This column is the opinion of Michael Solberg, co-owner of a government relations firm in Calgary and co-host of the Stampede party. For more information about the CBC Opinions section, please see the FAQ.
Some people line up at the Calgary Stampede for hot cakes. Others come for hot shots. Amid the 10 days of rodeos, country music and $12 beers, there exists a distinct subculture as important to the Stampede identity as the corn dog: the Stampede political circuit.
Politicians from all walks of life, ends of the spectrum and ends of the nation will descend on Calgary dressed in their favorite western attire (some more convincingly than others). Stampede features dozens of politically focused events that range from a private glass-tilting soiree to a coffee-sipping caucus.
Indeed, the 10 days of the Stampede yield more backslaps and jubilant hands than the rest of the year combined.
I can say from personal experience that a handful of lobbyists will also be kicking around.
It is the nation’s largest political zoo.
Sale of hay bales and party memberships
Given Calgary’s traditional lean to the right, this is a particularly big event for the Conservatives. And this year is especially important.
This year, the Stampede is at the center of two leadership races — the Conservative Party of Canada and the United Conservative Party of Alberta.
It stands to reason that an aspiring leader in both conservative coalitions would want to spend time among these crowds of thousands. After all, there is money to be raised, memberships to be sold, and hearts and minds to be won.
Believe us we’re not, Prime Minister Trudeau has been a Stampede parade marshal – twice. In both cases it was Pierre, shown here leading the way for the first time in 1971. (His son has attended the festival regularly since becoming prime minister.) (Ken Pole/The Canadian Press)
For provincial leadership candidates, the significant investment of time at the Stampede should pay dividends. Wallets will be just as open to making party donations as they are to buying those expensive tepid Budweisers.
The $175,000 entry fee for leadership remains a challenge for many contenders, and for some the Calgary Stampede will be the difference between success and failure. We can also see the leaders separate themselves from the rest in the party membership sales, with the registration deadline ending on August 12th, less than a month after the Stampede ends.
No more memberships can be sold for the federal competition until Alberta’s numbers have nearly doubled since the last leadership racevoting rules give equal weight to each ride.
CPC membership, which now stands at 675,000, has seen significant growth in other parts of the country, namely Atlantic Canada, Ontario and Quebec. There is an inherent risk in spending too much time away from these fledgling voter growth areas in a western city.
But not participating at all is perhaps an even greater risk. If you are absent from the Stampede, you are conspicuously absent; might suggest you ignore calgary during his marquee moment.
Justin Trudeau is reasonable to have displayed every year as premier (except last year), and Alberta NDP Leader Rachel Notley will try wooing the locals at several events. Even federal leader of the NDP Jagmeet Singh and former Green Party leader Elizabeth May have attended Stampede events in the past, despite limited electoral success in the town and country.
Warning horns blared across Calgary about fashion faux pas when Alberta Premier Rachel Notley wore her hat backwards while meeting with Prime Minister Stephen Harper in 2015. (Jeff McIntosh/Canadian Press file)
How good a politician the “Running Run” is is often the subject of debate after the run. If you bomb, it gets noticed.
Will they take the stage to thunderous applause in the famous Cowboys tent? Or will they have barely two dozen people at their barbecue while standing in moccasins instead of boots with their cowboy hats backwards?
The flagship Conservative event is the annual Calgary Heritage BBQ. The fundraiser was previously hosted by former southwest Calgary MPs (and movement founders) Preston Manning and Stephen Harper, and now current MP Bob Benzen.
Search for the loudest yahoos
An unwritten tradition takes place during the introduction of the dignitaries in attendance, which this year will include a host of federal and provincial leadership hopefuls. In the old days of the Wildrose and Progressive Conservatives, a litmus test of electoral success was to wait and hear who got the loudest cheers during their introduction.
This year, the test will be applied to these active leadership contests, and I, for one, will bring my applause. I bet Calgary native Pierre Poilievre will get an ear-splitting reception.
The stakes are high. Yes, there is a leadership race, but Alberta is also in the final year of its election cycle. As a pollster Recent research by Janet Brown suggestsmore Albertans today would consider voting for the UCP than the opposition NDP in the 2023 provincial election.
The Stampede is a big opportunity for UCP to crystallize these recent gains in public opinion before the dog days of summer take over. And for two sets of leadership candidates, this may be the last time Alberta’s conservatives pay much attention, because the dog days of summer after the Stampede coincide with when both races come home.
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