Each year, the political parties represented in Alberta’s Legislative Assembly produce short videos for the Press Gallery Christmas Party. Typically funny, though not always very good, the videos are always best when they are self-depricating (everyone likes politicians that can make fun of themselves). At this year’s party, the tiny two MLA NDP caucus of Brian Mason and Rachel Notley produced a tribute to the Godzilla films titled Conzilla and the Opposition Robots.
Category: Alberta Politics
As the Spring 2012 provincial election approaches, the Progressive Conservatives and Wildrose Party have rolled out a series of television ads (on YouTube) delivering their political pitches to Albertans.
The Wildrose ads, as David Climenhaga and Graham Thomson have already written, are cast with two faces of leader Danielle Smith.
To quote Mr. Climenhaga, ‘Bad Danielle is going to slap you around a bit now for even thinking about voting for Alberta Premier Alison Redford… while she’s gone, Good Danielle may offer you a cup of coffee, apologize for her partner’s behaviour and try to sweet-talk you out of your troubles…”.
The first Wildrose ad, ‘Flip Flop’, takes a negative angle and could be confused with the Conservative Party ads from the last federal election. Accentuating the negative, these types of ads were deadly for federal Liberal leaders Stephane Dion and Michael Ignatieff.
The second Wildrose ad features leader Ms. Smith speaking about education, which I believe may be the best of the ads released by any party so far. Ms. Smith is clear, confident, and shockingly warm for a conservative politician (though I still would not trust the former Calgary School Trustee to run our education system).
The first of the two Progressive Conservative ads introduces Premier Redford and the second ad features the Premier talking about the promise of education. They are rather plain and fuzzy feeling, which is surprising considering Premier Redford’s interesting background (including her surprisingly extensive international experience).
The theme of the PC ads appears to be ‘look how good your quality of life is,’ which appears to be a reaction to the negative tone of Wildrose ads. Although they cry for excitement, these dull and numbing ads should not hurt the PCs so long as they do not linger too far into the Harry Strom-like “don’t even think about doing anything drastic like voting for another party’ because ‘we’ve renewed… really… we have… a new leader… look at our exciting new leader!’ territory.
The list of candidates nominated to stand in the next provincial general election continues to grow.
Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock: Westlock Town Councillor David Truckey is the first candidate to enter the Progressive Conservative nomination contest in the constituency being vacated by long-time MLA Ken Kowalski. The PCs have held this constituency since 1967.
Calgary-Currie: Lawyer Norm Kelly has announced his intention to seek the Alberta Party nomination in this south central Calgary constituency. Currie is currently represented by Alberta Party MLA Dave Taylor, who will be retiring when the next election is called.
Calgary-Fish Creek – Wendelin Fraser, former Dean of the Bissett School of Business at Mount Royal University, has declared her intention to seek the PC nomination. This constituency is currently represented by PC-turned-Wildrose MLA Heather Forsyth.
Calgary-Hawkwood Farouk Aditia and Chris Roberts have entered the PC nomination contest in this new constituency. Mr. Adatia was the Chief Financial Officer in Premier Alison Redford‘s recent leadership campaign.
Calgary-McCall: Muhammad Rasheed is seeking the PC nomination. The constituency is currently represented by Liberal MLA Darshan Kang.
Calgary-West: Calgary Police Sergeant Mike Ellis is seeking the PC nomination. Incumbent MLA and current Finance Minister Ron Liepert recently announced that he would be retiring when the next election was called.
Chestermere-Rockyview: Nathan Salmon is seeking the yet to be scheduled NDP nomination.
Edmonton-Meadowlark: Former MLA Bob Maskell is seeking the PC nomination in this west Edmonton constituency. Mr. Maskell represented this constituency from 2001 to 2004. Also seeking the nomination is Richard Guyon, who was the Wildrose candidate in this constituency in the 2008 election. Meadowlark is currently represented by PC MLA turned Liberal Party leader Raj Sherman.
Edmonton-Mill Woods: Sohail Qadri is one of two people challenging incumbent MLA Carl Benito for the PC nomination.
