Category: Alberta Politics

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Alberta Politics

cbc uncovers den of “pork-barrel politics” near canada’s ufo landing pad.

 

St. Paul, Alberta: home of UFO landing pads and "pork-barrel politics"
St. Paul, Alberta: home of UFO landing pads and "pork-barrel politics"

Welcome to St. Paul, Alberta, the home of Alberta’s first official UFO landing pad and now pork-barrel politics” according to an investigation by intrepid CBC reporter Charles Rusnell:

A top municipal official in St. Paul, Alta., used the city’s email system to solicit votes during the Conservative leadership race in a bid to ensure a local MLA remained in cabinet, a CBC News investigation has found.

Ron Boisvert, the town’s chief administrative officer, also helped organize a golf tournament in June to raise campaign funds for MLA Ray Danyluk. Boisvert participated in the tournament at the town’s expense, along with the mayor and two councillors.

It’s illegal in Alberta to use public money for partisan politics.

It has also been revealed that similar financial contributions were made by the Town of Barrhead and and Town of Cardston, where green fees were waived at a municipally-owned golf course in order to support a local PC Party fundraising event.

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Alberta Politics

alison redford appoints gary mar’s cabinet.

Alberta cabinet ministers
Tory MLAs gather for the traditional game musical chairs to choose the new Cabinet.

Do you think Gary Mar left a draft cabinet list in the Premier’s Office when he was measuring the drapes? Because Premier Alison Redford found it.

We were told to expect big changes, that many “household names” would be dropped from cabinet, but as they enter their new jobs, Premier Alison Redford‘s cabinet looks like one that should have been made by her main leadership opponent Gary Mar.

Edmonton-Rutherford MLA Fred Horne‘s appointment as Minister of Health and Wellness and Ron Liepert‘s appointment as Finance Minister means that there will be no serious judicial inquiry into the intimidation of health care workers. Minister Liepert’s promotion from Energy to Finance is surprising considering that only last week he was openly defying Premier Redford on the need for a health care inquiry. Both Mr. Horne and Mr. Liepert were strong supporters of Mr. Mar in the leadership contest and would have likely ended up in similar positions had he not been defeated on the third ballot vote on October 1.

It has yet to be seen what new powers Minister Liepert will hold as Finance Minister. Remember that in recent cabinets, the President of the Treasury Board has held considerable sway over the province’s purse-strings. This could mean that ‘Liepert the Hound‘ could turn into ‘Liepert the Pup‘ when dealing with the current Treasury Board President and Deputy Premier Doug Horner.

New Alberta Cabinet Map
A map of the constituencies represented by members of Alberta's new cabinet.

Former Finance Minister Ted Morton is moving into the Energy Minister’s office, an area where he will be comfortable defending the province’s record on oil sands development. New Education Minister Thomas Lukaszuk is a cabinet lightweight who will have to be a quick study if he wants to survive in his new job. He and Premier Redford started things off right this afternoon with the announcement adding $100 million into the education budget today. Both Minister Morton and Minister Lukaszuk supported Mr. Mar on the final ballot of the PC leadership contest.

The appointment of Battle River-Wainwright MLA Doug Griffiths as Minister of Municipal Affairs could turn out to be an interesting choice. Minister Griffiths, who was defeated on the first ballot of the PC leadership contest and has never served in cabinet, comes with both inexperience and an open-mind. Despite his rural pedigree, I would not discount his ability to build relationships with the group of young municipal leaders who have been elected in recent years, including Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi and Edmonton City Councillor Don Iveson.

The appointment of Edmonton-Whitemud MLA and long-time cabinet minister Dave Hancock (also a Mar loyalist) as Minister of the new Human Services super-ministry is a smart choice. Minister Hancock is a seasoned govern0r who may be the only MLA who can help weave and organize this newly formed portfolio, which includes Children and Youth Services, Employment and Immigration (except for immigration), Homelessness, Alberta Supports (from Seniors and Community Supports).

Rewarded for his most (if only) significant political decision is backbench MLA Art Johnston, who was appointed Parliamentary Assistant to Executive Council (which means he gets to carry Premier Redford’s briefing binder in the Assembly). Mr. Johnston was the only MLA to support Ms. Redford on the first ballot of the PC leadership vote.

Some much needed new blood around the cabinet table includes Drayton Valley-Calmar MLA Diana McQueen as Minister of Environment and Water, Calgary-Montrose MLA Manmeet Bhullar as Minister of Service Alberta, Athabasca-Redwater MLA Jeff Johnson as Minister of Infrastructure, and Red Deer-South MLA Cal Dallas as Minister of International, Intergovernmental and Aboriginal Relations.

