– I went to the latest Young Rutherford coffee night yesterday and enjoyed some great conversation about municipal affairs in Edmonton with Edmonton-Rutherford MLA Rick Miller and Ward 5 City Councillor Don Iveson.
– Mary Christa O’Keefe has written a great article on former Edmonton City Councillor Michael Phair in this week’s VUE Weekly.
– I’m excited to see underdog T.J. Keil take on former MLA Andrew Beniuk in the the Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood PC nomination.
Andrew Beniuk has a mixed political past as he was originally elected in 1993 as an Alberta Liberal in Edmonton-Norwood (defeating then-New Democrat Leader Ray Martin). Beniuk then sat as an Independent MLA in 1995 before joining fellow social conservative Liberal MLAs Julius Yankowski and Paul Langevin in joining Ralph Klein’s PC caucus in 1996.
Beniuk ran for re-election in 1997 but was defeated by Alberta Liberal Sue Olsen (Beniuk actually placed third in Edmonton-Norwood, behind Olsen and New Democrat candidate and former City Councillor Sherri McKibben). In 2001, Beniuk was also defeated in his attempt to unseat Alberta Liberal MLA Bill Bonner in Edmonton-Glengarry (now Edmonton-Decore).
