Maybe we've become a little blasé about the momentous in Alberta politics after last May's seismic shift that swallowed the once mighty Progressive Conservatives — but the significance of the federal Liberal Party winning two seats in Calgary seems lost in the frenzied aftermath of the campaign.

For the first time in nearly 50 years, Calgarians chose a Liberal to represent them in Ottawa. The party also captured two seats in Edmonton on election night. ​

The Liberal victories in Canada's energy capital are truly profound.

Remember, the prairie city is the heartland of Canada's conservative movement.

Outgoing Prime Minister Stephen Harper calls Calgary home. Joe Clark even represented Calgary-Centre from 2000 to 2004 during his second leadership of the Progressive Conservatives.

The populist Reform Party's first national office was located in Calgary.

The Canada West Foundation is headquartered in the city.

And the intellectual inspiration for many Canadian conservatives, the so-called Calgary School — once described as "a rambunctious, Rocky Mountain brand of libertarianism" — also got its start at the University of Calgary.

Politics in Calgary is not zeros and ones

Real hatred for the Liberals remains palpable in the city.

Just mention the controversial National Energy Program to some Albertans (especially of a certain age) and you'll likely get a venomous earful about Liberals.

Calgary is, of course, not a monolithic herd of zombies mindlessly — and slavishly — voting for conservative politicians.

And politics in Calgary is not zeros and ones, or black or white.

There is nuance. There are many shades of politics.

Naheed Nenshi's so-called "Purple Revolution" that propelled him to city's top civic job, in fact, appealed to both Liberal red and Conservative blue voters.

And nearly a third of Albertans didn't vote for the Conservatives when Harper won a majority in 2011.

Two-thirds of Alberta voters did, however, stick with the "hometown" blue team in that election.

Oddly — even with a prime minister from Calgary for the last decade — many Calgarians still feel like outsiders in Canada.

There's still a sense — even among many progressive voters — that eastern Canada doesn't understand Calgary, that Upper Canada's establishment will forever look down its nose at "cowboy Calgary."

In return, many in the city still don't trust Ottawa — and grumble about how "Alberta tax dollars" get spent by those in Canada's centre.

Even with Harper at 24 Sussex, western alienation simmered below the surface, says University of Calgary political scientist Anthony Sayers.

There's a "sense that the centre (the Montreal-Ottawa-Toronto corridor) doesn't listen to us or isn't as sensitive to our concerns as we had hoped," Sayers told CBC News on election night.

Trudeau's affinity for west seems much stronger than father's

The gloomy — long-term — outlook for Alberta's energy sector also has many in Calgary worried.

News of another Trudeau in power met with trepidation in the oil patch.

Economics. Psychology. History.

The odds against the Liberals winning in Calgary were formidable.

The party knew it.

And it worked hard to win in Calgary.

Justin Trudeau, himself, made the city a priority.

The Liberal leader probably helped solidify his party's victories in the city when his national campaign strategically touched down in Calgary Skyview in the dying hours of the campaign.

One of the things I am most pleased with in the outcome of yesterday's election is that we have strong voices from every single corner of the country — including four seats in Alberta. - Justin Trudeau

His affinity for the west seems much stronger than his father's.

"One of the things I am most pleased with in the outcome of yesterday's election is that we have strong voices from every single corner of the country — including four seats in Alberta," Trudeau told reporters at his first news conference after the election.

Trudeau's Liberal government, of course, now faces some big problems — a faltering economy, controversial proposed pipelines, climate change, trade deals — with big consequences for Alberta.

How he deals with those dilemmas will likely determine how many Calgarians ultimately feel about electing Liberals for the first time in generations.