A look at Edmonton's battleground ridings

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Parties will be fighting for seats in the Edmonton area during the next federal election. It's a province that predominantly votes Conservative federally. Travis McEwan takes a look at the political climate and how some parties are preparing.  »»» Subscribe to CBC News to watch more videos: http://bit.ly/1RreYWS  Connect with CBC News Online:  For breaking news, video, audio and in-depth coverage: http://bit.ly/1Z0m6iX Follow CBC News on TikTok: https://bit.ly/3TnHioe Follow CBC News on Twitter: http://bit.ly/1sA5P9H Find CBC News on Facebook: http://bit.ly/1WjG36m Follow CBC News on Instagram: http://bit.ly/1Z0iE7O Subscribe to CBC News on Snapchat: https://bit.ly/3leaWsr  Download the CBC News app for iOS: http://apple.co/25mpsUz Download the CBC News app for Android: http://bit.ly/1XxuozZ  »»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»» For more than 80 years, CBC News has been the source Canadians turn to, to keep them informed about their communities, their country and their world. Through regional and national programming on multiple platforms, including CBC Television, CBC News Network, CBC Radio, CBCNews.ca, mobile and on-demand, CBC News and its internationally recognized team of award-winning journalists deliver the breaking stories, the issues, the analyses and the personalities that matter to Canadians.

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00:00As the country heads into a federal election,

00:02parties will fight for seats in Alberta's capital,

00:05in a province that predominantly votes Conservative.

00:08But before we take a look at the current political landscape,

00:10let's take a look back at what happened four years ago.

00:14In the Edmonton area riotings,

00:16including St. Albert, Sherwood Park, and Fort Saskatchewan,

00:19all but three voted in Conservative MPs,

00:22with the exception of Liberal Randy Boissoneau

00:24and NDP MPs Blake Desjarlais and Heather McPherson.

00:29But some parties still see opportunities for change,

00:32while others will look to take more ridings.

00:34Each one of these is a house that's excited to host one of my signs.

00:38Trisha Esterbrooks and her team

00:40have been campaigning for about a year and a half.

00:42She's running in Edmonton Centre,

00:44a riding where Boissoneau is the incumbent,

00:46but it's a seat previously held by the Conservatives.

00:50I think that there's a real opportunity

00:53because the NDP are talking about solutions right now.

00:57When we think about the threat from the United States

00:59and those tariffs, the NDP are talking about

01:01how we need to strengthen our energy grid,

01:05for example, from east to west.

01:07You know, that's one area

01:09that the NDP are quite strong on right now.

01:11We need to talk about reducing interprovincial trade barriers.

01:15But this consultant says that might be tough,

01:17despite the Liberals having a new leader in Mark Carney

01:20and the US trade war.

01:21He says in the Edmonton area,

01:23it might be a matter of the Liberals and NDP

01:25attempting to hold on to their seats

01:26instead of gaining new ones.

01:28Here in Alberta, yeah, this is Conservative country.

01:31I don't see a lot of hope for Liberals to break through

01:34and get a lot of seats gained here.

01:36This is one of those things where, you know,

01:38we see a lot of even polling numbers now

01:40when it comes to across the country,

01:42but I don't know if there's going to see that shift here in Alberta.

01:44This is pure Polly of country.

01:45This is Conservative country.

01:47James Cumming has a similar outlook.

01:50He held the Edmonton Centre seat for one term.

01:52Cumming admits the polls have tightened

01:54between Liberals and Conservatives,

01:56but he expects Albertans to vote for a change in government.

01:58The electorate, in my opinion, in Edmonton,

02:01they're concerned about what the future looks like.

02:04You know, and they really are for themselves

02:07and for their kids and their kids' kids.

02:09Same thing that I'm concerned about.

02:11So I think those will be the watch things

02:13about who actually is going to lead

02:16and make sure that there's substantive change

02:19that gets the economy going and creates better opportunities.

02:21Some Alberta pollsters say

02:23that if the last month is any indication,

02:25things can change by the day with U.S. and Canada relations

02:29and that voting decisions may be in flux as well.

02:32Travis McEwen, CBC News, Edmonton.

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