Calgary’s ridings in brief

By Ryan Pike

Calgary-Nose-Hill

Four candidates will compete for a Parliamentary seat in Calgary-Nose-Hill, the riding tied for the fewest contenders in the city. Long-time Conservative Member of Parliament and current Small Business and Tourism Secretary of State Diane Ablonsky returns to vie for a sixth term. Ablonsky garnered 68 per cent of the vote back in 2006. Her challengers include Liberal Anoush Newman, New Democrat Stephanie Sundberg and the Green Party’s Tony Hajj, none of whom have any federal experience.



Calgary-Northeast

Voters in Calgary-Northeast face an odd proposition when they head to the polls Oct. 14– choosing between two conservative candidates. After incumbent Conservative MP Art Hanger announced plans to retire, Roger Richard and Devinder Shory competed to represent the Tories on the ballot. Shory is the official Conservative Party candidate, but Richard declared himself an independent Conservative candidate, with his signs raising the federal party’s ire. Also in the mix are Liberal Sanam Kang, New Democrat Vinay Dey, Marxist-Leninist Daniel Blanchard and Green Abeed Monty Ahmad.



Calgary-Centre-North

The federal Industry minister, a University of Calgary physics professor and a retiree are three of the six candidates vying for Calgary-Centre-North’s parliamentary seat. Incumbent Jim Prentice looks to repeat after two consecutive victories in the riding. Meanwhile Liberal candidate Doug James looks to begin his transition from the workforce to retirement with this election. Other candidates include Libertarian Jason E. McNeil, U of C physics professor Eric Donovan for the Greens, New Democrat John Chan and perennial Marxist-Leninist candidate Peggy Askin, running in her eighth federal election.



Calgary-Centre

Embattled Conservative MP Lee Richardson hopes to hold onto his seat amidst controversial comments made about the origins of Calgary crime. The Calgary-Centre incumbent faces off against returning Liberal candidate Heesung Kim– the runner-up in 2006– 21-year-old NDP candidate Tyler Kinch, independent Antony Grochowski and the Green Party’s Natalie Odd.



Calgary-Southwest

Prime Minister Stephen Harper will have to fight off five challengers to retain his seat in Calgary-Southwest. Harper first won the seat previously held by Preston Manning in a 2002 by-election and has retained it twice with large margins. He’ll be challenged by 73-year-old Liberal candidate Marlene Lamontagne, Libertarian Dennis Young, the Christian Heritage Party’s Larry Heather, New Democrat Holly Heffernan– third in 2006– and the Green Party’s Kelly Christie.



Calgary-Southeast

Canadian Secretary of State for Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity Jason Kenney seeks to defend his Conservative Parliamentary seat and lengthy job title in Calgary-Southeast. Kenney received more votes in Calgary than any other person in 2006– even more than Prime Minister Stephen Harper– earning a staggering 75 per cent of votes. He’ll be opposed by Liberal Brad Carroll, New Democrat Chris Willott and Green candidate Margaret Chandler.



Calgary-East

Conservative MP Deepak Obhrai battles four other candidates in his fifth election in Calgary East. Obhrai has represented the riding since 1997. He’ll be facing off against Liberal Bernie Kennedy, New Democrat Ian Vaughan, the Green Party’s Nathan Coates and Calgary’s lone Communist candidate, Jason Levine. Of the challengers, only Levine has any federal experience– having ran in the past three elections.