A 'new dawn' as Liberals end 47-year drought in Calgary

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Justin Trudeau's Liberal Party ended a 47-year drought in Calgary, winning two seats in Alberta's largest city and grabbing two more in Edmonton.

Liberal candidate Darshan Kang won in Calgary Skyview, a new riding. Kent Hehr secured the downtown riding of Calgary Centre, beating the Conservative Party incumbent by only a few hundred votes. Both Liberal politicians served two terms in Alberta's legislature under the Liberal banner.

"It's a new dawn,"Mr.  Kang said in an interview.

Hundreds of people came to the Bank & Baron P.U.B. in downtown Calgary to support Mr. Hehr.

"My goodness, we actually made some history in Calgary," Mr. Hehr said at his campaign party. "It was a bit of a nail-biter out there."

Bryan West, a Calgary litigator at Mr. Hehr's party, was surprised the Liberals secured a majority mandate.

"This is a crazy night. I'm so happy. Over the moon," he said, with beers on the table. "It is really gratifying to see a night where the country changes and Calgary is part of it."

Neither the Liberals nor the New Democratic Party have won a seat in Calgary or rural Alberta since 1968. The Tories won Calgary's other eight seats, maintaining their stronghold in a province under pressure from the sharp drop in oil prices around the globe.

In Edmonton, the Grits carried Edmonton Mill Woods and Edmonton Centre. The NDP won a single seat in Edmonton while the Tories captured the rest of the province.

Mr. Trudeau visited Calgary Sunday, drawing thousands of supporters. Conservative leader Stephen Harper won his Calgary riding, although he resigned as party leader.

Mr. Hehr narrowly beat Conservative Joan Crockatt while Mr. Kang defeated Devinder Shory. Calgary Skyview is a new riding, covering much of the old Calgary Northeast riding, which Mr. Shory represented.

Mr. Kang said many voters in the multicultural riding we're irked by the incumbent Mr. Shory's strong support for Bill C-24, which gives the federal government the right to strip citizenship from dual nationals accused of serious crimes such as such as terrorism. Mr. Shory once sponsored a similarly-themed private member's bill.

Mr. Kang said it is important that his province is represented in the new Trudeau government.

"We want a strong voice for Albertans in Ottawa," he said.

Calgarians showed they are comfortable supporting left-leaning politicians when voters gave the provincial NDP a majority in May. The party won 15 of Calgary's 25 seats after promising to raise corporate taxes and the minimum wage, and revamp the province's energy regulations. This ended a 22-year drought for the party in Calgary and ended the Tory dynasty that stretched beyond 40 years. Further, Calgary first elected left-leaning and popular mayor Naheed Nenshi in 2010.

Michelle Rempel, who served as a Conservative cabinet minister, won her riding – Calgary-Nose Hill. Former provincial MLA and Conservative candidate Ron Liepert won the Calgary-Signal Hill.

"It ended up being a Harper-endum," a Tory campaign official said in Calgary as the votes were being counted. "He just stayed too long. It's not the ballot-box question we wanted. We wanted it to be about the economy."