonton.

Darshan Kang snatched Calgary Skyview from incumbent Conservative Devinder Shory. With a decisive victory hours before results in Calgary Centre were known, Mr. Kang became the first Liberal MP elected in Alberta's largest city in 47 years.

Mr. Kang's personal popularity helped with the win. But many voters in the multicultural riding were uneasy with Mr. Shory's key role in a Conservative government law that allows dual nationals to be stripped of their citizenship if accused of serious crimes such as terrorism. Mr. Trudeau has promised to remove those elements of the law because they create two levels of citizenship.

While Liberal policies and the party's momentum in the final weeks of the campaign helped the four new Liberal MPs, the prime-minister-designate's appearance at a banquet hall in Calgary Skyview on the Sunday before the election drew thousands of supporters. It marked the end of a long campaign that involved constant messaging from Mr. Trudeau to Alberta voters, a province past Liberal leaders largely ignored.

"I had an obligation towards the party. This was my dream," Mr. Kang said. "I wanted to see the Liberal Party succeed in Alberta."