Edmonton-Whitemud: Jim Graves defeated Muriel Stanley Venne to win the NDP nomination.
Leduc-Beaumont: Locomotive engineer and saskatoon berry farmer William Munsey is seeking the Alberta Party nomination in this constituency south of Edmonton. Mr. Munsey was the Green Party candidate in the Vegreville-Wainwright riding in the 2011 federal election.
Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre: School Principal Jimmy Clark is challenging incumbent MLA Ty Lund for the PC nomination. The 73-year old Mr. Lund has represented the constituency since 1989.
Sherwood Park: Former Strathcona County Mayor Cathy Oleson and County Councillor Brian Botterill are seeking the PC nomination.
Senate
First reported on this blog last week, Mike Shaikh has confirmed his entrance into the PC Senate candidate nomination contest. Also entering the PC Senate nomination contest is former NAIT President Sam Shaw, who announced his candidacy at the 408 Tactical Helicopter Squadron Christmas Dinner last weekend.
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brian topp comes to edmonton.
Brian Topp was in Edmonton last night campaigning for the leadership of the New Democratic Party of Canada. At an event hosted by the Edmonton-Strathcona NDP association, more than 130 people packed into the City Arts Centre to listen to Mr. Topp deliver a pitch for their votes in the leadership contest.
A long-time political operative in the federal NDP and Saskatchewan NDP, Mr. Topp has never actually served in elected office. Facing a friendly crowd, he was well-spoken and displayed a healthy level of pragmatism when answering questions about delivering an effective opposition and building the NDP towards forming government. Hitting on issues friendly to the social democrat crowd, Mr. Topp spoke about raising corporate taxes, returning to a progressive tax system, abolishing the Senate, and implementing stricter environmental regulations.
I have not paid much attention to or written much about to the NDP leadership contest until this point, so I have turned to Pundits’ Guide’s excellent resource on the contest to get myself informed.
The local NDP association will be holding a leadership candidate event with Parkdale-High Park Member of Parliament Peggy Nash on Friday, December 16, 2011.
In the 2011 federal election, the NDP received 107,067 votes in Edmonton (25% of the vote). The poll results in the map below show the NDP vote is concentrated in Edmonton-Centre, Edmonton-East, and Edmonton-Strathcona.
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a december sunset in edmonton.
In his second attempt as the NDP candidate in West Yellowhead, Barry Madsen is taking a different, and unconventional, approach to fundraising. In a speech made at his recent nomination meeting, Mr. Madsen pledged to only accept $1 donations to his election campaign.
Talking about creating “an alternative that sets us apart from what promises to be a crowded field of candidates,” Mr. Madsen used his speech to talk about the need to remove the influence of money in elections.
It is unclear whether the self-imposed $1 donation limit will prevent his campaign from fulfilling basic legal requirements, such as paying a required monetary deposit with Elections Alberta.
When asked some key questions about his $1 pledge on the daveberta.ca Facebook page, Mr. Madsen provided some quick responses.
On the required candidate deposit with Elections Alberta:
I will discuss this with the central party office. Because it is conditionally refundable I will probably have it paid out of our normal constituency rebate on contributions. Otherwise I have asked the constituency to return the constituency rebates to the central campaign.
On his personal on financial contribution to his campaign:
I will donate no more than $1500 personally and that will likely be in the form of deferred expenses. There are no secret trap doors here allowing money in the back door. I think credibility is our most important asset and I normally donate that amount anyways. The challenge is that there is no roadmap for this approach.
It is unclear whether Mr. Madsen fully understands how this could handicap his campaign. Trying to remove the influence of money in politics is a noble venture, but it ignores the reality that money is needed to purchase essential items like campaign signs, handbills, and in large rural constituencies like West Yellowhead, fuel for a candidate’s vehicle.
Records from the 2004 election show that Mr. Madsen’s campaign spent $17,940 in West Yellowhead, accumulating a $1,024 deficit. Mr. Madsen earned 1,771 votes.
Also running in the West Yellowhead constituency are Progressive Conservative MLA Robin Campbell, Alberta Party leader Glenn Taylor, and Wildrose candidate Stuart Taylor.