Notable cabinet ministers joining the great unwashed masses in the Tory backbenches include Sherwood Park MLA Iris Evans, Vermilion-Lloydminster MLA Lloyd Snelgrove, Innisfail-Sylvan Lake MLA Luke Ouellette, Edmonton-Mill Creek MLA Gene Zwozdesky, Calgary-Cross MLA Yvonne Fritz, Calgary-Shaw MLA Cindy Ady, and Medicine Hat MLA Rob Renner. It would not be surprising to see these now backbench MLAs and others decide to collect their million dollar severance packages and not stand in the next election.

Not to be unexpected, it did not take long for the rumour mill to start suggesting what next steps these former cabinet ministers might take. If he is not retiring, one rumour I heard today suggests that Mr. Zwozdesky may seek re-election and challenge Speaker Ken Kowalski for his position in the Assembly after the next election.

Avoiding one of former Premier Ed Stelmach‘s first mistakes, this cabinet reaches a respectable geographical balance. Four cabinet minister each from Calgary and Edmonton and the remaining twelve spread across the province.

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Alberta Politics

alison redford’s first cabinet – who’s in? who’s out?

Premier Alison Redford will announce the appointment of her first cabinet at 10:00am this morning. I presented my list of predictions last week and since then we have some stronger indication of who will be appointed today and who will be joining the backbenchers this morning. We have been told to expect a significant shuffle and a smaller number of cabinet ministers.

Most of the speculation over the past few days about who will be left out of the next cabinet has been fairly obvious:

Iris Evans (Sherwood Park) – Long-time cabinet minister under Premiers Ralph Klein and Ed Stelmach. Her staff was seen cleaning our her office this week, according to CBC reporter Kim Trynacity.

Ron Liepert (Calgary-West) – Apt at picking the wrong horse in his party’s leadership contests, Mr. Liepert was the strong-arm for Jim Dinning in 2006 and Gary Mar in 2011.

Lloyd Snelgrove (Vermilion-Lloydminster) – The last Finance Minister of Premier Stelmach’s administration supported Mr. Mar in the leadership contest and told the Meridian-Booster that he would decline an appointment in Premier Redford’s cabinet.

UPDATE: Here is the list of new cabinet ministers:

Alison Redford, QC, Calgary-Elbow Premier, President of Executive Council, Chair of Agenda and Priorities

Doug Horner, Spruce Grove-Sturgeon-St. Albert Deputy Premier, President of Treasury Board and Enterprise

David Hancock, Edmonton-Whitemud Minister of Human Services, Government House Leader

Ted Morton, Foothills-Rocky View Minister of Energy

Verlyn Olson, Wetaskiwin-Camrose Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Deputy Government House Leader

Fred Horne, Edmonton-Rutherford Minister of Health and Wellness

Ron Liepert, Calgary-West Minister of Finance

Thomas Lukaszuk, Edmonton-Castle Downs Minister of Education

Diana McQueen, Drayton Valley-Calmar Minister of Environment and Water

Jonathan Denis, Calgary-Egmont Solicitor General and Minister of Public Security; Deputy Government House Leader

Cal Dallas, Red Deer-South Minister of International, Intergovernmental and Aboriginal Relations

Evan Berger, Livingstone-Macleod Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development

Frank Oberle, Peace River Minister of Sustainable Resource Development

George VanderBurg, Whitecourt-Ste. Anne Minister of Seniors

Ray Danyluk, Lac La Biche-St. Paul Minister of Transportation

Jeff Johnson, Athabasca-Redwater Minister of Infrastructure

Doug Griffiths, Battle River-Wainwright Minister of Municipal Affairs

Greg Weadick, Lethbridge-West Minister of Advanced Education and Technology

Jack Hayden,  Drumheller-Stettler Minister of Tourism, Parks and Recreation

Heather Klimchuk, Edmonton-Glenora Minister of Culture and Community Services

Manmeet Bhullar, Calgary-Montrose Minister of Service Alberta

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alberta’s ndp prepares for high tide. will an orange wave come?

 

The NDP fleet waits for the next Orange wave.
The NDP fleet waits for the next Orange wave.

A recent poll released by Citizen Society Research Lab at Lethbridge College shows Alberta’s governing Progressive Conservatives with a huge lead over the three main opposition parties. The same poll showed the New Democratic Party and Wildrose Party tied at 16%, which reinforces the results of a controversial Evironics survey released over the summer months. At the time, an online poll released by the new company ThinkHQ showing the Wildrose neck-to-neck with the PCs in support. Wildrosers rallied behind the ThinkHQ online poll results, while everyone else supported the Environics survey results.

