Calgary Forest Lawn

Calgary Forest Lawn takes in a broad corridor of Calgary's east side, running from established inner-city neighbourhoods such as Forest Heights and Radisson Heights through the postwar subdivisions of Marlborough, Marlborough Park, and Penbrooke Meadows, and south into newer communities including Douglasdale and Douglas Glen. The riding was created during the 2012 federal redistribution from portions of the former Calgary East and Calgary Northeast districts. With nearly four in ten residents born outside Canada, the riding ranked as one of the most culturally diverse constituencies in Alberta heading into the 2019 campaign.

Candidates

Jasraj Singh Hallan (Conservative) was born in Dubai in 1984 and immigrated to Canada at age five, growing up in northeast Calgary. After graduating from Lester B. Pearson High School, he earned an accounting diploma from the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology and later obtained a certified Master Builder designation, going on to operate a homebuilding company in Calgary. He won the Conservative nomination for Calgary Forest Lawn in September 2019 following the death of longtime incumbent Deepak Obhrai.

Jag Anand (Liberal) is an ophthalmologist and retina surgeon who has practised in northeast Calgary, based at the Sunridge Professional Centre and affiliated with Rockyview General Hospital. He sought the Liberal nomination after previously pursuing a nomination in Calgary Skyview.

Joe Pimlott (NDP) served as a community liaison with Metis Calgary Family Services and had previously worked as executive director of the Aboriginal Friendship Centre of Calgary. He also held the position of provincial vice-president of the Metis Nation of Alberta and had run provincially for the NDP in Calgary-Peigan in the 2019 Alberta election.

William Carnegie (Green Party) carried the Green banner in the riding.

Also on the ballot were Dave Levesque (People's Party), Brent Nichols (Independent), Esther Sutherland (Christian Heritage Party), Jonathan Trautman (Communist), and William James Ryder (VCP).

About the Riding

The commercial heart of the riding is International Avenue, the multicultural strip along 17th Avenue SE that was designated a Business Revitalization Zone in 1993. Vietnamese pho restaurants, Filipino groceries, South Asian fabric stores, East African eateries, and halal butchers line the avenue, reflecting the successive waves of immigration that have shaped the neighbourhood since the 1970s. Forest Lawn itself was an independent town east of Calgary until its annexation in 1961, and its main street retains a small-town feel amid discount retailers and community service agencies.

Marlborough Station on the Blue Line of the CTrain is one of the busiest transit stops outside downtown Calgary, serving as a commuter hub for the riding's eastern communities. The Quarry Park office campus, near the riding's southwestern corner along the Bow River, houses satellite offices for energy and professional services firms and has become a significant local employment centre. Housing in the riding is among the most affordable in Calgary, with median household incomes well below the city average. Settlement services for newcomers, access to family physicians, affordable transit, and the economic effects of Alberta's prolonged energy-sector downturn were central issues heading into the 2019 vote.