Edmonton stages ‘show of unity’ to watch new Tory leader be crowned

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A room full of federal Conservative members will gather this weekend to drink, mingle and watch as the new leader of the party is crowned and the fight to win the 2019 election begins.

But not just at the party's official leadership event in Etobicoke, west of Toronto, where one of 13 candidates will emerge victorious on Saturday night.

Seventeen northern Alberta ridings have banded together to play host to their own soirée, as well as a superpolling station where members can vote in person until 2 p.m. local time on Saturday.

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"It gives us an opportunity to get together with fellow Conservatives," said Tim Gartner, president of the St. Albert-Edmonton riding association, which is part of the group.

"Also, sort of as a show of unity, too."

Or, as the case may be, a place to commiserate.

"It's basically people that want to get together and learn who's going to be the new leader. And raise a glass," said John Vanderdeen, vice-president of the Peace River-Westlock riding northwest of the city.

"Or drown your sorrows, depending on who you voted for, I suppose."

Most Conservative members will have already mailed in their ballots to Toronto by Saturday, with the party reporting almost 50 per cent, or 125,000 ballots, received as of last week. Almost 260,000 people are eligible to vote in the race, which already has the highest leadership turnout in Canadian political history.

But riding associations across the country were also given the option of holding polling stations on the day of the announcement, so long as they pay for it themselves.

Mr. Gartner said the polling stations will give members who took too long to mail-in their ballots – or who didn't receive them in time – a chance to have their votes counted.

"Realizing that people procrastinate … that's why we did this," he said.

Aside from the superstation in Alberta, there will only be 13 places to cast a ballot in person, with most of them in Ontario, as well as Manitoba, New Brunswick and Quebec, but none in Nova Scotia or British Columbia. Mr. Gartner said he was disappointed more ridings didn't join in, but it could cost thousands of dollars to book a venue and bring in equipment, and riding associations need the money to prepare for the next election.

In-person voting will also take place at the Toronto Congress Centre, where the main leadership event will be held.

The results from the polling stations will then be transmitted over a cellular network from the ballot machines to the central counting location in Toronto, where the winner is expected to be announced by 7 p.m. Eastern Time.

The northern Alberta ridings – known as N17, for North 17 – went a step further, organizing their own party at the Chateau Nova Yellowhead hotel in Edmonton.

While 2,000 people are registered to attend the Toronto event, about 300 are expected at the Edmonton party, where tickets cost $20 to cover the cost of food. Alberta has almost 60,000 Conservative members, second only to Ontario, which has more than 115,000.

Ironically, the Alberta event is being held in the riding of Edmonton Centre, which is currently held by Liberal MP Randy Boissonnault.

Members are hoping that whoever the new leader is can win it back.

"We want someone who is level-headed, bilingual and someone that will put out the right program or the right platform, so that come 2019 we will once again be the ruling party," Mr. Gartner said.

Mr. Gartner supports the front-runner in the race, Maxime Bernier, as well as Andrew Scheer and Erin O'Toole.

Mr. Vanderdeen, a social Conservative, voted for Mr. Scheer, Pierre Lemieux and Brad Trost.

But he said no matter who wins, he won't be drowning his sorrows, because his least preferred candidate quit the race late last month.

"If Kevin O'Leary would have stayed running and got in," he said, "that would have been a sorrowful day."