He once told Albertans that he would “die in office” rather than retire and collect his gold plated severance package, but this week Speaker Ken Kowalski opted for retirement instead of the afterlife. The long-time MLA announced yesterday in a letter to the Progressive Conservative Party that he would not be seeking re-election in the Spring 2012 provincial election. He was in August 2011.
Speaker Kowalski is the longest serving MLA in the Assembly and was first elected in a 1979 by-election in the Barrhead constituency. His absence will undoubtably lead to a hotly contested PC nomination in Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock. Hoping to capture the seat from the Tories is Wildrose candidate and former Alberta Report publisher Link Byfield, who has been on the hustings for more than a year.
Upon his retirement, Speaker Kowalski is expected to collect $1,271,600 in transition allowance, and it is suspected that he may also collect $54,000 per year from the now-defunct MLA pension that was dissolved in 1992. His retirement announcement takes place before a review of MLA salaries and benefits, led by retired Justice John Major, can take place.
This MLA pay review initiated by Premier Alison Redford may succeed in forcing generational change in the PC caucus by prompting the retirement of a number of stodgy former Tory cabinet ministers, including Sherwood Park MLA Iris Evans, Grande Prairie-Smoky MLA Mel Knight, Vermilion-Lloydminster MLA Lloyd Snelgrove, Banff-Cochrance MLA Janis Tarchuk, and current Finance Minister and Calgary-West MLA Ron Liepert.
The list of candidates nominated across the province continues to grow as we get closer to an expected Spring 2012 election.
- Nominated Alberta election candidates by region. December 8, 2011
The sudden burst of retirement announcements by Stelmach-era cabinet ministers has prompted a flurry of nomination activity in constituencies that could be considered Tory strongholds (where winning the PC nomination is typically the toughest fight):
Banff-Cochrane: Mayor Truper McBride is expected to enter the PC nomination contest in this mountain/foothills constituency today. Current PC MLA and former cabinet minister Janis Tarchuk announced this week that she will seek re-election, though some political watchers expect the former cabinet minister to retire when the next election is called.
Calgary-West: The Calgary Herald reported last night that Finance Minister Ron Liepert will not be running in the next election. Minister Liepert was first elected in 2004.
Grande Prairie-Smoky: Grande Prairie County Reeve Everett McDonald is seeking the PC nomination. The constituency is currently represented by MLA and former cabinet minister Mel Knight, who is not seeking re-election.
Sherwood Park: Long-time PC MLA and former cabinet minister Iris Evans will retire when the next election is called. Ms. Evans was first elected as MLA in 1997, defeating Liberal MLA Bruce Collingwood by over 300 votes. Matthew Bissett has announced his intentions to seek the PC nomination.
Vermilion-Lloydminster: Dr. Richard Starke is seeking the PC nomination, which is being left vacant by retiring MLA and former cabinet minister Lloyd Snelgrove.
Aside from the constituencies represented by retiring former cabinet ministers, here are other updates to the list of declared and nominated election candidates:
Calgary-Buffalo: The NDP are expected to acclaim Rebecca Eras as their candidate on December 13
Calgary-Cross: The NDP are expected to acclaim Reinaldo Conterras on December 13. Mr. Conterras replaces previously nominated candidate Preet Sihota, who withdrew his candidacy for personal reasons.
Calgary-Currie: Five prospective nomination candidates were testing the waters at a recent Meet and Greet event organized by the Calgary-Currie PC association. Potential nominees noted to have attended the event include former MLA and Alderman Jon Lord, Stefan Spargo, Chair of the Calgary International Children’s Festival Charity Callahan, former Calgary-McCall constituency president Dale Galbraith, school principalChristine Cusanelli, and past-President of the Criminal Trial Lawyers Association Brian Holtby.
Calgary-Glenmore: The PC nomination has been scheduled for January 28, 2012. Linda Johnson has declared her candidacy for the nomination.
