UCP, NDP focus on ground game ahead of provincial election

Nagwan Al-Guneid, NDP candidate for Calgary-Glenmore, door knocking on Saturday, April 14. (Nicole Di Donato/CTV News Calgary)

The official election period hasn’t begun, but both the United Conservative Party (UCP) and Alberta NDP are focusing on their ground game.

On Saturday, candidates and 2,000 volunteers with the Alberta NDP took part in Orange Saturday, knocking on doors across the province in hopes of making a connection with residents.

“This is about listening and understanding what matters to all Albertans such as healthcare, education and the economy, and much more,” said Nagwan Al-Guneid, NDP candidate for Calgary-Glenmore.

Jeremy Barretto, a volunteer working with Al-Guneid, says he has been going door-to-door for months to see what matters to voters.

“Just encourage everyone to vote. This is going to be a really important election and I think there’s a lot of big things on the line and hopefully the government that’s elected can fix healthcare and the cost of living,” he said.

The UCP has also been out talking to constituents this month.

Various Calgary candidates like Jeremy Nixon, Jason Luan and Rajan Sawhney have been posting their canvasing efforts on social media.

One resident appreciates the chance to meet candidates face-to-face.

“It’s hard to know how to vote and it’s hard to know who to vote for so, at least meeting the person gives you a chance,” Bill Hemstock said.

As candidates aim to be open with voters, Premier Danielle Smith says she will now only take one question per media outlet and no follow-ups.

When asked why at a press conference on Friday, Smith responded, “We’re sort of getting into election mode and so, we have lots of people who want answered questions … so we want to make sure we get to everybody.”

During her Corus Radio call-in show, Your Province Your Premier, on Saturday, Smith reiterated she is limiting questions to provide answers to more reporters.

The Opposition NDP calls the move disappointing and confusing.

The party is promising to answer any and all questions put to them, including follow ups.

Marc Henry, a political strategist and pollster with ThinkHQ, says Smith’s approach could hurt her.

“It tends to impact people’s impressions of the leader itself, you know, in terms of competence, in terms of honesty, you know, why are you being evasive, why are you avoiding questions?”

Henry says the ground game is especially important in Calgary as neither party can win the election without getting the majority of seats there.

“Calgary is going to be where this election has decided. There are 26 seats in Calgary, and most of them are highly competitive. So, this is going to be a real battleground for the two parties,” he said.

The election period isn’t set to begin until next month.