Author: Dave Cournoyer

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2007 Edmonton Municipal Election Stephen Mandel

mandel rising.

Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel has launched his re-election campaign with a new website and billboard campaign…

In 2004, Mandel was first elected after coming from behind in a three-way race between then-Mayor Bill Smith and former City Councillor Robert Noce. Previous to being elected Mayor, Mandel served as a Councillor for Ward 1 from 2001 to 2004.

Here are the 2004 results:

Mayor
Stephen Mandel – 85,887
Bill Smith – 68,767
Robert Noce – 52,640
Tilo Paravalos – 921
Dieter Peske – 905
Dave Dowling – 858
Thomas “Buffalo Terminator” Tomilson – 768
Jean-Paul Noujaim – 390

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Affordable Housing University of Alberta

i support affordable student housing.

The Graduate Students’ Association at the University of Alberta has taken the initiative and started a public campaign – I Support Affordable Student Housing – calling for solutions to solve the student end of the affordable housing crisis in Edmonton.

The campaign website also provides a list of options for students still looking for affordable housing with September fast approaching.

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Alberta Politics

friday morning roundup.

– Longtime Tory MLA Clint Dunford has officially announced that he won’t be seeking re-election in Lethbridge West. Dunford, a former Klein Minister, has held the hotly contested seat since 1993.

– The controversy surrounding the awarding of a post-election contract to defeated Edmonton Meadowlark Tory MLA Bob Maskell continues with charges of favoritism and overbilling being launched at the Tories.

– The AEUB scandal continues as investigators south of the border in the State of Montana are shocked about the public board’s spying activities:

A scandal that has plagued Alberta’s energy regulator has become an international incident, with the Montana government wanting to know whether its citizens were spied on by an arms-length agency of the Alberta government.

Ken Toole of Montana’s Public Service Commission said Wednesday that while he doesn’t have full information on the issue, what he has heard about the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board is troubling.

“It is of great concern to me if any citizen group is being monitored by government agencies because they oppose a power line or a power plant or oil well or —whatever,” he said.

“I believe in civil liberties, and I don’t think it’s appropriate that government agencies monitor citizens who are protesting something they don’t like, as long as they’re lawful.”

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Ed Stelmach polls Tom Olsen

can’t buy me love.

Yesterday: Polls released showing Ed Stelmach’s Tories dropping 22-percent in support over the past 7 months from 54% in January to 32% in August. A stunningly large 36% of Albertans polled fell into the ‘undecided’ pool.

Today: Stelmach’s Tories announce $350 million in government building upgrades. Can you smell a desperate reaction?

To the 22-point plunge, Stelmach’s spokesperson, the lovey Tom Olsen responded…

The reason the dramatic plunge is “believable,” according to Olsen, is that “hundreds of thousands of new Albertans don’t know the history of Progressive Conservative governments in this province and are spending their time assessing what they see.”

Well, I’m not going to spend much time pointing out the hilariousness of Tom Olsen’s response. I’ll defer to Dan for that.

(Also, click here to see CTV’s news report on the story – click on “Kirk Heuser reports“)

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2007 Edmonton Municipal Election

and the floodgates burst open.

I’ve updated the Edmonton Municipal Election candidates list based on updated information from this website.

Newly listed candidates include:

– Peter Lefaivre for Mayor
– Kyle Balombin in Ward 3
– Chris Martin in Ward 3
– Judith (Jodi) Flatt in Ward 4
– Brian Wissink in Ward 4
– Brent Michalyk in Ward 5
– Lori Jeffery-Heaney in Ward 6
– Joani Linder in Ward 6
– Thomas Dennis Vasquez in Ward 6

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Alberta Liberals Alberta Politics Alberta Tories Ed Stelmach polls

albertans going shopping.

A poll released today by Cameron Strategy Group shows Ed Stelmach’s Tories dropping 22 points in the past 7 months to 32% support across Alberta (down from 54% in January 2007).

