Riding profile: Edmonton Manning
Article content
Making Edmonton Manning more affordable is one common thread for candidates running in this north Edmonton riding.
Conservative incumbent Ziad Aboultaif is up against Liberal Kamal Kadri, NDP’s Charmaine St. Germain, People’s Party of Canada’s Daniel Summers and Green Party’s Laura-Leah Shaw.
Edmonton Manning stretches from the Yellowhead Trail and Canadian National Railway in its south to the borders of the City of Fort Saskatchewan and 259 Avenue in the north. The district is home to neighbourhoods like Clareview and River Valley Hermitage and smaller communities like Evergreen and Rural North East Horse Hill.
Aboultaif, 53, said he wants to keep the seat because the cost of living keeps rising with Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau at the helm.
“Everything seems to be getting more expensive, the carbon tax is unnecessary and seems to only hurt the middle class. I also hear about how the ‘No More Pipelines Bill’ seems to be a direct threat to Albertans and Canadians, and it must be repealed,” said Aboultaif, a self-employed business owner.
During the 2015 election, Aboultaif won 45 per cent of the vote, well ahead of Liberal Sukhdev Aujla, who received 27 per cent. NDP’s Aaron Paquette, now an Edmonton city councillor, trailed behind at 23 per cent.
Kadri said topics while door-knocking have included complaints about aging infrastructure as well as policing, both largely municipal issues, but also “jobs, money in their pockets, raising their kids.”
The 60-year-old entrepreneur said he believes his 35 years of experience in international trade will allow him to be the best voice in Ottawa.
St. Germain charges that the Trudeau government has failed to live up to its promises and argues the NDP is the best alternative.
The 42-year-old retail clerk and union labour relations officer said she’s been getting a lot of positive feedback on the topic of a national pharmacare program.
“Affordable housing (is a key issue), too,” she said.
Summers said he spent his whole life in Edmonton and knows the riding’s issues.
“Almost every day I hear from someone (who say) they’re being taxed way too much,” he said. “They can’t keep up with all these taxes.”
Summers added that voters seem to be losing faith in governments because of inaction on issues, like contamination of old industrial sites, that are important to them.
The 39-year-old insurance broker said he decided to run because he didn’t like the direction the country was going and wanted to put Canadian values first. Summers said many local issues have been ignored with no one taking responsibility and that has to change.
Shaw, the Green Party candidate, did not respond following repeated attempts for comment.
Other candidates vying for support include Christian Heritage Party’s Pamella Phiri, the Rhinoceros party’s Travis Jones and Andre Vachon for the Marxist-Leninist.
Communities
- Rural North East North Sturgeon
- Rural North East Horse Hills
- Rural North East South Sturgeon
- Evergreen
- Cy Becker
- McConachie area
- Matt Berry
- Hollick-Kenyon
- Brintnell
- Eaux Claires
- Belle Rive
- Mayliewan
- Ozerna
- McLeod
- Casselman
- Miller
- Ebbers
- Kirkness
- Fraser
- Bannerman
- Kernohan
- Canon Ridge
- Overlanders
- Homesteader
- Sifton Park
- Belmont
- Clareview Town Centre
- Hairsine
- Industrial Heights
- Belvedere
- York
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.