Calgary financial services executive Bill Harvey is the fifth candidate to join the Alberta Liberal leadership contest. Mr. Harvey was the Liberal candidate in Calgary-East in 2004 and 2008, where he earned 28% of the vote each time. He was also an unsuccessful candidate for the Liberal nomination in Calgary-McCall in 1991.
While running a “tough on crime” focused campaign in 2008, Mr. Harvey became the first Liberal candidate to ever be endorsed by Craig Chandler‘s ultra-conservative Progressive Group for Independent Business.
With liberal use of italics, Mr. Harvey has described his decision to seek his party’s leadership in a letter to members. Taking a curious cue from stalwart candidate Hugh MacDonald, Mr. Harvey invokes the name of former party leader Laurence Decore and argues that the Liberal Party in Alberta needs to return to its past to succeed in future elections.
Mr. Harvey joins four candidates already in the contest, Edmonton-Centre MLA Laurie Blakeman, Mr. MacDonald, Bruce Payne, and former Tory MLA Raj Sherman. Read this blog tomorrow for a more indepth post on the backgrounds of the candidates and their campaigns.
13 replies on “bill harvey enters liberal leadership contest.”
[…] of leadership races…Bill Harvey is running to lead the Alberta Liberals. I know…NOW you’re excited about that […]
LOL Enjoy having Chandler ruin your leadership race.
Chandler is not involved in the race in any way shape or form. He does not campaign for Liberals.
Bill happens to be a member of the PGIB like almost 4,000 others in Calgary. Craig wishes him well and that is as far as it goes.
The current batch of leadership candidates and some “non-aligned” efforts we’re undertaking to grow the party in Edmonton and Calgary have led to what I understand to be our third consecutive week of a significant growth.
The numbers are good. Really good. Off the top of my head, I would think the ALP is fast closing on the number of people who were eligible to vote in the WRA leadership. One more in the race is certainly exciting news.
Difference is the ALP actually has some good ideas and some good potential leaders. The WAP have none of the above – extremist policies and a Fraser Institute ideologue as their leader. The ALP sees that it’s not just about the leader – something the WAP has yet to learn.
I think the ALP has more than enough room for fiscal conservatives and men of conscience.
[…] candidate in Calgary-East in 2004 and 2008. Background: Calgary financial advisor Bill Harvey entered the leadership contest this week with a message that Liberals need to return to their past roots to succeed in the future. […]
Chandler is not involved in the race in any way shape or form.
Are you sure? Because Harvey’s website (full of seemingly random italics, bolding, underlining, and bold-underling) sure looks like every Chandler-produced website and lit piece I’ve ever seen…
@Invisible Hand. Have you not noticed that many people have adopted Chandler’s style of bolding etc…?
Look at all of Danielle Smith’s letters to members and those fundraising letters from the federal Tories. Chandler started something that many have copied.
You’re right, of course. The practice of emphasizing parts of political literature was clearly invented by Craig Chandler, and then copied by everyone else (although everyone else manages to do it *competently*).
It’s just like how Chandler invented thunder & lightning, Morse code, and Blisstonia.
Na na na na na na na na CHANDLER!
I had no idea he created Morse Code? Awesome! Thanks for the info.
Joseph – better read your new marching orders!
http://craigchandler.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=1&Itemid=34
I would like to know what the Liberal Party can do for me. In the Klien years as an Provincial Employee I took a 5% roll back in pay to aid the Alberta Government in balancing the Budget. Then the MLA’s took a large raise. Now that I work in EMS as a Paramedic in Rural Alberta there is a very good chance that I may have to take up to a 50% cut in pay, as many of my counter parts in small town Alberta already have been forced to do by Alberta Health Services. Many people may think Paramedics make a large wage, but in comparison to the average worker in Alberta we make about the same and in some cases below average wage for Alberta. Before AHS began the contracting and/or taking over of Ambulance Services they operated for less money, the staff made a good living, why the change and what can the Liberal Party do to help