The poll also shows Stelmach’s Calgary approval ratings dropping from 52% in January to 38% in August (his disapproval rating in Calgary is 40%). Stelmach has also dropped from a January high of 58% to an August 45% in Edmonton, and a 59% to 50% drop in the other regions of Alberta (his disapproval ratings in Edmonton and other Alberta regions are 39% and 26%).

But what is most interesting is the dramatic increase of undecided voters from 18% to 36% in 7 months (with 39% of Calgarians and 36% of Edmontonians falling in the unsure or won’t vote category). From the report:

“The increase in undecided voters in the past 3 months in Alberta is unprecedented. A huge swath of the Alberta electorate is now without a firm voting intention, which means that dramatic changes in the electoral landscape are possible. The key question remains to be answered in the next 6 months is who will be successful in luring these newly undecided voters: the PC’s, who need to bring them back to the fold, or the Liberals, who have not yet shown signs of growth in voter support.”

Here are the regional breakdowns:

Provincial Voting Intentions (January support in brackets)
Province-wide
PC – 32% (54%)
Liberal – 16% (16%)
NDP – 11% (9%)
Alliance – 5% (3%)
Unsure/Won’t vote – 36% (18%)

Calgary
PC – 30% (59%)
Liberal – 17% (14%)
NDP – 8% (8%)
Alliance – 5% (2%)
Unsure/Won’t vote – 39% (16%)

Edmonton
PC – 27% (50%)
Liberal – 17% (16%)
NDP – 16% (12%)
Alliance – 5% (2%)
Unsure/Won’t vote – 36% (19%)

Other Alberta
PC – 41% (52%)
Liberal – 13% (18%)
NDP – 7% (6%)
Alliance – 7% (4%)
Unsure/Won’t vote – 31% (20%)

Another poll released by Cameron Strategy Group asked the question “Is the Stelmach Government Leading Alberta in the right direction?”

26% responded the ‘right’ direction, 30% responded the ‘wrong’ direction, and 44% were ‘unsure.’ When you compare these numbers to January 2007 when 54% responded ‘right,’ 10% responded ‘wrong,’ and 36% responded ‘undecided’ you can see a pretty substantial shift.

Though these numbers clearly don’t benifit any specific political party, the growing undecided pool of voters leaking from the Tory support hints that a fall 2007 election may start to look more likely (before the S.S. Stelmach sinks any further).

It also means that the Liberals and Tories are going to have to put in extra effort to woo the growing undecided vote in the run up to the next election.

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Alberta Tories Ed Stelmach Jim Dinning

it’s cozy in there.

If you haven’t already, read Sheila Pratt‘s column from Sunday’s Edmonton Journal. It’s a great article that takes Ed Stelmach to task for hiring Suncor VP Heather Kennedy as an assistant deputy minister in the Tory Governments oilsands development secretariat. Pratt hits it right on the mark:

“This stinks so badly it makes the toxic lakes on the oilsands mines smell like garden ponds. The worst is that the government doesn’t seem to get the potential conflicts staring it in the face.

Something about the fox and the henhouse quickly comes to mind when the job of coming up with public policy to best manage growth around the oilsands is handed over to a current oilpatch executive, even temporarily.

Would you hire agriculture biotech giant Monsanto, purveyor of GM seeds, to run the agriculture department’s crop improvement program? Or hire Greenpeace to run the environment department? No, the captains of industry and active lobbyists have their own agendas and it’s not always the public agenda.

…

The treasury department did consult the ethics commissioner about Kennedy’s appointment, which is a signal it had a few qualms. Too bad Alberta’s ethics report is off limits to the public — even though it involved a public servant.

Maybe Stelmach doesn’t understand the mood in post-Klein Alberta.

People voted for him — and against Jim Dinning — partly because they were unhappy about the cosy relationship between business and government, because they thought the oilpatch had too much influence and they wanted a change.

Well, now they’ve got the oilpatch in the senior civil service.

