Author: Dave Cournoyer

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Alberta Liberals Kevin Taft Laurie Blakeman Women in Politics

alberta liberals reach for the TOP.

Alberta Liberal Leader Kevin Taft was joined by Edmonton-Centre MLA Laurie Blakeman in lauching the ‘Take Our Place’ program yesterday. The TOP initiative is geared towards getting more women involved in provincial politics.

From the media release:

The Take Our Place program brings together a mentor team of dynamic women, including current and former Alberta Liberal MLAs, to support and encourage new candidates, as well as to identify barriers to political participation and find ways to eliminate or reduce them. While the program is currently focused on creating opportunities for women in the upcoming election, it will continue in the post-election period.

“There are so many issues important to women and families in Alberta,” Blakeman notes. “Our perspective is critical if real progress is to be made. It’s time we had more women at the decision-making table.”

In 1998, eight of the then-eighteen member Alberta Liberal Caucus were women.

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2007 Edmonton Municipal Election MNAG Edmonton

mature neighbourhoods matter.

As the October 15, 2007 Edmonton Municipal election gets closer, many community and public interest groups are preparing to promote important issues to City Council candidates. One of these groups is the Edmonton Mature Neighbourhoods Action Group.

MNAG Edmonton is comprised of 36 member communities of the Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues.

MNAG Edmonton describes its mandate as:

There are many common planning & development issues in mature neighbourhoods and an urgent need for us to act jointly to convey our position on these issues to City Council for appropriate action on behalf of Edmonton residents. This resident up swell has identified major issues broadly across our city including:

1.) DC2 bylaw variations by development officers & misuse by developers;
2.) Limited enforcement of bylaws;
3.) Concerns with the SDAB including the ability to enforce its decisions;
4.) Lack of Area Redevelopment Plans (ARP’s) & updating of existing ones as well as the absence of a resident needs driven city wide development & transportation plan;
5.) Problems created by school closures;
6.) An apparent unwillingness on the part of City Council to follow resident approved area plans but rather follow a developer driven ad-hoc planning process;
7.) An apparent lack of appreciation of the currently available knowledge base within communities with the result that there is an “Administration knows best attitude” within the City. Ultimately this will have negative political repercussions.

MNAG Edmonton has also released a list of draft questions for candidates running for Edmonton City Council.

Just one more thing to think about when you enter the ballot booth on October 15, 2007!

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2008 Alberta Provincial Election Alberta Politics

leroy = out.

Wetaskiwin-Camrose Tory MLA LeRoy Johnson has officially announced that he will not be seeking re-election under the Ed Stelmach Tory banner.

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2008 Alberta PC Leadership Race Alberta Tories Ed Stelmach

post-stelmach poll results.

The interim results are tallying up in what is quickly becoming to known as the unofficial 2008 Alberta PC leadership race.

Look on the sidebar to vote (early and often…):

Who will be the next leader of the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party?

Selection Votes
Craig Chandler 22% (20 votes)
Ray Danyluk 1% (1 vote)
Jim Dinning 12% (11 votes)
Dave Hancock 13% (12 votes)
Ted Morton 28% (26 votes)
Mark Norris 2% (2 votes)
Lyle Oberg 8% (7 votes)
Tom Olsen 15% (14 votes)

93 votes total

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Alberta Tories Ed Stelmach

mr. dithers: alberta edition.

Aren’t you glad that Ed Stelmach is speaking for Alberta to the rest of Canada?

“Will there be people without homes? Yes. Will there be some sick people that we can’t save, despite all the medical technology that we have? Yes, there will be. But people are continuing to move here because where else are they going to go in Canada?”

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2007 Municipal Election

this traffic report…

And the Calgary Mayoral race gets more entertaining as candidate Alnoor Kassam is taking on incumbent-Mayor Dave Bronconnier…

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2007 Edmonton Municipal Election 2008 Alberta Provincial Election Alberta Politics

updated candidates list.

The 2007 municipal election candidates list and 2007/2008 Alberta provincial election candidates list have both been recently updated…

(Also, thanks to Emerson Mayers, running for the PC nomination in Edmonton-Manning, for the bizarre email…)

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David Swann Nuclear Power

nuclealberta.

Calgary-Mountain View Alberta Liberal MLA David Swann has some interesting thoughts on today’s Peace River nuclear power plant announcement.

