Daughter of late Conservative MP running for Liberals in Calgary East

Visitors to the Liberal campaign office in Calgary East are greeted by a smiling picture of one of the longest-serving Conservative MPs.

And next to it is an ornate green vase of blown glass that contains some of the ashes of Deepak Obhrai.

The vase, the picture and the Liberal campaign office all belong to Obhrai's daughter, Priti Obhrai-Martin.

The 50-year-old, who grew up running campaigns for the Tory blue, now acknowledges that while she has crossed over to run in Liberal red, she remains in harmony with the ideals she learned on her dad's knee.

"My dad's literally here, because I was guided to do this by him," Obhrai-Martin said in an interview. "I get Conservatives quite often on my Facebook page telling me that he's disappointed.

"[To that] I say, `You don't know my Dad.'

"He evolved with the times. You can't have the same policies, you can't have the same ideologies that worked 20, 30 or 40 years ago."

Deepak Obhrai was a longtime Calgary MP, serving with the Reform Party, Canadian Alliance and Conservative Party before his death from cancer in 2019.

He was first elected in 1997 and, at the time of his death at the age of 69, was the longest continuously serving Conservative MP. He ran for the 2017 Conservative Party leadership, but was defeated in the first round of voting.

Priti Obhrai-Martin was acclaimed the Liberal candidate for the riding in the current federal election. Election day is April 28.

Obhrai-Martin was schooled in politics on the Conservative side. She worked on all of her father's election campaigns and was his campaign manager during the leadership race. Her husband, Robin Martin, unsuccessfully sought the Wildrose Party nomination in the provincial riding of Calgary Greenway in 2016.

She largely stepped away from politics after her dad's death, but says she grew interested when Mark Carney joined the Liberal leadership race, eventually winning the contest to replace Justin Trudeau as prime minister.

Obhrai-Martin said her father spoke highly of Carney for his handling of the economic crisis in 2008 and 2009, when a storm of factors — particularly a collapse in U.S. housing prices — coalesced to trigger a massive economic global downturn.

"[Deepak] said we were good only because our Canadian banking system is set up properly, and on top of that we had an excellent team to navigate ... and one of those on the team was Mark Carney," Obhrai-Martin said.

"I had my dad's endorsement from 2009 and when [Carney] announced [his leadership bid], I paid attention."

She also credits a milestone birthday trip to Tanzania last year, climbing Mount Meru near her birthplace of Arusha.

"It's like 4,555 meters above sea level, which is crazy. I was really scared," she said.

"The fear of failure didn't matter. The minute I let go of fear that was my spark."

Obhrai-Martin is one of a crowded field of seven candidates in the redrawn constituency, including Conservative Jasraj Hallan, who won the riding when it was named Calgary Forest Lawn in 2019.

Jennifer Geha was confirmed as the NDP candidate and Harry Dhillon is representing the People's Party of Canada. Carey Rutherford is the Green Party of Canada candidate. Also on the ballot: Garry Dirk from the Christian Heritage Party and Jonathan Trautman from the Communist Party of Canada.

Mount Royal University political science professor Lori Williams says Obhrai-Martin is a wild card in the traditional Conservative stronghold constituency.

"The polls aren't saying [the constituency] is in play at this stage, but she's got these deep credentials, her dad was Reform/Alliance/Conservative and her husband ran for the Wildrose nomination in 2016," Williams said.

"She's got really good Conservative bona fides and she's got name recognition, and so I'm wondering."

Obhrai-Martin said she does have one regret about her decision to go from blue to red.

"The people within that party who I've grown up with, that I've loved and respected. I know I'm disappointing them, but I have to do what's right," she said.

"I know the version of my dad that believed in progress is just tickled over the moon."