Calgary-Hays: Former Alderman and recent Mayoral candidate Ric McIver defeated incumbent MLA Art Johnston to nab the PC nomination. This is the second time that Mr. Johnston, the parliamentary assistant to Premier Alison Redford, has lost a nomination contest this year. In May 2011, he was defeated by Rick Fraser in the Calgary-South East PC nomination.
Calgary-Mountain View: Lawyer Cecilia Low has announced her intention to seek the PC nomination, which has yet to be officially scheduled.
Calgary-North West: The NDP are expected to acclaim Brian Malkinson as their candidate on December 13.
Edmonton-Gold Bar: Liberal Party members nominated Josipa Petrunic as their candidate earlier this week (read more about Ms. Petrunic here). The PC nomination date has been scheduled for January 25, 2012. Past candidate David Dorward is the only candidate to have declared his candidacy.
Edmonton-Whitemud: The NDP are expected to acclaim Muriel Stanley Venne as their candidate on December 13.
Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo: After circulating a rumour about a secret nomination meeting, Wildrose MLA Guy Boutilier has decided that he will seek his party’s nomination in the new Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo constituency.
Leduc-Beaumont: Perennial political candidate Hana Razga is seeking the NDP nomination. Ms. Razga recently ran for Edmonton City Council in Ward 8.
Lethbridge-West: Kevin Kinahan is the nominated Wildrose Party candidate. Mr. Kirnahan was his party’s 2008 candidate in Little Bow and failed to once again secure his party’s nomination in that constituency last year. Most of the local Wildrose constituency association board resigned in protest following claims of irregularities in the nomination process.
Little Bow: Farmer John Kolk has announced his intentions to seek the PC nomination.
Livingstone-Macleod: PC MLA Evan Berger was acclaimed for his party’s nomination. Mr. Berger was first elected in 2008.
St. Albert: First-term MLA PC Ken Allred announced yesterday that he will not be seeking re-election. Kent La Rose was the fourth candidate to join the crowded PC nomination contest in this constituency last week.
Senate: City of Leduc Mayor Greg Krischke will seek the PC nomination for Senate. City of St. Albert Alderman and former Liberal MLA Len Bracko told the Edmonton Journal that he will be running in the Senate election as an Independent candidate. Mr. Bracko was the MLA for St. Albert from 1993 to 1997. He returned to St. Albert City Council in 2001.
Sources tell me that Calgary Police Commission chairman Mike Shaikh will enter the contest for the PC nomination for Senate later this week.
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the alberta party: what now?
There was an interesting bit of online chatter earlier this week after an article written by provincial affairs reporter Keith Gerein was published in the Edmonton Journal (“Alberta Party drifts out of limelight“).
It is really unfair to say that the Alberta Party ever occupied the limelight. It would probably be more accurate to describe it as having visited the limelight for a few short months.
As a card carrying member of the Alberta Party, I have had mixed feelings about the path the organization has taken over the past year. I joined that party late last year largely because the outstanding group of people it had attracted and the positive energy they beamed with. In November 2010, I delivered the closing remarks to that party’s Policy Meeting and I walked away from the meeting feeling positive about the people involved and the direction that the party was going. Being involved in the Alberta Party did not make me feel bad about politics in our province, which was nice for a change.
I believe that there was real momentum in the Alberta Party a year ago, and that a few factors have helped slow down that momentum.
The election of Naheed Nenshi as Mayor of Calgary was a great move forward for our province’s largest city, but I also suspect that it created an unexpected energy drain on the Alberta Party. Chima Nkemdirim, a driving force behind in Alberta Party, was heavily involved in Mr. Nenshi’s election campaign and soon became the Mayor’s Chief of Staff.
A young, dynamic, well-spoken, and thoughtful individual, Mr. Nkemdirim embodies the future of politics in Alberta. The Alberta Party would have benefited greatly if he had run for the leadership and won, as I suspect he would have. I do not begrudge him for not running. As Mayor Nenshi’s Chief of Staff, he is helping move Calgary forward in a way that he would not be able to as a the leader of a party with only one MLA in the Assembly.