Alberta NDP Breakthrough Conference
NDP waiting for high tide.

As the right-wingers continue to argue about the methodological strengths and weaknesses of online polls versus phone polls, the untold story appears to be the rise in support of Alberta’s NDP. The provincial NDP, which have been stuck in the 10% range since it lost Official Opposition status in 1993, appears to be benefiting from the Alberta ripple of the Orange Wave that hit Quebec in May 2011.

The good ship NDP is holding a “Breakthrough Conference” this weekend in Edmonton in hopes of capitalizing on their federal cousin’s recent successes. Keynote speakers incude Calgary Alderman Brian Pincott and recently elected Scarborough-Southwest MP Dan Harris. Expected to be in attendance are Federal NDP interim leader Nycole Turmell and leadership candidates Nathan Cullen, Paul Dewar, Romeo Saganash, and Martin Singh.

The NDP have attracted a surprising group of seaworthy candidates including former MLA David Eggen in Edmonton-Calder, Catholic School Trustee Cindy Olsen in Edmonton-Manning, AUPE Vice-President Sandra Azocar in Edmonton-Mill Woods, former five-term City Councillor Lorna Watkinson-Zimmer in Red Deer-South, and Shannon Phillips in Lethbridge-West. The NDP have a crew of 30 nominated candidates in 87 constituencies across the province, and will have over 40 nominated by the end of next week. On the surface, the NDP looks ready to tap into the 17% of Albertans who supported their party in the last federal election.

The occupants of the two most thankless jobs in Alberta politics: NDP leader Brian Mason and Liberal leader Raj Sherman.
The occupants of the two most thankless jobs in Alberta politics: NDP leader Brian Mason and Liberal leader Raj Sherman.

As a centre-left leaning urban progressive-type that has voted NDP as many times as I have voted Liberal, I have a hard time getting excited about the provincial NDP and an even harder time imagining that some New Democrats are not thinking that it may be past time for their provincial-wing to get a fresh face sitting in the admiral’s chair.

Current leader Brian Mason has served his party faithfully through two stormy elections and holds the second most thankless job in the province (the first currently being held by Liberal leader Raj Sherman). Mr. Mason has years of experience in the Assembly, but after more than two decades as a municipal and provincial politician he is hardly the fresh face that NDP may need to make an Orange splash in the next provincial election.

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Alberta Politics

photos: alison redford sworn-in as alberta’s 14th premier.

Premier Alison Redford at her swearing-in ceremony on October 7, 2011.
Premier Alison Redford hugs Lieutenant Governor Donald Ethell at her swearing-in ceremony on October 7, 2011.
Premier Alison Redford at her swearing-in ceremony on October 7, 2011.
Premier Alison Redford and Lieutenant Governor Donald Ethell.
Premier Alison Redford at her swearing-in ceremony on October 7, 2011.
Premier Alison Redford recites the oath of office.
Premier Alison Redford at her swearing-in ceremony on October 7, 2011.
Premier Alison Redford signs her official documentation of her oath of office.
Premier Alison Redford following her swearing-in ceremony on October 7, 2011.
Premier Alison Redford mingles among the crowd of people packed into the Legislature building to witness her swearing-in ceremony.


See more photos of Premier Alison Redford’s swearing-in ceremony on Flickr.

 

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why early opposition attacks on alison redford will backfire.

Danielle Smith Alberta Wildrose No Plan
Left: No Plan ads from 2008 election. Right: Wildrose attack ads in 2011.

Danielle Smith‘s Wildrose Party has launched a series of negative television ads against soon-to-be Premier Alison Redford, who will be sworn-in as Premier tomorrow in Edmonton. The television ads bear an eerie resemblance to the negative ads used by Nancy MacBeth‘s Alberta Liberals in the 2001 election and the “No Plan” ads aired by the ‘Albertans for Change‘ coalition in the 2008 election.

The Wildrosers early attack ads are a page out of the federal Conservative Party election campaign textbook, which should not come as a surprise considering that Ms. Smith has surrounded herself with federal Tory activists, including Vitor Marciano, William McBeath, Ryan Hastman, and Steven Dollansky.

The most obvious differences between Ms. Redford and successful targets of federal Conservative smear campaigns are that:

1) she is not a Liberal, she is a Conservative
2) the PCs have a massive majority government in the Assembly and are still the best-organized and most well-funded political organization in the province, and
3) I believe that Albertans have generally been impressed with what they have seen of her so far.

