Categories
Alberta Politics

Conservatives, Liberals and NDP nominate full slates of candidates in Alberta.

The filing deadlines have passed and it appears as though Elections Canada has released the final list of candidates who will be listed on the ballot in the September 20, 2021 federal election.

As of tonight, the Conservatives, Liberals and New Democratic Party are the only parties to have nominated a full slate of 34 candidates in Alberta. The People’s Party, which previously announced a full-slate, fell one candidate short with no nominee in Calgary-Centre.

Total nominated federal election candidates in Alberta

Conservative Party: 34/34
Liberal Party: 34/34
New Democratic Party: 34/34
People’s Party: 33/34
Green Party: 22/34
Maverick Party: 19/34
Marxist-Leninist: 7/34
Libertarian Party: 6/34
Christian Heritage: 5/34
Rhinoceros Party: 4/34
Veterans Coalition Party: 4/34
Communist Party: 3/34
National Citizens Alliance: 2/34
Centrist Party: 1/34

Here are some of the final candidates to be added to the list of federal election candidates in Alberta:

The NDP has nominated Sarah Zagoda in Banff-Airdrie, CRPNA President Tonya Ratushniak in Battle River-Crowfoot, Michael MacLean in Bow River, Kiera Gunn in Calgary-Forest Lawn, Kathleen Johnson in Calgary-Heritage, Jena Diane Kieren in Calgary-Rocky Ridge, Raj Jessel in Calgary-Shepard, Michelle Traxel in Foothills, Garnett Robinson in Fort McMurray-Cold Lake, Jennifer Villebrun in Grande Prairie-Mackenzie, Elaine Perez in Lethbridge, Jocelyn Stenger in Medicine Hat-Cardston-Warner, Guillaume Roy in Yellowhead.

The Green Party nominated Brett Rogers in Foothills, Kira Brunner in Lakeland, Diandra Bruised Head in Medicine Hat-Cardston-Warner, Jordan MacDougall in Peace River-Westlock, Heather Lau in Edmonton-Griesbach, Malka Labell in Calgary-Heritage, and Keiran Corrigall in Calgary-Signal Hill.

The Maverick Party nominated John Wetterstrand in Sherwood Park-Fort Saskatchewan to replace previously named candidate John Kuhn, who dropped out last month.

Independent candidate Caroline O’Driscoll is running in Banff-Airdrie.

The Veterans Coalition Party has named candidates John Irwin in Battle River-Crowfoot, and Hughie Shane Whitmore in Fort McMurray-Cold Lake.

Categories
Alberta Politics

Liberals and NDP *finally* fill their slates of candidates in Alberta

The New Democratic Party and the Liberal Party now appear to have full slates of 34 candidates in Alberta. The two parties have scrambled to nominate candidates in Calgary and parts of rural Alberta, with both parties dropping parachute candidates into many rural ridings in the province.

The dominance of the Conservative Party in rural areas, as well as the palpable hostility toward Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the federal NDP over the issue of oil pipelines (even though the Trudeau Government purchased and saved the Trans Mountain Pipeline project) is likely the biggest reason why the two parties have had such a difficult time fielding local candidates.

Here are the latest updates to the list of candidates nominated to run in the federal election in Alberta:

Battle River-Crowfoot: Dianne Clarke has been nominated as the Liberal Party candidate.

Bow River: Margaret Rhemtulla has been nominated as the Liberal Party candidate. Rhemtulla is the Policy Chair for the Alberta-wing of the Liberal Party of Canada.

Calgary-Midnapore: Brian Aalto has been nominated as the Liberal Party candidate.

Calgary-Skyview: Rafih Bari has been nominated as the Libertarian Party candidate.

Edmonton-Centre: Donovan Eckstrom is the Rhinoceros Party candidate. Eckstrom ran for the Rhino Party in Edmonton-Strathcona in the 2015 federal election. Perennial candidate Adil Pirbhai is running as an Independent.

Edmonton-Griesbach: Andrzej Gudanowski is running as an Independent candidate. Gudanowski recently ran as an Independent candidate in Edmonton-Beverly-Clareview in the 2019 provincial election and in Edmonton’s 2017 municipal election in Ward 7.

Edmonton—Wetaskiwin: Emily Drzymala is the Green Party candidate. Drzymala is a social worker and the former president of the Alberta College of Social Workers. She was the NDP candidate in Calgary-North Hill in the 1989 provincial election.

Foothills: Cheryl Moller has been nominated as the Liberal Party candidate. Moller is a retired teacher and president of the Liberal Party association in Calgary-Rocky Ridge. She was a volunteer for Kara Levis’ campaign for the leadership of the Alberta Party in 2018.

Grande Prairie-Mackenzie: Ken Munro has been nominated as the Liberal Party candidate. Munro is a professor emeritus of history at the University of Alberta. He is a longtime Liberal Party supporter in Edmonton, having served as president of the Liberal Party’s Alberta-wing and candidate in Edmonton-South in the 1984 election.

Lakeland: Mark Watson has been nominated as the Liberal Party candidate. Watson is a former Smoky Lake town councillor and director with the Smoky Lake & District Agricultural Society. He is also president of the Liberal Party association in this riding.

University of Alberta political science student Jeffrey Swanson has been nominated as the NDP candidate. Swanson is Vice President of the U of A Campus New Democrat club.

Kira Brunner has replaced Elke Crosson as the Green Party candidate.

Medicine Hat-Cardston-Warner: Harris Kirshenbaum has been nominated as the Liberal Party candidate. Kirshenbaum was campaign manager for former Liberal MLA David Swann in Calgary Mountain-View.

Red Deer-Lacombe: Tiffany Rose has been nominated as the Liberal Party candidate. Rose is a PTSD Yoga educator and facilitator and owner of LacOMbe Yoga. Sarah Palmer has replaced Desmond Bull as the Green Party candidate.

Red Deer-Mountain View: Gary Tremblay has been nominated as the Liberal Party candidate. Tremblay is the Chair of the Liberal Party association in Calgary-Shepard.

St. Albert-Edmonton: Jason J. Brodeur is the Rhinoceros Party candidate.

Sturgeon River-Parkland: Heather Wood is the Rhinoceros Party candidate.

Please contact me at david.cournoyer@gmail.com for additions or updates related to candidate nominations in Alberta and I will add them to the list. Thank you!
PHOTO: MAGALIE L’ABBE, CREATIVE COMMONS