MLA Raj Sherman, now Alberta Liberal leader, speaks to a reporter during a break in the filibuster debate on health care at the Alberta Legislature in Edmonton Alta on Thursday November 25, 2010.Jason Franson for The Globe and Mail
With two weeks to go before election day, the Alberta Liberals have nominated their full slate of candidates – including a party staffer and the leader's long-time aide.
Former Calgary city council candidate Beena Ashar was announced as the Liberal nominee in Calgary Elbow, the home riding of PC leader Alison Redford, ending the party's search to fill out its roster of candidates.
Some of the candidates, however, evoke memories of the New Democrat roster in Quebec before last year's federal election – the party's Edmonton-based media liaison, Amy McBain, is running in Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo, a riding that includes the oil sands and is about 450 kilometres north of Edmonton. Liberal leader Raj Sherman's long-time staff member, Jonathan Huckabay, is running in the riding of Edmonton-Manning.
Dr. Sherman announced the final candidate on Saturday, saying all the seats in Calgary are in play. However, Liberal fortunes remain up in the air. The party entered the election campaign as the official opposition, but its poll numbers are well back of the Wildrose Party and the Progressive Conservatives.
A former Tory, Dr. Sherman won the leadership of the Liberals last fall in a race where other candidates suggested the party not bother running a full slate. He insisted, but struggled to find local candidates quickly.
Albertans go to the polls April 23.