Is it too early for the opposition parties to be lobbing grenades at the yet to be sworn-in Premier Redford? Ms. Redford was selected as leader at around 1:30am on October 2 and at 4:45pm, Wildrose attack dog Rob Anderson had already sent out a media release criticizing her. Always a gentleman, Mr. Anderson later tweeted that he would take a break from attacking Ms. Redford on Wednesday so that she could attend her mother’s funeral. How compassionate of Mr. Anderson.

Rob Anderson Twitter MLA Wildrose
Wildrose MLA Rob Anderson's October 5 tweet.

With the next general election expected within six months, the Wildrosers have decided to strike a negative tone, starting with attack ads and releasing a list of forty mistakes they say that the PCs have made during their forty years in government. The PCs have made many mistakes, but Albertans will reject the negative tone of the Wildrosers just as they have rejected the negative tone of the other opposition parties year after year. It is not enough to just remind Albertans that the Tories have become a monument to institutional mediocrity after forty years in government. Albertans know that because they voted for the PCs. Opposition parties need to take an extra step to give Albertans compelling and positive reasons to support them at the polls, something the Wildrosers have failed to do.

Not to be outdone by the Wildrose attacks against Ms. Redford, the NDP joined the fray. On Monday morning, NDP leader Brian Mason attacked Ms. Redford for delaying the fall sitting of the legislature, which was scheduled to begin on October 25, and the appointment of Alberta Health Services chairman Ken Hughes to her transition team. While both criticisms were valid, they were never meant to be “constructive” as Mr. Mason claimed on his blog the next day.

Unlike the opposition parties, who rely heavily on the daily Question Period to get their media hits during the legislative session, I believe that it was perfectly reasonable for Ms. Redford to want more than 15 days to prepare a legitimate legislative agenda. Regardless of what I may believe, Ms. Redford took the opposition advice, and to Mr. Mason’s surprise, announced that there will be a fall sitting.

Meanwhile, Ontario conservative blogger Stephen Taylor spun the Wildrose talking points this week claiming that Ms. Redford is the product of a labour union conspiracy, because of the support she received from front-line education and health care workers during the campaign. Maybe the view from Ottawa is blurred, but Mr. Taylor’s argument is silly when you take into account that most of these front-line workers probably regularly vote for the PC Party anyway.

Edmonton Journal columnist Graham Thomson pointed out early this week that Ms. Redford’s ‘honeymoon,’ a period that is traditionally given to new political leaders to allow them to settle into their new job, has been cut short by the opposition attacks. I predict these early aggressive tactics will only backfire on the opposition.

Every Albertan knows what is is like to start a new job and how bad it feels to get criticized before you even have a chance to started. No one likes the jerk who criticizes them before they have a chance to get familiar with the job. Hardline supporters of the opposition parties will rise to support their leaders attacks, but as the Wildrosers ads say, Albertans support integrity and democracy, but they also support fairness and don’t like jerks.

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cabinet building and the game of politics in alberta.

“When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground.”
Cersei Lannister, Game of Thrones

With the coming of a new Premier, the great game of cabinet building is underway and the politicians are jockeying for their positions. As reported by the Edmonton Journal, the competition to woo the new Queen of Alberta politics took the form of hugs and cheers at today’s Tory caucus meeting, the first since Premier-designate Alison Redford won the Progressive Conservative leadership on October 1.

Geography, gender, experience, competency, and political loyalty are a few of the many factors that are taken into account when building a cabinet. The need to put a new face on the cabinet will certainly leave some veteran MLAs mispleased with the appointments, which are expected to take place next week. Two position are already assured to Doug Horner as Deputy Premier and Dave Hancock as House leader.

Idle speculation over coffee (or mead and meat if we were in King’s Landing) with David Climenhaga, author of the Alberta Diary blog, led to the creation of three speculative lists of “who’s in” the cabinet, “too soon to tell” what their future is, and “who’s out” the next provincial cabinet.

The first two of the three groups are listed below and are our contribution to what is sure to be at the centre of debate among members of Premier Redford’s transition team. The third group, which I will not list on this blog, we hope will be chaired by the always affable and cheery hopefully-soon-to-be-former cabinet minister Ron Liepert.

Who’s in?

