What's this? Leela Aheer is interested in running in Calgary Elbow?.It may be so..It's nomination time for all parties contesting the provincial election set for May next year, with the United Conservative Party having chosen 36 candidates out of 87 so far..Eleven nomination contests are currently open, including Calgary-Elbow, a constituency recently under the spotlight when Premier Danielle Smith said she wouldn’t call a by-election to fill the seat vacated by former UCP minister Doug Schweitzer in early September. (Smith chose to run in a hastily-arranged by-election in the rural Brook-Medicine Hat constituency)..Two candidates have already announced their intentions to seek the Calgary-Elbow nomination — Jon Horsman who backed out of the UCP leadership race at the 11th hour, and corporate tax lawyer Andrea James..However, multiple credible sources say Chestermere-Strathmore MLA and one-time leadership candidate Leela Aheer may also seek the Calgary-Elbow nomination. Rumours are further fuelled by frequent sightings of her in the constituency and sources close to Aheer, who placed last in the leadership race with 1.3%, confirm she is indeed actively exploring running in Calgary-Elbow..Aheer herself could not be reached for comment. A spokesperson told the Western Standard Aheer likely wouldn’t be available as she has “been declining” media interviews for the past few weeks..The nomination for Chestermere-Strathmore has not been opened, but Aheer faces strong competition there from Chantelle de Jong..Of the 36 confirmed nominations, only four contests were held: Edmonton-South West, Innisfail-Sylvan Lake, Camrose and Red Deer North. Calgary-Elbow and Chestermere-Strathmore will soon be added to the list..Wherever Aheer decides to run, she’ll find herself without the safety net she was afforded in the last election..In 2019, former premier Jason Kenney elbowed competitors out of the way to ensure Aheer had the Chestermere-Strathmore nomination. No one was allowed to file papers to run against a female candidate the party figured would boost its popularity..Aheer won 68.48% of the vote in the general election in the conservative riding. In the 2015 election, Aheer, running under the Wildrose banner, narrowly defeated Progressive Conservative Bruce McAllister 37.04%— 35.97%..When Wildrose and PC merged, Kenney appointed Aheer deputy leader in 2017. In 2019, he appointed her minister of Culture, Multiculturalism, and Status of Women — a post he shuffled her from after she publicly tore into him..Aheer was the only leadership candidate Smith did not appoint to cabinet..In August, Aheer was humiliated at the riding’s annual general meeting (AGM) when the Chestermere-Strathmore membership showed up in droves and elected all 30 supporters of de Jong to the constituency association (CA) board. The membership had ousted Aheer’s board in January. It was reinstated on a technicality and booted out again..The conservative Chestemere-Strathmore residents likely didn’t appreciate seeing Aheer attend Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s invite-only pancake breakfast, or the photo of her posing with hard-core lefty Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek, or sending out a gushing tweet about Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood NDP MLA Janis Irwin..So, the writing may be on the wall for Aheer in Chestermere-Strathmore..Calgary-Elbow may be a strategically safer bet..Calgary-Elbow was once a conservative stronghold, represented by two former premiers — Ralph Klein and Allison Redford. Today, it is considered a tight race against the NDP’s Samir Kayande, and the Alberta Party's Kerry Cundal. .At time of writing, the NDP has 60 candidates nominated out of 87, the Green Partry 15 and the Alberta Party, just three candidates.
