The NDP candidate for Yellowhead has been working to foster grassroots support in her riding ahead of an impending federal election.
Avni Soma, along with Edmonton Strathcona MP Heather McPherson and Sherwood Park MLA Kyle Kasawski, hosted “Winter Party: Warm Hands, Hot Topics” at the Jasper Activity Centre on Saturday (Feb. 15).
“I come from the grassroots,” Soma said. “That’s what I do. I build community.”
The Canmore resident is a scientist and small business owner with a background in health care and more than 15 years of experience in the food industry. Among other achievements, she currently sits on the National Food Policy Advisory Council and the board of Alberta Food Matters.
Because of new electoral riding boundaries, Banff, Canmore and Lake Louise are now part of Yellowhead, and Soma has been busy travelling the riding to meet constituents and hold events. Although having held several coffee table talks, this was her first official gathering for Jasper.
The event was “speed politicking” style where attendees sat across from each other and talked politics. It began with an icebreaker question, “What’s your hot beverage that you enjoy in the morning?” before asking, “If there was something that you would give up for a year to ensure that Canada doesn’t become the 51st state, what would it be?”
Constituents in Jasper have told Soma how pleased they were with the new interim housing, which will house residents displaced by last summer's wildfire.
“When I was here in January, I was hearing that Jasperites were looking for more transparency about how decisions were being made, so I’m hoping that that’s happening now,” she said.
With the expectation that an election will be called as soon as the Liberals announce their new leader, Soma is striving to maintain her full-on campaigning speed for the next two months.
“I’m kind of grateful that it’ll be a little bit sooner because I’m going full-on every day doing something,” she said.
McPherson, who is one of two NDP members of Parliament in Alberta, said her visit to Jasper not only allowed her to support Soma’s campaign but also meet with local officials to see what else could be done at the federal level to support Jasper's recovery from the wildfire.
“I came through Jasper, actually, in July right before the fire with my family,” she said. “I hadn’t been back, so to drive around town and see not just how bad the destruction was in some areas but how there’s already rebuilding starting again … that gave me a lot of hope.”
Being one of the few non-Conservative MPs in Alberta, she works to represent the interests of Jasper and the rest of Alberta in the House of Commons, such as speaking at a federal committee regarding the wildfire.
McPherson noted Jasper residents were generally disappointed with the provincial government and how it has politicized housing as the need for temporary accommodations grows.
“What we’ve been hearing from people is that they want the federal government to step in,” she said. “They want the federal government and the provincial government to work together to get the help to people in Jasper that need it, and they want to have a voice in Ottawa that’s fighting for them, not fighting against them.”
As for whether it was possible for the federal NDP to win a rural Alberta riding, McPherson said the way they would win seats was through working hard, knocking on doors and meeting people where they were.
“One thing I will say is I feel most Albertans actually share the values of New Democrats; they maybe just don’t know it yet, so it just takes a little convincing,” she said. “Certainly, I think Jasper is a very New Democratic town, and there’s a lot of people that share the same values that New Democrats share.”
William Stevenson, a chartered professional accountant in Carstairs, has been selected as the Conservative candidate for the Yellowhead Riding.
A Liberal candidate has not been nominated yet, but Kyle Pynch, chair of the Yellowhead Federal Liberal Association, said in an email that the process should be completed in the next few weeks.
