Given the margin of victory in the 2006 federal election, losing Yellowhead seems as likely as the NDP forming a government in Alberta, but Rob Merrifield isn’t taking any chances.

With the possibility of a fall election tilting toward probability, the Conservative MP is tapping a well of political heavyweights for a series of summer meet and greet events throughout the riding. 

Invitations from Merrifield arrived in mailboxes last week, urging voters not to miss the summer 2008 barbecue season, and to check his website for details of the July and August events.

Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day will drop in on Drayton Valley July 4. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is scheduled to speak in Hinton on July 14 and Merrifield is arranging a meeting with the minister, Parks Canada and Jasper town council.

“I find it’s easier to impress on them the need for action on an issue when they’ve experience the situation first hand,” Merrifield said.

Not included on the list is Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s visit to Mayerthorpe on July 4 for the unveiling and dedication of a memorial to four RCMP officers who were murdered there.

The main issue of the meeting with Jasper council is a perennial one:  maintenance costs for Highway 16 that Merrifield thinks are improperly assigned to the Parks Canada budget. 

Sandwiched between those events is a visit to Jasper by U.S. Ambassador David Wilkins on July 9.

“Jasper is a favourite destination of many Americans, but this is his first trip here,” said Merrifield. He played host to Wilkins at his farm last summer and counts the George Bush appointee as a personal friend.

Monte Solberg, minister of human resources and social development, will visit Barrhead and Whitecourt in August, the same month Industry Minister Jim Prentice is expected in Grande Cache, his old hometown.