As Calgary Stampede returns, politicians hope to lasso support in Alberta

The 10-day festival celebrating the cowboy way of life has attracted all federal leaders, who often take on the persona of duelling gunslingers looking for votes.

There’s more to the Calgary Stampede than a rodeo, cowboy hats and horses — it’s also a major opportunity for politicians.

Regardless of their political stripe, they into ride into the city looking to lasso partisan support in the form of votes.

The 10-day festival celebrating the cowboy way of life has attracted all federal leaders, who often take on the persona of duelling gunslingers looking for votes in a game of political one-upmanship.

Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been a regular visitor to the Stampede, as have the leaders of the federal Conservatives, NDP and Green Party.

Most of the attention this year will be on the federal Conservative party leadership race, with all five remaining candidates attending a local party barbecue Saturday evening as well as many provincial politicians looking to replace Alberta Premier Jason Kenney as leader of the province’s United Conservative Party.

“It isn’t just Conservatives that do this. I think somehow it evolved,” said Lori Williams, a political science professor at Calgary’s Mount Royal University.

“There was enough media attention and enough people coming from outside of Calgary that it became a magnet for leaders across the country to come and engage in sort of feel-good political connections that would be seen by people across the country.”

She said there’s some “star power” associated with the Stampede too.