Now, being skeptical about nuclear power is one thing (and another issue that I plan to elaborate further in a future post), but the secrecy surrounding who the plant’s largest customer will be is another bizarre story:

Bold plans to bring nuclear power to northern Alberta were unveiled Tuesday, but just exactly who’ll be using most of the megawatts remained a mystery even to many in the oilpatch.

It’s assumed that Energy Alberta Corp.’s proposed $6.2-billion project to put a Candu twin reactor in the sparsely populated Peace River area in the province’s northwestern corner is all about the oilsands, which require an immense amount of energy to squeeze oil from the ground.

The company and its partners said Tuesday that about 70 per cent of the 2,200 megawatts of electricity will be going to “one large, industrial off-taker” but declined to name names.

“At this time we’re not going to discuss those arrangements,” said Dale Coffin, spokesman for Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., which is teaming up with Energy Alberta to build Canada’s first new nuclear power in nearly 25 years.

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Alberta Liberals Alberta NDP Alberta Tories Richard Magnus

retirement row.

In what I expect to be a steady stream over the next few months, long-time Tory backbencher Richard Magnus joined the current as he announced that he won’t be seeking a fifth term in office.

That brings the official MLA retirement list to eight:

Progressive Conservative MLAs
Victor Doerksen (Red Deer-South)
Clint Dunford (Lethbridge-West)
Carol Haley (Airdrie-Chestermere)
Denis Herard (Calgary-Egmont)
Rob Lougheed (Strathcona)
Richard Magnus (Calgary-North Hill)

Alberta Liberal MLA
Maurice Tougas (Edmonton-Meadowlark)

New Democrat MLA
Raj Pannu (Edmonton-Strathcona)

On the Tory retirements, comments are abound:

“A lot of MLAs see the writing on the wall that people are not happy with the party and the way it’s run,” says Jim Stevenson, who chaired Alberta Renewal, founded during last fall’s leadership race in an effort to reconnect the party with its grassroots.

“There’s so many things that need to be changed to bring some democracy back into the party and I don’t see that happening.”

…

David Taras, a political analyst at the University of Calgary, agrees a number of factors affect the decision whether to run again, but says Stelmach has to wear some of the responsibility.

“There are a lot of factors at work here and some are not the kind of factors the premier likes to talk about,” he said. “Klein had enormous coat tails. With those coat tails gone, and the argument that Stelmach has very short coat tails, or none at all, could be a drag on some of these candidates.

“If you do the basic math, some of them could be in tough re-election battles and some could lose.”

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Alberta Tories Calgary-Egmont Craig Chandler Rick Bell

rick bell on ‘kooky craig.’

Calgary Sun columnist Rick Bell offers his thoughts on Progressive Conservative nomination candidate ‘Kooky’ Craig Chandler’s recent comments that if new Albertans: “wish to live here, you must adapt to our rules and our voting patterns, or leave. Conservatism is our culture. Do not destroy what we have created.”

UPDATE: CTV Calgary and the Globe and Mail have both run stories on Mr. Chandler’s commments.

Ed Stelmach wouldn’t refute Chandler’s comments, but would only say that: “This province has welcomed newcomers and we will continue to welcome newcomers.”

Here is the YouTube video (linked from Glen):

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Alberta Tories Calgary-Egmont Craig Chandler Ed Stelmach

craig chandler continued.

Craig Chandler officially announced his intentions to run for the Progressive Conservative nomination in Calgary-Egmont as five-term Tory MLA Denis Herard announced his retirement today.

Chandler recently wrote the bizarre and ridiculous webboard statement that if new Albertans “wish to live here, you must adapt to our rules and our voting patterns, or leave. Conservatism is our culture. Do not destroy what we have created.

Chandler’s positions are somewhat confusing after you notice some pretty big contradictions between his campaign website and a media release sent out by his campaign today:

Media Release: “Some in our party have become complacent and think we have the natural right to govern because we are conservatives.”

Website: “Craig Chandler is seeking the riding nomination for the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party. We all know that whoever wins the nomination will surely become your next MLA.”

Yep, complacent.

I wonder if Ed Stelmach is starting to regret these best wishes…

Here is Chandler’s media release as received by email (how many spelling errors can you spot?):

CRAIG CHANDLER SEEKING TORY NOMINATION FOR CALGARY EGMONT

(Calgary) Craig Chandler, Executive Director of the Progressive Group for Independent Business (PGIB) and a well known name in conservative political circles is seeking to become the MLA for the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party in Calgary Egmont. Craig Chandler has taken a leave of abscence from the the Progressive Group for Independent Business (PGIB)

“I feel that we need a strong Alberta a government where we put Alberta first. Some in our party have become complacent and think we have the natural right to govern because we are conservatives. I feel we need to get back to looking at the whites of people eyes on their doorsteps and find out first hand what we are doing well and where we need to improve. I will show up at the door of my constituents at least once a year to find out first hand their concerns. I will be an effective and articulate voice for Calgary Egmont and Calgary as a whole” said Craig Chandler.