Unfortunately, I believe Mr. Nkemdirim’s choice not to run, and the decision by other leading Alberta Party organizers to sit out the contest, contributed to a vacuum of talent in the leadership contest held in early 2011. All four of the candidates for leader had their own strengths and weaknesses, but none were going to be the next Premier of Alberta. The eventual winner, Town of Hinton Mayor Glenn Taylor, entered the role with a hint of opportunity as a well-spoken municipal leader. Since then, he has not been as publicly visible as his party has needed him to be.
Reflecting on another missed opportunity of sorts, I am reminded of a phone conversation I had with Liberal MLA Laurie Blakeman in February 2011. A frustrated Ms. Blakeman called me looking for information about how she could join the Alberta Party. I will not disclose any of the details of our conversation that are not already in the public domain (no super secret cabals were involved), but she sounded both fed up with her own party and frustrated with the reception she had recieved when she contacted Alberta Party officials. A few days later she decided to stick with the Liberals, but it was clear that the night she called me she was looking for a political life-boat.
Where does the Alberta Party go from here?
The next provincial election will be a tough slog for the Alberta Party. Expected to run no more than 40 candidates in the next election, it is likely that Mr. Taylor may face a tough fight to convince the television networks to let him join the leaders debate. Whether we like to admit it or not, many Albertans will base their vote on how they perceive the party leaders. Not having a leader in the debates poses an incredible challenge.
I have been told that the party’s board of directors passed a motion last month endorsing a strategy to focus resources on six target constituencies in the next election. I would suggest focusing on 1 to 3 constituencies would be a more reasonable target, but I am not going to argue over this point with a group of optimists.
The Alberta Party does not have ground game province-wide, but areas where they do have ground game is where the party’s candidates have an opportunity to excel. Two ridings that immediately come to mind are Edmonton-Glenora where former school trustee Sue Huff is running, and Edmonton-Rutherford where community organizer Michael Walters has been running for months. Both Ms. Huff and Mr. Walters would be exceptional MLAs and both have the ability to mount strong local campaigns in their constituencies.
Mr. Walters already appears to have a strong ground game in Edmonton-Rutherford after helping community members in the Greenfield neighbourhood organize against the construction of a cell phone tower in a local park. Keeping his community profile in mind, it is not surprising that he attracted more than 100 people to his recent fundraiser.
In the end, the Alberta Party’s biggest advantage may be that expectations for its success are so low that even electing one MLA in next year’s provincial election would be a seen as a major win for the party. With polls suggesting the Tories could be steamrolling towards another huge majority government, lowering expectations might not be a bad strategy for all of Alberta’s opposition parties.
Alberta will be holding its fourth ever Senate election in 2012.
Last Friday, the Progressive Conservatives released the rules to guide the nomination of their candidates in next year’s Senate election (or more accurately, ‘Senator-in-Waiting‘ election). The PCs will open nominations on December 9, 2011.
Candidates must submit a non-refundable fee of $4000 and collects the signatures of 50 current PC Party members from Alberta’s five regions. Once they have gone through this process, they will be required to enter a special vote in February 2012, giving an indication about when then next provincial election may be called. Those participating in the vote will include constituency association presidents, nominated PC candidates, voting members of the party executive committee, and four elected delegates from each of the 87 constituency associations.
Calgary lawyer Doug Black and Calgary-area businessman Scott Tannas have already declared their interest in the PC Senate nomination. Mr. Black served as finance chairman for Jim Dinning during that party’s 2006 leadership contest.
Federal Conservative Party operative Vitor Marciano has already announced his intentions to run in the Senate election under the Wildrose Party banner. It is likely that all three of these candidates would sit with the federal Conservative caucus if elected to the Senate.
Alberta’s last Senate election, held in 2004, was boycotted by the Liberals and NDP. The lack of serious opposition candidates left Albertans to choose from a cast of right-wing characters ranging from the PC candidates to the Social Credit and Alberta Alliance. When the votes were counted, three PCs and one Independent candidate were elected, but many Albertans were disenfranchised by the lack of non-conservative candidates.
