'It's Alberta': This Calgary riding has 4 candidates with UCP ties

For a new party, the United Conservative Party seems to have put down some strong roots in the riding of Calgary-North West.

Sonya Savage is the UCP candidatein the riding, butseveral of her competitors also have connections to her party.

She's even getting the support of acompetitor's spouse.

The Freedom Conservative Partycandidate, Cam Khan, ran against Savage for the UCP nomination. He lost that race in August of last year.

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After attending some Alberta Party meetings, Khan joined the Freedom Conservatives.

According to an official with the United Conservatives, Khan's UCP membership expired last November and he didn't renew.

NDP candidate with conservative links

The NDP candidate, Hafeez Chishti, is still on the UCP's membership list.

When contacted by CBC News, Chishti said he joined the Progressive Conservatives back in 2015 to support Sandra Jansen,who won the riding in that election.

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Jansen later joined the NDP but she is not running in this year's election.

Chishti said his membership has lapsed, even though the UCP still shows him as a member.

Independent candidate Roberta McDonald also has been amember of the UCP. Her party membership lapsed last month.

Herhusband remainsa member and rather than voting for his wife, he's planning to cast his ballot next week for the UCP.

Unusual situation

It's all a bit unusual, Savage said.

"It's Alberta," she said with a laugh. "Everybody's free to have a membership in whatever party they choose. And ours, I guess, is the one that they choose."

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The situation hasn't really come up at all in the election campaign, she said, but it has been a source of some merriment for some.

"It does come up in conservative circles," she said. "It's kind of something that people laugh at a bit but it hasn't come up at any doors."

How the situation plays with voters won't be known until election day on April 16.

Two other candidates, Liberal Prerna Mahtani and Andrew Bradley with the Alberta Party, are also running in Calgary-North West.

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