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Alberta Politics

Duncan Kinney running for Senate, Paul Hinman running for Wildrose Independence Party leadership

Progress Alberta executive director Duncan Kinney is the first candidate to file his papers with Elections Alberta to run in Alberta’s Senate Nominee Election, which is taking place on the same day as the municipal elections on October 18, 2021.

A well-known online provocateur and progressive activist, Kinney is listed as an Independent candidate in a contest where candidates can choose to have their federal party affiliations listed next to their name on the ballot.

Reached for comment, Kinney said he plans to be the only Senate candidate that wants to abolish the Senate.

“I’ll be working with my team to actually build a campaign website and a platform for this incredibly important and serious election very soon,” Kinney said, who also hosts the Progress Report Podcast.

Alberta is the only province to have held Senate Nominee elections and this will be Alberta’s fifth such election since 1989.


Paul Hinman running for Wildrose Independence Party leadership

Drew Barnes stands at Paul Hinman's side as he announced his bid to once again run for the Wildrose nomination in Cardston-Taber-Warner in 2015.
Paul Hinman announces his bid to once again run for the Wildrose nomination in Cardston-Taber-Warner in 2015.

Paul Hinman has launched his campaign for the leadership of the Wildrose Independence Party.

The former leader of the Alberta Alliance Party and Wildrose Alliance Party has presumably resigned as interim leader of the newly renamed party, a position to which he was appointed in July 2020 after the Freedom Conservative Party and the Wexit Alberta group merged in June 2020.

As well as supporting Alberta’s separation from Canada, Hinman’s campaign focuses on opposing the mild public health restrictions put in place to slow the spread of the global COVID-19 pandemic. His social media posts frequently promote right-wing online conspiracy theories about the pandemic.

Hinman is a standard bearer in right-wing politics in Alberta, having served as the Alberta Alliance MLA for Cardston-Taber-Warner from 2005 to 2008 and the Wildrose Alliance MLA for Calgary-Glenmore from 2009 to 2012. He was leader of the Alberta Alliance and Wildrose Alliance from 2005 to 2009 and briefly ran for the United Conservative Party leadership in 2017 before dropping out and endorsing Jason Kenney.

He also made unsuccessful bids for the Wildrose nomination in Cardston-Taber-Warner in 2015 and the federal Conservative nomination in Medicine Hat-Cardston-Warner in 2016.

Nominations for the Wildrose Independence Party leadership will close on May 14, 2021 and the date of the leadership vote is scheduled for Aug. 28, 2021.

Another right-wing separatist party, the Independence Party of Alberta has also opened up its leadership race, with a leadership vote scheduled for Sept. 28, 2021.

3 replies on “Duncan Kinney running for Senate, Paul Hinman running for Wildrose Independence Party leadership”

Alberta independence is another joke. This party pushing this doesn’t see how flawed it is. To start with, conservative governments in Alberta over the years left Alberta with next to nothing in the coffers. They didn’t do what Peter Lougheed did, because they wasted money and didn’t save anything. Very costly shenanigans have an effect on our revenue. So do abysmal royalty rates for oil, gas, and other natural resources, as well as bad tax structures. There is even more things that haven’t been considered.
An independent Alberta can’t get oil anywhere very easily, if it is landlocked. Not to tidewater. There are First Nations in Alberta who were involved with signing of treaties, that predate Alberta becoming a province. It’s pretty hard to even start to mess with those. There are national parks that are under the control of the federal government. Unemployed people can’t get Employment Insurance. Retired people can’t collect Canada Pension anymore. There is the need for money, and how will it be created? The military and its bases, are all federal. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police are also federal. Where will they go? Who will replace them? Alberta independence is an ill thought out scheme, that hasn’t got a snowballs chance in he!! in succeeding.

You can always tell when a Liberal weighs in on Alberta affairs.
Just keep them equalization payments coming eh?
F.U. !!!

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