With less than 72 hours until the candidate nomination deadline for the upcoming federal election, the Foothills riding has three confirmed candidates, although at least two more are expected to file.
As of 4 p.m. on April 4, only Conservative incumbent John Barlow, Liberal John Bruinsma and Paul O'Halloran of the People's Party of Canada are officially listed as candidates on the Elections Canada website.
The Green Party has nominated Emma Hoberg and the NDP has tabbed Kaitte Aurora, but neither has been confirmed by Elections Canada at this point.
The candidate nomination deadline is Monday, April 7 at 2 p.m. Elections Canada says a complete list of confirmed candidates will be available on Wednesday, April 9.
Canadians head to the polls for Canada's 45th federal election on April 28, with advance polling stations open from April 18 to 21.
Barlow is running for the seat he has held since winning a 2014 byelection when the riding was called Macleod, before it was renamed Foothills in 2015. Polls indicate that Barlow currently has higher than a 99 per cent chance of winning re-election.
Bruinsma, a political newcomer, was acclaimed as the Liberal candidate for Foothills on Feb. 20, over a month before Prime Minister Mark Carney's March 23 election announcement. Bruinsma lives in Crowsnest Pass and is a retired engineering technologist with a background in industrial automation and controls.
O'Halloran, whose candidacy was announced on March 20, replaced Diego Machado, who was initially the party's candidate but decided against running, according to a social media announcement on Feb. 20. A Diamond Valley resident, O'Halloran has been a member of the People's Party since its inception in 2018.
Hoberg, born and raised in Okotoks, currently serves as the Green Party's western organizer and is working on campaigns across Western Canada alongside her own in Foothills.
Aurora, is a Lethbridge-based activist and community leader with a background in space systems engineering.
No other parties or independent candidates have thrown their hats in the ring at this time. The Maverick Party, which nominated a Foothills candidate in the 2021 federal election and won 3.6 per cent of the vote, was deregistered by Elections Canada as a recognized party and is not running any candidates.
Stretching from Foothills County to the Canada-U.S. border, the Foothills electoral district is home to 114,930 residents according to 2021 census data, with a total of 64,467 ballots cast in the 2021 federal election.
You must be signed in to comment. Please sign in or register.