Airdrie-Cochrane Liberal candidate Sean Secord says he intends to stay politically active and is willing to put his name forward in a future election.
In his first foray into politics, Secord, of Cochrane, saw Liberal support double in the riding to 24 per cent from the 2021 election within its new boundaries. While he finished a distant second, Secord was the only candidate to offer any real challenge to incumbent Conservative MP Blake Richards.
Secord attributes the Liberals’ success in the riding to multiple factors, including confidence in the party’s leadership and a strong grassroots effort during the short campaign.
“Mark Carney is a good leader. He’s got a lot of qualifications, expertise, experience and history. Given the current situation, many voters probably saw him as someone they wanted to back,” Secord said.
“I tried to get out there as much as I could and let people know I’m committed to working for this riding with everything I have. I think a lot of people saw that I have some credentials, experience and passion they were willing to get behind.”
He said voters were drawn to the Liberal Party’s inclusive stance on issues such as religion, sexuality, and identity—something they felt was lacking in other parties.
Secord also heard from constituents who believe Richards could be doing more for the riding.
Despite the short campaign period, Secord believes the team made progress and laid the groundwork for the next election.
“Next time, I’ll be that much further ahead,” he said. “I do plan to stay on and find ways to be more involved in this riding between now and the next election so more constituents know who I am and what I bring to the table. We’ll start in a better position next time than we did this time, which felt like we were behind the eight ball from the beginning.”
The federal election produced results not seen in decades, according to some experts. Two national leaders lost their seats, the NDP lost official party status, the Bloc Québécois saw its seat count drop by a third, and both the People’s Party of Canada and the Green Party failed to gain significant traction.
As of now, the seat count stands at: Liberals 169, Conservatives 144, Bloc Québécois 22, NDP 7, and the Greens with one.