According to Elections Alberta, during the 2004 Senate elections 85,937 voters declined to cast a ballot in the election (equating to 4.2% of eligible voters, or 9.7% of the voters who received ballots) and 84,643 ballots were rejected (that equates to 9.5% of the total ballots cast).
Even though four of Alberta’s six Senate seats are currently held by appointed federal Liberal Party members (including former Liberal Party leader Grant Mitchell), sources say the party is unlikely to participate in next year’s Senate election. The Liberals have only participated in one Senate election in Alberta, which feels to me like a missed opportunity for much needed publicity.
One long-time party insider suggested to me this weekend that choosing retiring Edmonton-Gold Bar MLA Hugh MacDonald to carry the Liberal Party banner in next year’s Senate election could be a fitting tribute to the long-time party stalwart. Known for his hard work and (sometimes over the top) passionate criticisms of the PC government, the opposition MLA would almost surely spark more interest in the Senate race than the generic conservative party candidates will on their own.
It would be a long-shot, but if the federal Liberal Party is interested in building a base of support Western Canada, running an even half-serious campaign in a Senate election would be a good place as any to start. Even if it is a long-shot, and it is, I am sure that I am not the only person who would enjoy the irony of watching Prime Minister Stephen Harper being forced to appoint a fiercely partisan Liberal like Hugh MacDonald to the Senate of Canada.
Politics in Alberta is not always easy for outsiders to understand. Forty years of uninterrupted Progressive Conservative majority governments have given the province a reputation of being a politically homogenous monolith.
The myth of Alberta as a western frontier where tarsands-rich oilmen and rugged cowboys rule the plains, perpetrated by an endless stream of CBC television dramas, could not be further from the truth. Alberta is a dynamic province, where urban rules and politics is less conservative and more moderate than most outsiders might assume.
It occurred to me that rather than spending millions of dollars to replicate lame advertising campaigns promoting our Spirit to Create and Freedom to Achieve (wait… or is it our Freedom to Create and Spirit to Achieve, or Freedom to Spirit…??), the true story of Alberta (and its politics) might be told through a blockbuster motion picture. A blockbuster political drama cast with big name Hollywood stars could not only explain Alberta’s story, but it might win some Academy Awards (and get a good score on Rotten Tomatoes).
I just started writing the Aaron Sorkin-inspired screenplay and that has not stopped me from sending out a casting call to actors who I believe would be perfect playing in these roles.
Please feel free to share your feedback for other actors to cast or plot points in the comment section below.
Earlier this week, I wrote about Councillor Don Scott‘s entry into the Progressive Conservative nomination contest in the soon to be created Fort McMurray-Conklin constituency.
Now, from the website MyMcMurray.com comes word that PC-turned-Wildrose Party MLA Guy Boutilier has been nominated as his party’s candidate in one of the two new Fort McMurray constituencies, maybe, kind of…
Boutilier says he has been nominated as the Wildrose candidate for one of the two ridings in this region, but the party hasn’t yet said which one.
One might think that the battle to build Oil Sands pipelines or the struggle to fight climate change would be the hottest conflicts on Alberta’s energy beach, but with a provincial election approaching the local political scene is heating up.
First-term Wood Buffalo regional municipal Councillor Don Scott has launched a website announcing his entry into the contest for the Progressive Conservative nomination in the newly created Fort McMurray-Conklin constituency. Mr. Scott is a lawyer and owner of the McMurray Law Office.
Branding himself as ‘A Strong Voice‘ for the Wood Buffalo region, Mr. Scott faces the task of winning Alberta’s energy beach back for his party. Until 2009, the Progressive Conservatives had represented this area since the retirement of Liberal MLA Adam Germain in 1997.
When the next provincial election is called, the south and east half of the current Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo constituency will be carved-off to form Fort McMurray-Conklin. The 2008 municipal census estimated that there were over 100,000 people living in the booming Wood Buffalo region.
Incumbent MLA Guy Boutilier was booted from the PC caucus in 2009 and joined the Wildrose Party in 2010. Mr. Boutilier was first elected in 1997 and served as a cabinet minister in the government of Premier Ralph Klein.
