A Liberal who’s vying for the MLA seat in Calgary-Glenmore is unimpressed that the Alberta government has called a by-election campaign “while people are still in summer mode.”

Avalon Roberts, a psychiatrist running for the Liberals, expected an October by-election, but the government dropped the writ August 17, setting a month-long campaign in motion. “I didn’t think it was very respectful to the voters to call it in the dog days of summer, because people are really preoccupied with getting the last few days of holidays in and getting their children to school,” she says.

Calgarians, she adds, are “not very preoccupied with politics at this moment,” but she’s hopeful interest will pick up next month before the September 14 voting date. Former Deputy Premier Ron Stevens vacated the Calgary-Glenmore seat earlier this year when he accepted an appointment as a Court of Queen’s Bench judge.

Ald. Diane Colley-Urquhart is hoping to replace Stevens for the Conservatives, electrician Eric Carpendale is running for the NDP and former MLA Paul Hinman is running for the Wildrose Alliance. Social Credit leader Len Skowronski is also running.