Len Rhodes doesn't believe his ethnicity, his St. Albert residency or his appointment as the UCP candidate over three people who live in the riding will hurt his electoral chances in Edmonton-Meadows.

"Geography is not a barrier or an impediment for me. Some people will try to make that an issue. It's not," the former president of the Edmonton Eskimos said in an interview with CBC News.

"If it was, I would not have accepted to be appointed in that riding because I'm doing it to be successful."

Rhodes has faced backlash ever since UCP leader Jason Kenney appointed him the candidate on Feb. 21 .

The perceived front runner, Arundeep Singh Sandhu, had been campaigning for a year and selling thousands of memberships, with what he thought was Kenney's blessing.

Sandhu, a long-time conservative who was mentored by former Edmonton Mill Creek MLA Gene Zwozdesky and worked on Jim Prentice's PC leadership campaign, said he had no idea Kenney was planning to appoint a candidate in the riding. That has left him disillusioned with the UCP.

"I'll be honest. As long as Jason Kenney is a leader, I can't support him or his leadership team," Sandhu said on Sunday.

The controversy has turned the race in Edmonton-Meadows into a test of Kenney's political instincts. The UCP leader continues to defend the appointment, saying Rhodes is a business and civic leader with a successful track record.

"That's exactly the kind of experience we need in government," Kenney said on Monday.

But the choice leaves the party having to contend with the optics of a former sports executive from well-heeled St. Albert running in a middle-class riding with a sizeable Indo-Canadian population that sits on the opposite side of Edmonton.

"I don't think that they realize how some of the communities in those areas operate," political strategist and commentator Najib Jutt said about Kenney and the UCP.

"The Sikh community, the Hindu community, the Muslim community; they are very politically astute and they're very motivated."

"I think that shows a lack of understanding of the grassroots, of what happens in those communities," he added.

I've been blessed to be at the helm of the family business for about 4 years now, I understand the pressure small business owners feel when thinking about their bottom line and what they hope to take home to provide for their families. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MatharuForMeadows?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MatharuForMeadows</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TeamAlbertaParty?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TeamAlbertaParty</a> <a href="https://t.co/51eMEo1Jcj">pic.twitter.com/51eMEo1Jcj</a> —@MatharuAmritpal

'People are angry'

Both of Rhodes's main opponents are Sikh and live in the community. NDP candidate Jasvir Deol settled in the area after coming to Edmonton from India in 1993. The Alberta Party's Amrit Matharu is an entrepreneur and volunteer.

Deol thinks Rhodes will face the music on election day.

"People are angry and I think he will pay for that," he said.

"It makes a huge difference if you are not accessible to the people, if you are 30 minutes, 40 minutes away from them. Yes, I think it's going to be an issue in this election."

Rhodes said people should judge him on his party's ideology, not on culture, ethnicity, or where he lives. He said he understands why people are angry but says he wasn't trying to displace anyone.

"I understand how people have worked really hard to try to get their nomination so I get that," he said.

"But at the same time, now that the decision has been done, it should be about the party. Let's all think about the bigger picture and I believe most people do believe that we got to get the party in power."

Rhodes said he is starting to meet with community members including leaders in the Sikh community. Robyn Henwood, chair of the UCP leadership committee, is running his campaign.

Growing riding

Edmonton-Meadows is the new name of the former Edmonton-Mill Creek riding. According to the boundaries commission report, the change in the riding gives it a population of 51,776, which is still 11 per cent over the provincial average.

It includes some of the more mature communities west of 34th Street as well as the newer communities closer to Anthony Henday Drive like Tamarack.

Edmonton-Mill Creek was created in 1997 and was represented by the late speaker and Progressive Conservative MLA Gene Zwozdesky until he was defeated by the NDP's Denise Woollard in 2015.

Woollard lost to Deol in a contested nomination last month.

A long-time volunteer with political campaigns, Deol ran for the first time as the NDP candidate in the 2015 federal election in the competitive Edmonton-Mill Woods riding which was won by Liberal Amarjeet Sohi.

Deol said he loves the Mill Woods neighbourhood for the diversity and the opportunity it provided him as a young immigrant to Canada.

The area is growing quickly, as new neighbourhoods spread east to Anthony Henday Drive. Deol said these new residents need schools, roads and other public services.

He said the NDP's plan to build a new hospital in south Edmonton will take some of the strain off the Grey Nuns Hospital which is adjacent to the western border of the constituency.

Kenney and UCP won't properly fund education and health care, and will give tax cuts to his corporate friends, Deol said. That's a message he plans to give at the doors.

"Not only I will be becoming their MLA, I will be part of the Rachel Notley team in helping or working to move Alberta forward," he said.

Rhodes argues he wants to help create opportunities in Alberta by rebooting the economy.

"I do believe our party has a better answer," he said. "We have a vision in terms of how to create and thrive that economy and get it going again."

Rhodes will learn in the next few months whether his gamble will pay off.

The decision on when to call the election lies with Alberta Premier Rachel Notley. She plans to follow Alberta's fixed election legislation which means a vote must be held before May 31.