Mr. Boutilier was ejected from the PC caucus in 2009 after accusing then-Health Minister Ron Liepert of “talking gibberish” about the construction of a permanent long-term care facility for seniors in Fort McMurray and then criticizing Premier Ed Stelmach for not wanting a cabinet minister “who graduated from Harvard with Barack Obama” (Boutilier later admitted that he never met Obama while at Harvard).
Mr. Boutilier has yet to announce which of the new Fort McMurray constituencies he will seek re-election in. Perhaps he will run in both.
While testifying to the Alberta Energy Utilities Board in 2006, then-Environment Minister Boutilier told Mikisew Cree First Nation lawyer Don Mallon that at the time, he was not speaking as the Minister of the Environment, but as an MLA. When asked how he could do this, Boutilier testified that he could actually turn off the part of his brain where he was the Minister of Environment. An impressive feat for any elected official.
While Mr. Boutilier’s changing political allegiances will likely be a defining topic in the next campaign, he may not be alone. According to the Elections Alberta financial disclosures, the Donald Scott Professional Corporation donated $1,000 to the local Wildrose Party constituency association in 2010.
Fort McMurray political watchers have suggested that former Councillor and two-time Liberal Party candidate John Vyboh may seek the Wildrose Party nomination in whichever of the twin Fort McMurray constituencies that Mr. Boutilier is not running in. The other opposition parties have yet to nominate candidates in either of the soon to be created Fort McMurray twin constituencies.
For the past year I have been maintaining a list of declared and nominated candidates planning to stand in Alberta’s next provincial general election. To give readers a better idea about where in the province the five main political parties are actually nominating candidates, I have created an easy spreadsheet with a regional breakdown.
For the regional breakdown, I have used the same divisions used by Wikipedia. The Edmonton region consists of all constituencies within the city, and St. Albert, Spruce Grove-St. Albert, Sherwood Park, and Strathcona-Sherwood Park.
Here are some of the recent updates that I made to the list:
Battle River-Wainwright: Buffalo Trail Public Schools Trustee Dave Nelson was nominated as the Wildrose candidate in this east central constituency. Mr. Nelson defeated Rob Johnson, Tom Jackson, and Heisler Mayor Sean Maciborski.
Calgary-Cross: Teacher Narita Sherman was acclaimed as the Liberal Party candidate in this north east Calgary constituency. Ms. Sherman is the niece of party leader Raj Sherman.
Calgary-Currie: St. Michael’s School Principal Christine Cusanelli is seeking the Progressive Conservative nomination in this south central Calgary constituency. The constituency is currently represented by Alberta Party MLA Dave Taylor, who will be retiring at the next election.
Calgary-Klein: Chris Tahn was nominated as the Liberal Party candidate.
Cardston-Taber-Warner: Pat Shimbashi defeated MLA Broyce Jacobs to win the PC nomination. Mr. Jacobs was first elected in 2001, was defeated by Alberta Alliance candidate Paul Hinman in 2004, and was re-elected in 2008.
Edmonton-Gold Bar: Recent Mayoral candidate David Dorward has announced that he will be seeking the PC nomination. Mr. Dorward placed second as the PC candidate in the 2008 election. The Wildrose have nominanted Linda Carlson as their candidate. The Liberals will be holding a nomination meeting to replace retiring MLA Hugh MacDonald on December 5. Josipa Petrunic and Christian Villeneuve are the two candidates who have announced their entry into the Liberal nomination contest.
Edmonton-Mill Creek: On December 7, the NDP are expected to nominate Evelinne Teichgrabber as their candidate.
Edmonton-Mill Woods: Sources say that a challenger by the name of Ron Randhawa will challenge PC MLA Carl Benito for their party’s nomination. First-term MLA Mr. Benito grabbed headlines when it was revealed that he broke a promise to donate his entire MLA salary to a youth scholarship and when he publicly blamed his wife for not paying his municipal taxes.
Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville: Tofield Mayor Nabil Chehayeb has entered the PC nomination race. Already in the race are Vegreville Mayor Richard Coleman, Strathcona County Councillor Jacquie Fenske, and former Fort Saskatchewan Mayor Jim Sheasgreen. The nomination meeting to replace local MLA and former Premier Ed Stelmach is scheduled to be held on January 23, 2012.
Lacombe-Ponoka: Doug Hart is seeking the NDP nomination in this central Alberta constituency. In the 1989 election, Mr. Hart was the NDP candidate in the now defunct Ponoka-Rimbey constituency. He is the President of the Federal NDP association in the Wetaskiwin riding.
Lethbridge-East: With MLA Bridget Pastoor crossing the floor to the PC caucus, the Liberals are left without a candidate in this long-held Grit constituency. Ms. Pastoor has indicated that she will seek the PC nomination to run in the next election.
Little Bow: Long-time MLA Barry McFarland has announced that he will be retiring at the next election. Mr. McFarland was first elected in a 1992 by-election. In February 2011, County of Lethbridge Deputy Reeve Henry Doeve publicly expressed his interest in the PC nomination.
Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills: Darcy Davis has won the PC nomination in this central Alberta constituency. Mr. Davis defeated candidate Al Kemmere and Will Stevenson. Mr. Davis is the past Chair of Alberta Beef Producers.
Stony Plain: Stony Plain Mayor Ken Lemke is the nominated PC candidate, having defeated four other candidates – Parkland County Councillor Dianne Allen, Vern Hardman, David Cymbaluk and second-place finisher Lorna Wolodko. The Wildrose Party will nominate their candidate on December 17. Hal Tagg is only candidate to declare his entry so far.
West Yellohead: Barry Madsen is expected to be acclaimed at a December 9 nomination meeting in Hinton. As the NDP candidate in the 2004 provincial election, Mr. Madsen placed second with 21% of the vote.
UPDATE: Alberta School Boards Association President Jacquie Hansen announced today that she is taking a leave of absence to seek PC nomination in St. Albert. Ms. Hansen has been a trustee of the Greater St. Albert Catholic School Board since 2001.
Edmonton-Riverview MLA Kevin Taft is continuing his court battle over the administration of Alberta’s 2008 provincial election by launching a charter challenge.
As reported by the Edmonton Journal‘s Sheila Pratt, Dr. Taft’s lawyer Grant Dunlop has argued the government has a legal obligation to “create effective machinery” to make it as easy as possible for people to vote, including accurate voters lists. In the lead up to the 2008 election, the government delayed appointing returning officers which also delayed the enumeration process, leaving the official voters list inaccurate and incomplete.
An estimated 250,000 Albertans needed to be sworn-in at their polling stations due to incomplete lists, which led to large line-ups and many people not voting. The 2008 election saw the lowest voter turnout in Alberta’s history (at an estimated 39%).
Last week, Elections Alberta admitted that there remains at least 300,000 people missing from the official voters lists.
Looking west, Albertans might take some inspiration for electoral changes that could improve the ability of our official electoral structure to engage with voters. British Columbia’s recently appointed Chief Electoral Officer Keith Archer, a former Albertan and retired University of Calgary academic, submitted a list of four recommendations (pdf) that could help modernize the election system and make voting more accessible in that province:
1) Voter-centric election model: Modernizing language in the Elections Act that restricts duties to specific elections officials, allowing for better flexibility when helping voters participate in the elections process.
2) Efficient and effective voter registration: Legislators consider providing greater flexibility to the Chief Electoral Officer to determine the best process for conducting enumerations to ensure the most efficient and cost-effective methodologies are used to ensure a high quality voters list.
3) Encouraging youth participation: Improving the accessibility of registration opportunities for youth by engaging these future voters before they reach voting age. Permitting early registration at age 16 would allow Elections BC to work with schools and the driver licensing program to ensure maximum exposure to the registration process for young voters. Voting age will remain at age 18.
4) Trialling new voting technologies: Providing greater flexibility to the Chief Electoral Officer to introduce, on a pilot basis, new voting technologies. An August 2011 discussion paper on Internet voting showed that there is a growing interest amongst voters in the possibility of implementing online voting or other new technologies.