Liberal Party candidate says new representation needed in SE Alberta

By Collin Gallant on April 3, 2025.

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Tom Rooke will represent the Liberal Party in the federal election, the party’s electoral district association for Medicine Hat-Cardston-Warner announced late Wednesday.

Rumours have swirled for a week about a local candidate for the Liberals, who hope to win a fourth term when Canadians go to the polls on April 28.

“It’s time for change in the representation of southeastern Alberta,” Rooke said in a statement. “Under the new leadership of Mark Carney, the Liberal Party of Canada has solid plans to make Canada stronger for the future.

“Wouldn’t it benefit southeastern Alberta a lot more if there was a MP on the government’s side for a change that will carry the messages of this area directly to that government? Our voice has been too weak for too long.”

He will face incumbent Glen Motz of the Conservatives and three other announced candidates to win the riding that stretches from the Saskatchewan boundary along the Montana border to Cardston in the west.

Before retirement, Rooke, 81, worked as a marketing manager with Monarch Cable in the Hat and with the local branch of the Canadian Cancer Society. He is also known for promoting a number of local charity drives and served as a public school trustee from 1998 to 2001. He ran again for the same position in 2021, finishing No. 11 out of 14 candidates.

Sources tell the News the ocal EDA board was strongly in favour of having a candidate who lived within the riding.

That comes after poor showings in 2021 and 2019 when the Liberal candidates were Hannah Wilson and Harris Kirshenbaum, both of Calgary.

Both secured less than eight per cent of the votes, marking a steep decline from 25 per cent captured by Hat businessman Stan Sakamoto in the 2016 byelection.

Motz captured three election victories securing between 65 and 78 per cent of votes cast.

This year Jocelyn Johnson, a Hat-native now based in Edmonton, is running in the second straight election as the New Democratic Party candidate.

Also on the ballot are B.C.-based Green Party candidate and first-time political candidate Jordan Harris, representing the Peoples Party of Canada.

Ballots will be finalized on April 11.

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