Calgary-Bhullar-McCall

Formerly known as Calgary-McCall, this northeast Calgary riding was renamed in December 2021 to honour Manmeet Singh Bhullar, a popular Progressive Conservative cabinet minister killed in a highway collision in November 2015 while stopping to help a stranded motorist. The district takes in the communities of Martindale, Saddle Ridge, Taradale, and surrounding areas near the Calgary International Airport, and remains one of the most culturally diverse constituencies in western Canada. Large South Asian, Filipino, and East African communities give the riding a multilingual, multi-faith character distinct from much of suburban Calgary. NDP incumbent Irfan Sabir, who had served as Minister of Community and Social Services in the Notley government from 2015 to 2019, sought a third term.

Candidates

Irfan Sabir (NDP)* — Born in Kashmir, Pakistan, Sabir moved to Calgary in 2004 and earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Calgary's Faculty of Law, a Master of Social Work from the University of Calgary, and an economics degree from the University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir. He practised indigenous law before entering politics, served as Minister of Community and Social Services from 2015 to 2019, and spent the 2019-2023 term as the NDP's justice critic and interim democracy and ethics critic in opposition.

Amanpreet Singh Gill (United Conservative) — Born in Moga, Punjab, India, Gill came to Canada at age 18 in 1994 and built a career that took him from washing dishes and factory work to owning an excavation company in Calgary's construction industry. He served as president of the Dashmesh Culture Centre in Martindale and was awarded the Queen's Platinum Jubilee Medal in January 2023 for his role in developing community projects, including the DCC Food Bank and the Mata Sahib Kaur Ji Women and Children's Transitional Housing Project.

Local Issues

Immigrant settlement services and professional credential recognition remained defining concerns in Calgary-Bhullar-McCall. The riding's large newcomer population included many internationally trained professionals who continued to face barriers entering their fields in Alberta. While the UCP government created an Associate Minister of Immigration and Multiculturalism portfolio during its term, critics argued that progress on credential recognition was too slow and that settlement funding had not kept pace with Alberta's rapid population growth, which accelerated sharply in 2022 and 2023 as the province attracted record numbers of interprovincial and international migrants.

Healthcare access was an acute concern in northeast Calgary. The family doctor shortage hit diverse, lower-income communities particularly hard, as new Canadians often lacked the established physician relationships that longer-term residents relied on. Walk-in clinics in the riding's strip malls were frequently overwhelmed, and the nearest major emergency departments at Peter Lougheed Centre and Foothills Medical Centre often had multi-hour wait times. The opioid crisis, which intensified during the pandemic, also touched the riding's communities, though it received less public attention here than in inner-city neighbourhoods.

The cost of living dominated kitchen-table conversations. Many households in Martindale, Saddle Ridge, and Taradale included multiple wage earners working in construction, logistics, and the service sector, and the rapid rise in grocery prices, rent, and utility bills through 2022 and 2023 strained family budgets. The federal carbon tax, which the UCP government vocally opposed, was a particular point of contention among working families who felt the levy added to their cost burden without delivering visible benefits.