A mere two days after winning a tightly contested nomination, St. Albert’s newest federal candidate is gearing up for another close race.
The latest poll conducted by Leger Marketing on Sept. 2, shows the unlikelihood of any of Canada’s three major parties forming a majority government, with the first place NDP and third place Conservatives within four percentage points of each other.
In the riding of St. Albert-Edmonton, the final federal candidate was named over the weekend. Beatrice Ghettuba, an Edmonton businesswoman and community organizer, will represent the Liberal Party of Canada in the upcoming Oct. 19 election after winning a nomination contest on Sunday.
The vote came down to one ballot with Edmonton native and provincial lawyer Don Padget receiving 36 out of 73 votes.
“I didn’t believe it,” said Ghettuba about winning the Liberal candidacy. “I know I have a lot of work to do; I’m a newcomer to (the party.) But I guess that’s what I signed up for.”
A chartered accountant and chairperson for Edmonton’s Africa Centre, Ghettuba decided to put her name forward because she was concerned that the families and small businesses she deals with on a daily basis were not thriving under the current Conservative government.
She said she is excited to start talking to people about the issues that affect them.
The current election is the longest in modern history, lasting 11 weeks in total.
While her Conservative, NDP and Independent counterparts, Michael Cooper, Darlene Malayko and Brent Rathgeber have had up to five weeks additional to prepare, Ghettuba is entering the race at the midway point.
Although there are only 40 days left in the campaign, Ghettuba said she is confident she can make up for lost time.
“We are obviously starting late,” she said. “We have much more to do – a lot more running around than other people – but we are confident that we’ll catch up.”
By Tuesday morning she had already put together the skeleton of her campaign team. Wednesday’s itinerary includes a strategy meeting before heading to the Radisson Hotel in the south of Edmonton to meet Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau for a rally.
The Rally for Real Change in Edmonton will be held Wednesday, Sept. 9 starting at 5 p.m. at the Radisson Hotel in Edmonton South.