This controversy was totally unnecessary if the government had thought for one moment about it.

There’s no lack of smart people in this province to do the jobs. But there’s shortage of good political judgement in Stelmach’s cabinet.

Kennedy’s appointment comes on the heels of another business cozy controversy in Stelmach’s Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville riding. The Fort Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce attempted to organize a $300 per person fundraiser where half the funds would go to Stelmach’s Constituency Association. The breaks were put on the fundraiser only after a frontpage story and editorial in the Sturgeon Creek Post called on the Chamber to halt its partisan hackery. Dave Truscott is the editor of the Sturgeon Creek Post:

“…there is a time and place for political support, and the Chamber of Commerce is not that place. As a long time member and support of the Chamber I must protest…”

“…to support a whole party or a candidate would be a mistake even if it were not against the bylaws. Governments and candidates come and go. The Chamber of Commerce represents something more enduring. It must be prepared to deal with whoever is in office.”

“I have to add that there is also something very wrong with paying so high a fee to get the ear of our premier. This smacks very much of bribery…”

Chamber of Commerce by-laws are supposed to assure that all Chambers are apolitical, non-partisan, and are not to support any political candidates.

It looks like Ed’s making Jim happy.

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2007 Edmonton Municipal Election

elect me, please.

Two more candidates have been added to the 2007 Edmonton Municipal Election Candidates List:

– Laura Duffy for Mayor
– Jabin Caouette in Ward 2

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Smart Growth

edmonton in august.

Two notes for a Sunday night…

– The 26th Annual Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival began last week. I was there for the opening ceremonies and I’m looking forward to checking out some shows over the next week. Two shows I’m planning to check out are Hooked and The Diary Project.

– The revitalization of 118th Avenue (aka Alberta Avenue) is picking up steam through the hard work of the volunteers from Arts on the Ave and The Carrot Community Arts Coffeehouse. A good friend of mine was involved in helping The Carrot and I’m hoping to get there at somepoint before the end of summer.
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Alberta Tories Ed Stelmach Greg Melchin polls

melchin poll continued…

The hilarious saga of Greg Melchin’s website poll continues as the votes continue to rise this morning in a dramatic seesaw of shifts between ‘excellent’ and ‘below average.’ As of 12:11PM today there have been over 1200 more votes than yesterday morning (I’m betting it’s only 2 or 3 people actually voting)…

Survey of the Month
How would you rate Premier Stelmach’s first session?

Excellent 50.0%
Below Average 37.8%
Satisfactory 10.5%
Average 1.6%
Total Votes: 1395

UPDATE: 1:38PM… 1250 votes later…

Survey of the Month
How would you rate Premier Stelmach’s first session?

Excellent 44.9%
Below Average 35.8%
Satisfactory 18.4%
Average 0.9%
Total Votes: 2645

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Alberta Tories Ed Stelmach Greg Melchin polls

the beauty of online polls.

The downside of putting up online polls on your website is that you don’t always get the response you’d like. Take this poll from Calgary North West PC MLA Greg Melchin’s website…

Survey of the Month
How would you rate Premier Stelmach’s first session?

Below Average 87.2%
Average 8.1%
Satisfactory 3.5%
Excellent 1.2%
Total Votes: 86

Online polls. Easy to have fun with…

UPDATE! It’s 3:40PM and it looks like Greg Melchin’s Constituency Staff have been keeping themselves busy over the past couple hours…

Survey of the Month
How would you rate Premier Stelmach’s first session?

Excellent – 62.7%
Satisfactory – 17.4%
Below Average – 16.2%
Average – 3.7%
Total Votes: 628

And I’m still trying to figure out what the difference is between ‘Satisfactory’ and ‘Average.’

