Why did Sohi lose? How will Smith and Carney get on? Political consultant reacts to federal election results

Political consultant shares his take on the federal election results and what it means for Alberta.

Edmonton is now a sea of blue, with the NDP and Liberal Party holding on to one seat each. Political consultant Tom Vernon joined CTV Morning Live’s Nicole Lampa with a take on what’s happened and what’s next.

This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

Nicole Lampa: Let’s start off with Edmonton Southeast. What’s your take on what happened with Amarjeet Sohi there?

Tom Vernon: The Liberals are always going to be in a tough spot getting seats here, anywhere in Alberta and here in Edmonton as well. The Conservatives had a very motivated voter base to go to the polls seeking change. Amarjeet Sohi, obviously a well-known name here, obviously the mayor’s chair, but he’s also lost federally as well. I think they felt they had a pretty good chance, because it was an entirely urban riding just like the last time he won. But again, the Liberal government is not very popular here in Alberta. Voters in Alberta have shown that they are ready for change. They want to see a new government in office in Ottawa. So I wasn’t overly surprised by that. I knew the conservative vote was going to be pretty strong here.

Nicole: Do you expect that Eleanor Olszewski will get some plum seats under Mark Carney’s leadership, given that he’s from Edmonton?

Tom: We’ll see how the cabinet shakes out. Obviously, it has to have some regional considerations. With that frustration in Alberta, he is going to want to show that he is listening to voters here. I can’t predict whether she’ll be in cabinet or not in cabinet, but you have to think her, or Corey Hogan out of Calgary, is going to have some form of role that will give them some profile. Look, the Liberals are a minority government so they need to think of every one of their seats because I don’t imagine it’ll be four years before our next election. So, will she get a high-profile role? I’m not sure but I think we’re going to see pretty early on Mark Carney come out and say, “We need to unite the country. We need to listen to concerns and we need to push back as one nation against the United States.” Alberta is going to play a pretty important role in standing up for Canada’s interests.

Nicole: What do you expect between the dynamic between Mark Carney and Alberta’s Premier Danielle Smith?

Tom: There’s no denying Premier Danielle Smith would have preferred Pierre Poilievre be prime minister today and that there be a Conservative majority government, but politically for her, a Liberal government in Ottawa is not the worst thing. I’m saying this politically because there’s three things that you can be assured of in Alberta, death taxes and the Conservative government going after a Liberal government in Ottawa. It is really good politically for her. You’re going to see her really stand up for Alberta’s interests and stand up for what she believes are Alberta’s interests. We saw a preview of that with her list of demands to Prime Minister Mark Carney before the election. I don’t think she’s going to back off of those. It will be interesting to see how she puts forward issues of taking Ottawa out of Alberta. We’ve heard talks of seeing a little shorter path to ballot initiatives, to referendums. We already saw one here on equalization. We’ve seen the province push forward on policies, like trying to form a provincial police force. So I think we’re going to see Premier Danielle Smith trying to step up those policy pushes on more Alberta, less Ottawa. I don’t think we’re going to see or be best friends with the prime minister but it will definitely be an interesting dynamic.

For more detailed local election coverage, including counts in Edmonton federal ridings, head to our website ctvnewsedmonton.ca.