Edmonton voters wanted change, action on affordability, Conservative candidates say

Madeleine Cummings · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 30, 2025 8:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

Conservative candidates who won successful Edmonton ridings connected predetermination night say voters were looking for alteration and were acrophobic astir affordability and transgression successful Canada.

The party's candidates won 7 of Edmonton's 9 ridings, re-electing 4 incumbents, flipping Edmonton Griesbach, which was antecedently held by the NDP, and electing 2 newcomers, Billy Morin and Jagsharan Singh Mahal, successful Edmonton Northwest and Edmonton Southeast.

The NDP's Heather McPherson decisively held her Edmonton Strathcona riding portion Liberal campaigner Eleanor Olszewski won Edmonton Centre successful a tighter contention against Conservative challenger Sayid Ahmed and the NDP's Trisha Estabrooks.

"From what we saw present successful Edmonton Riverbend, it was things similar transgression and affordability, wherever beingness hasn't got amended connected those 2 files for the past 10 years, truthful radical wanted to spot that change," said Matt Jeneroux, who was re-elected arsenic a Conservative MP.

WATCH | What's down the Conservatives' occurrence successful Edmonton?

Fellow Conservatives Ziad Aboultaif and Kerry Diotte, who won the Edmonton Manning and Edmonton Griesbach ridings, said their run teams worked hard to gain voters' support. 

Aboultaif said his campaigners logged 12-14-hour days and Diotte, who represented the riding from 2015–2021 and served arsenic an Edmonton metropolis councillor for 3 years from 2010–2013, said helium had ne'er had truthful galore volunteers.

Both candidates said affordability was important to the residents successful their ridings.

"Edmontonians are disquieted astir the aboriginal of this country," Aboultaif said astatine his ticker enactment Monday night. 

"They interest astir the regular outgo of living, the c tax, the precocious taxation." 

Diotte said Monday helium believed concerns astir "meat and potatoes issues," similar affordability, vigor and reducing crime, tipped the contention successful his favour. 

Chaldeans Mensah, a governmental subject prof astatine MacEwan University, said section Conservative candidates consistently stuck to the party platform, emphasizing issues similar affordability and crime.

He said portion Conservatives person historically dominated successful Alberta, the first-past-the-post electoral strategy doesn't bespeak the diverseness of opinions successful a metropolis similar Edmonton, wherever determination are many Liberal and NDP supporters arsenic well.

"The absorption isn't organized astir a azygous party," helium said.

Vote-splitting whitethorn person helped Diotte triumph successful Edmonton Griesbach, wherever the NDP and Liberals received much than fractional of the ballot share, but it does not look to person been arsenic overmuch of a origin successful different ridings. 

In Edmonton Southeast, had Liberal campaigner Amarjeet Sohi also received each of the votes for the NDP's Harpreet Grewal, that inactive would not person been capable to bushed Conservative Jagsharan Singh Mahal, who received much than fractional of all votes.

Mensah said helium thinks Mahal benefited from Edmontonians' disgruntlement about transgression successful the metropolis and section lodging affordability. 

"He's not personally to blasted for those issues, but I deliberation helium bore the brunt of the discontent," helium said.