PCs name Prabhdeep Gill as Calgary-Greenway byelection candidate

Alberta's PC party has namedPrabhdeep Gill as their candidatefor the upcoming byelection in Calgary-Greenway.

Premier Rachel Notley announced on Tuesdaythat thebyelection for the seat previously held by PC MLA Manmeet Bhullar would take place on March 22.

Bhullar,35,was killed in a highway collisionin November.

• Calgary-Greenway byelection set for March 22 despite opposition
• Roop Rai to represent Alberta NDP in Calgary-Greenway byelection

The constituency association in the riding of Calgary-Greenway moved up its decision on a candidate from Saturday to Tuesday evening following Notley's announcement that the byelection would take place next month.

"It's really important to carry on Manmeet's legacy," PC leader Ric McIver told the Calgary Eyeopener.

"Although no one can fill his shoes, we're going to work very hard to get a candidate elected in Calgary-Greenway because the folks in Greenway chose a PC candidate in the general election."

Notley has been accused of being insensitive to the loss of Bhullar in calling the election92 days after his death.

Other PC candidates not pleased

Shesaid she believes the date is within the realm of"reasonable timing."

"She didn't address the fact that she knew that the PC Party, the Wildrose and the Liberals all had dates within a week or two to have their candidates selected and she went ahead anyway," McIver said.

The NDP hasalready selected their candidate,Roop Rai. TheWildrose now plans to hold itsnominationon Friday, rescheduledfrom anoriginal meetingdate ofMarch 5, and the Liberals moved their candidate selection up to Wednesday.The Green Party has already selected its candidate,Thana Boonlert.

"We are just preparing for it," McIver said."We've done what we had to do after the snap election was called and we're doing what we have to do."

But the appointment isn't sitting well with some of the other candidatesapproved by the PC party to contest the Greenway nomination.Dan Sidhu, Jamie Lalland Tushar Yadavhad also been in the running prior to Tuesday's decision.

Honouring a legacy

The PCs had deliberately dragged their feet in selecting a candidate to replace Bhullar,McIversaid.

"We were trying to be sensitive to Manmeet's family and give them as much time to grieve before they witnessed a contest to replace, at least, the position that Manmeet held," he said.

McIversaid his party is focused on winning the seat inCalgary-Greenwayout of respect forBhullar'slegacy.

"We really think it's important for us to win the seat for nothing else out of respect for Manmeet's memory, but let's be clear, also for political purposes," McIver said.

"It's always better to win an election than it is to lose one and there's never a guarantee."