Chahal ready for Liberal victory in Calgary Skyview

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Liberal George Chahal is set to leave Calgary City Hall to enter the House of Commons with an apparent victory at Calgary Skyview on Monday.

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The former city councilor was successful in turning the city’s most northeastern corner back to red, marking the third time the constituency has changed party allegiance in the past six years and winning the Liberals’ only victory in Calgary.

Pending confirmed results, Chahal will oust Tory Jag Sahota, who represented the constituency for less than two years before Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau calls an early election this summer.

Just before midnight, Chahal got into the back of a Liberal red truck in front of his campaign headquarters in Saddle Ridge. Flanked by his wife and three daughters, he addressed a cheering crowd.

“We have representation in the Calgary government,” he said triumphantly to supporters’ applause.

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Chahal’s supporters became more and more jubilant on Monday night as the candidate began to take a lead in the hotly contested constituency.

People gathered in the parking lot outside Chahal’s campaign headquarters, screaming whenever new polls brought in results and chanting “Go, George, go!” “

When Chahal spoke he was ahead by a few thousand votes with over 90 percent of constituency polls reporting results.

When asked if he could be a minister in the new Liberal minority government, he did not respond, saying only that he would welcome “any opportunity we have to serve the community”.

“I’m going to be loud and proud of who I am and who I represent, but I’m a team player,” he said. “I will continue to defend our city and our province in government.”

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Chahal has spent the last few weeks knocking on doors in bright red sneakers, and he wore them again on Monday. He spent most of the night watching the results arrive with his family, making a cameo appearance around 10 p.m.

Chahal said he would follow necessary city policy regarding what sitting councilors should do if elected to another post. His current term will end once municipal elections are held on October 18.

Calgary Skyview extends from the northern city limits to 32nd Avenue NE, covering the area roughly east of Deerfoot to 84th Street NE

It has been a very competitive part of the city in the last election. It was one of two Calgary ridings that turned red in 2015 when Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau won a majority government, but former MP Darshan Kang was kicked out of caucus three years later over allegations sexual assault and harassment. A House of Commons investigation concluded that she could verify some of the complaints – Kang later apologized but maintained that neither her intentions nor actions were inappropriate.

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Kang represented the constituency as an independent until 2019. He did not run for office, and conservative Jag Sahota easily defeated liberal Nirmala Naidoo.

Chahal first applied for re-election to Calgary Ward 5 city council, which covers almost all of the same land as his new federal riding. In July, he retired from the council race and announced a candidacy for federal office.

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Earlier Monday, Mayor Naheed Nenshi endorsed Chahal in a video he posted on social media, calling him an “excellent” city councilor who would do just as well in federal politics.

“Normally I don’t get involved in partisan politics that way, but I love when great people choose to run for office, regardless of their political stripe,” he said.

“And let me tell you, George Chahal is a great people.”

The other candidates in the running were Gurinder Singh Gill of the NDP, Janna So of the Green Party, Harry Dhillon of the People’s Party, Daniel Blanchard of the Marxist-Leninist Party, Nadeem Rana of the Center Party and independent Lee Aquart.

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