The Craig Chandler campaign has been campaigning for over 3 months and has submited a very substantial amount of memberships to the party. Several communities have already been doorknocked and the campaign is working full time with volunteer and paid staff. Craig Chandler has also managed to unite many on the conservative right behind him. Link Byfield of the Wildrose Party has endorsed Craig Chandler. David Crutcher who received 1,657 votes for the Alberta Alliance in Calgary Egmont has joined the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party and is now serving as their President in Calgary Egmont.

“We are taking nothing for granted. We are working very hard and know that it takes a substantial amount of memberships and money to win the nomination. We will always be campaigning like we are 30 votes behind” said Harley Shouldice, Campaign Manager / Whip for the Craig Chandler Campaign.

– 30 –

For More Information contact Harley Shouldice or Craig Chandler at 203-3456

www.craigchandler.ca www.oneridingatatime.com

It also looks like Chandler’s PGIB group is going to start hijacking Progressive Conservative nomination meeting through oneridingatatime.com.

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polls

poll change.

Old poll…

Who will be elected as the MP for Edmonton Strathcona in the next Federal Election?
Linda Duncan, NDP – 221 votes (69%)
Rahim Jaffer, Conservative – 57 votes (18%)
Claudette Roy, Liberal – 41 votes (13%)
319 votes total

(They look like the 2006 results from my old polling districtin Garneau)

New poll…

Who will be the next leader of the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party?
Craig Chandler
Ray Danyluk
Jim Dinning
Dave Hancock
Ted Morton
Mark Norris
Lyle Oberg
Tom Olsen

Vote early and vote often (and you don’t have to adapt to our rules and our voting patterns in this poll).

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Alberta Tories Calgary-Egmont Craig Chandler Ed Stelmach

if you move to alberta – adapt or leave: craig chandler.

Alberta PC nomination candidate Craig Chandler has eloquently declared his feelings towards new Albertans who choose to exercise their constitutional right to vote for a political party other than the 36-year old ruling Progressive Conservative Party of Ed Stelmach.

I wonder which point in Ed Stelmach’s five-priority plan Chander is promoting when he wrote this:

To those of you who have come to our great land from out of province, you need to remember that you came here to our home and we vote conservative. You came here to enjoy our economy, our natural beauty and more. This is our home and if you wish to live here, you must adapt to our rules and our voting patterns, or leave. Conservatism is our culture. Do not destroy what we have created.

Considering that Stelmach’s Tories haven’t been doing too well in Calgary lately, I wonder how excited Ed Stelmach will be with Craig Chandler carring the PC banner in Calgary Egmont?

I know I’m looking forward to the daily entertainment.

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Affordable Housing Ray Danyluk

danyluk flees alberta.

As the affordable housing crisis rages across Alberta, Tory Minister Ray Danyluk is traveling to New York to “investigate innovative programs to address homelessness and housing.“

Now I wouldn’t have had a problem with Danyluk traveling to New York had he not appointed an Affordable Housing Task Force to study and hold hearings on this issue across Alberta (which they did quite sucessfully).

The Affordable Housing Task Force, which delivered its final report to Danyluk in March 2007, contains many innovative ideas that have since been largely ignored by the Stelmach Tories.

And even if the Tories didn’t like the Task Force’s Final Report, there’s no shortage of innovative ideas floating around Alberta to look at.
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Kevin Taft Stephane Dion Victor Doerksen

monday mornings…

Just some quick links for your Monday morning reading…

– Sheila Pratt had an interesting article on Alberta Liberal Leader Kevin Taft this weekend.

– It looks like Ken Chapman had the scoop on Red Deer – South Tory MLA Victor Doerksen’s retirement.

– I’m not sure how many people saw Stephane Dion’s interview on Sunday’s CTV Question Period, but it seriously had to be one of the worst media interviews that I’ve seen any politician do. Dion is leaving a lot to be desired, but obviously has time to work on his communication skills before the next federal election.

– It’s an ALL ALBERTA western showdown in Calgary Grit’s ‘Best Premier‘ competition. Peter Lougheed v. Ernest Manning.

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