(Larry Johnsrude also picked up this up on his blog)

ANOTHER UPDATE: It’s 7:29PM and it looks like a battle has begun on Greg Melchin’s website poll between pro- and anti- Stelmachian forces…

Survey of the Month
How would you rate Premier Stelmach’s first session?
Below Average 44.9%
Excellent 41.3%
Satisfactory 11.4%
Average 2.4%
Total Votes: 965

I bet you Greg Melchin’s website has never received this much attention…

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Alberta Liberals Alberta Tories Ed Stelmach Kevin Taft

what is ed stelmach really up to?

The results of the latest daveberta poll are out:

When will the next Provincial General Election be called in Alberta?
Fall 2007 – 41% (53 votes)
Winter 2008 – 9% (12 votes)
Spring 2008 – 33% (43 votes)
Summer 2008 – 2% (2 votes)
Fall 2008 – 9% (12 votes)
Winter 2009 – 1% (1 vote)
Spring 2009 – 4% (5 votes)
Summer 2009 – 0% (0 votes)
Fall 2009 – 2% (2 votes)

This leads me to two specific theories that I have heard about when the next provincial election will be held…

Theory One: Spring 2008

Finance Minister Lyle Oberg has already set the date for the 2008 Alberta Budget for February 14, 2008. With Ed Stelmach‘s Tories having a very hard time gaining traction on the announcements they’ve made since December 2006, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Stelmach attempt to pull a page from the 1997 Election playbook and drop the writ minutes after tabling the budget and run on the budget.

A Spring 2008 election would also give all the parties time to organize over the next five to six months.

Theory Two: Fall/Winter 2007

There are four points that lend support this theory:

a) The Stelmach Tories should be concerned about how much further they could fall in the polls by Spring 2008.

After 36 years of Tory government, Albertans moods and political attitudes are shifting. With the election of Craig Cheffins in the Calgary Elbow by-election in May 2007, Stelmach must be worried about growing support for Kevin Taft‘s Alberta Liberals in Calgary.

The Tories only need +42 of the 60 seats they already hold to form a majority government – and with there only being half a dozen opposition held ridings likely to be hotly competitive for the Tories it is not unimaginable that they will only mount strong campaigns in these ridings (including already nominated PC candidates in Edmonton Meadowlark, St. Albert, and Cardston-Taber-Warner).

The Tories may also need to concentrate on gaining seats in Edmonton and area in order to offset expected losses to the Alberta Liberals in Calgary.

b) Stelmach has lined up a number of high profile speaking engagements across Alberta in September and October (Premier’s Dinners in Grande Prairie, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Red Deer, and Fort McMurray along with PC policy conferences in Edmonton and Calgary) to raise his profile.

c) A pre-campaign memo sent by the Tories to their constituency associations, MLA’s, and members was widely distributed and made very public – which could be an attempt to throw off the opposition parties in their election timeline planning. The Stelmach Tories have also appointed a Campaign Manager (Randy Dawson) and Camapign Co-Chairs (Doug Goss and Douglas Black).

d) The Tory candidate nomination timeline requires all PC-incumbent ridings to have candidates nominated by October 31, 2007 and non-PC-incumbent ridings to have candidates nominated by November 30, 2007. These are deadlines, so it is possible that the Tories could have all their candidates nominated by the end of October, leaving enough time to avoid a Christmas election and call an election similar to 2004 (immediately following the October municipal elections).

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polls

new poll.

On the sidebar for your voting pleasure.

This week’s question:

Who will be elected as the MP for Edmonton Strathcona in the next Federal Election?

Linda Duncan, NDP
Rahim Jaffer, Conservative
Claudette Roy, Liberal

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David Swann Environment Water

two out of six.

Calgary Mountain View MLA David Swann released two YouTube videos from his July 19 press conference in response to the Stelmach Tories Measuring Up report.

The government’s Measuring Up report indicated that only two out of Alberta’s six major riverways had “excellent” or “good” water quality. This is in decline from other years, and is of serious concern especially considering the diminishing quantity of water across the province.

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Uncategorized

folk fest blog back.

Just like years past, the Folk Fest Blog is back up and running for this weekend’s Edmonton Folk Music Festival.

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