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Conservative Party Of Canada Rule Alberta But Liberals Gain In Polls As Calgary Centre Looks For A Race

Liberal Numbers Lend Calgary Centre New Dynamic
CP/Handout

The survey, conducted by Abacus Data between Nov. 9 and 11, shows the Conservatives made gains nationally and remain strongest in Alberta, where they currently enjoy 60% support, canoe.ca reported.

Ontario is second in their support for Harper with 43%, according to canoe.ca.

By the end of the summer, the NDP and the CPC found themselves in a statistical dead-heat on the polls, but survey author David Coletto told canoe.ca the growing buzz around the Liberal leadership race and contender Justin Trudeau is likely behind the shift.

Nationally, the poll placed the CPC first with 36%, the NDP dropping to second with 29% and the Liberals surging up with 21%.

Those numbers may be cause for hope for Calgary Centre Liberal candidate Harvey Locke, running in the city's Nov. 26 byelection.

When the ballot to replace former Conservative MP Lee Richardson was called earlier this fall, the Liberals were still suffering from a post-general elections hangover and dwelling deeply in the basement of poll results.

STORY CONTINUES AFTER SLIDESHOW..

Joan Crockatt 36.9%

Calgary Centre Candidates Results

But as the Liberals start to make a resurgence nationally, and support for Locke starts to pour in from powerful and disenfranchised Conservatives in the heart of Calgary, according to the Calgary Herald, a race for the riding seems to be taking shape.

It is a tough sell, however says Calgary Liberal watcher Vincent St. Pierre, as the last non-conservative to hold the riding was Liberal Pat Mahoney in 1968.

A poll conducted by The Huffington Post late summer gave the CPC, who at the time hadn't even named a candidate yet, a solid edge over all competitors in the coming vote.

Furthermore, Crockatt's campaign is overrun by conservatives of the Wildrose ilk, driving many influential Progressive Conservative to place their support behind Locke, the Herald added in an opinion piece.

But neither the NDP nor the Greens are standing idly by, as the two historical Canadian powerhouse parties do battle in the heart of Calgary.

Official Opposition leader and leader of the NDP Thomas Mulcair is in Calgary on Tuesday night hosting a meet-and-greet at Melrose Cafe with NDP candidate Dan Meades, while Green leader Elizabeth May - along with environmental academic Dr. David Suzuki - will be in Calgary on Saturday Nov. 17, to stand behind Green candidate Chris Turner.

"I have the full support of the national party and the resources to match any other party in the race. I also have the best minds in Calgary politics today from across the political spectrum," he said.

"I'm the only candidate offering a chance not just to fill out the ranks of the backbench but actually bring a new voice to Parliament.. I'll have full freedom to vote my conscience and set my own agenda, and I'll have serious influence over Green Party policy nationally, which is still evolving and wide open to new ideas.

"Beyond this, I believe Libs and NDP voters should vote for me this time around because I can win and they can't."

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story originally identified Harry Hays as the last non-Conservative MP to be elected in the riding. Liberal Pat Mahoney was in fact the last non-Conservative to be elected in that riding. He won the vote in 1968.

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