Calgary city councillor will run federally for the Liberal Party

Calgary city councillor George Chahal says he will run for the Liberal Party in the northeast riding of Calgary Skyview in the upcoming federal election.

Chahal told CBC News that he thinks it's important for Calgary to have a voice in the federal government.

"I want to continue on the work we're doing in northeast Calgary, in the city of Calgary, and make sure we are represented in the city of Canada," he said.

Chahal was first elected to city council in 2017. He said he intends to complete his current term on city council, but will withdraw his nomination papers for this fall's municipal election.

His announcement means that there will be nine new council members this fall.

It will represent the biggest turnover on Calgary city council in modern history. Council went to 15 seats for the 1977 election, and the previous record was set after the 1983 election, when eight seats had new faces.

As of Thursday, Ward 5 had four contenders listed, aside from Chahal: Raj Dhaliwal, Anand James Chetty, Tariq Khan and Aryan Sadat.

Chahal's announcement comes one day after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau toured through Calgary.

Speaking on Red FM on Wednesday, the prime minister said that in his view, it was important for Albertans to choose Liberal MPs in the upcoming federal election.

Trudeau also addressed speculation that two members of Calgary city council may end up running for the federal Liberals — Chahal and Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi.

"I have a tremendous amount of respect for both Naheed and George Chahal, who are amazing community representatives and have worked incredibly hard to get Calgary and indeed people through a very difficult time," Trudeau said. 

"I look forward to continuing to work with them, however things end up happening."

The Liberals currently have no MPs from Alberta. Calgary Skyview is currently represented by Conservative MP Jag Sahota.