Doug Horner – Spruce Grove-Sturgeon-St. Albert (Already announced Deputy Premier, could be appointed Finance Minister)
Dave Hancock – Edmonton-Whitemud (Already appointed as House Leader)
Ted Morton – Foothills-Rockyview (lock the gun cabinet, keep your friends close, and your enemies even closer)
Ray Danyluk – Lac La Biche-St. Paul (Flexed his political muscle by drawing largest vote in his constituency in the PC leadership contest)
Robin Campbell – West Yellowhead
Dave Rodney – Calgary-Lougheed
Cal Dallas – Red Deer-South (from Red Deer and not Mary Ann Jablonski)
Kyle Fawcett – Calgary-North Hill (Supported Doug Griffiths on the first ballot and Redford on the second ballot)
Yvonne Fritz – Calgary-Cross (competent cabinet minister)
Jack Hayden – Drumheller-Stettler (to satisfy the rural vote)
Cindy Ady – Calgary-Shaw (to satisfy the Mormon vote)
Jeff Johnson – Athabasca-Redwater (New blood)
Art Johnston – Calgary-Hays (rewarded for being the only MLA to support Redford on the first ballot)
Diana McQueen – Drayton Valley-Calmar (Supported Horner and is a rising star in the PC caucus)
Frank Oberle – Peace River (Stays in Solicitor General)
Verlyn Olsen – Wetaskiwin-Camrose (Justice Minister)
Luke Ouellette – Innisfail-Sylvan Lake (hugged Redford at today’s caucus meeting)
Janice Sarich – Edmonton-Decore (Education Minister)

Too soon to tell

Thomas Lukaszuk – Edmonton-Castle Downs
Lloyd Snelgrove – Vermilion-Lloydminster
Doug Elniski – Edmonton-Calder (supported Redford, but has made questionable comments on women’s rights)
Greg Weadick – Lethbridge-West
Len Webber – Calgary-Foothills
Manmeet Bhullar – Calgary-Montrose
Genia Leskiw – Bonnyville-Cold Lake
Lindsay Blackett – Calgary-North West
Gene Zwozdesky – Edmonton-Mill Creek (the fixer)

Will all these MLAs make into the provincial cabinet next week? Perhaps not, but it is always fun to speculate what might come next in the increasingly interesting the game of politics in Alberta…

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alberta candidate nomination updates – october 2011.

I have made the following updates to the list of declared and nominated candidates preparing to stand in the next provincial general election, now expected in 2012:

Airdrie: Bryan Young is seeking the NDP nomination on October 13.

Calgary-Acadia: Nick Lepora is seeking the NDP nomination on October 13.

Calgary-Bow: Jason Nishiyama is seeking the NDP nomination on October 13. Mr. Nishyama was the NDP candidate in Calgary-Montrose in the 2004 provincial election and in Calgary-Egmont in the 2008 provincial election.

Calgary-Cross: Preet Sihota is seeking the NDP nomination on October 13. Sihota was the NDP candidate in Calgary-McCall in the 2001, 2004, and 2008 provincial elections.

Calgary-Currie: Robert Scobel is seeking the NDP nomination on October 13. Mr. Scobel was the NDP candidate in this constituency in the 2008 provincial election.

Calgary Elbow: Craig Coolahan is seeking the NDP nomination on October 13.

Calgary-Fish Creek: Erik Levitt is seeking the NDP nomination on October 13. Mr. Levitt was the NDP candidate in this constituency in the 2004 and 2008 provincial elections.

Calgary-Foothills: Jenn Carkner is seeking the NDP nomination on October 13.

Calgary-Glenmore: Richard Collier is seeking the NDP nomination on October 13.

Calgary-Hays: Regina Vergara is seeking the NDP nomination on October 13.

Calgary-Lougheed: Brent Kelly is seeking the NDP nomination on October 13.

Calgary-Shaw: Brandon Beasley is seeking the Alberta Party nomination and Ashley Fairall is seeking the NDP nomination on October 13.

Calgary-West: Mary Nokleby is seeking the NDP nomination on October 13.

Edmonton-Castle Downs: Jeff Funnell, businessman and chairperson of St. Charles Parent Council, is seeking the Alberta Party nomination. Two-time federal NDP candidate Brian Labelle is seeking the NDP nomination on October 12.

Edmonton-McClung: Real Estate agent Lorne Dach is seeking the NDP nomination on October 13. Mr. Dach was the NDP candidate in this constituency in 2001 and 2004.

Edmonton-Meadowlark – Bridget Stirling is seeking the NDP nomination on October 12. Ms. Stirling was the NDP candidate in Edmonton-McClung in the 2008 provincial election.

Edmonton-Whitemud– Julia Necheff, a former Canadian Press reporter and writer for Faculty of Medicine at the University of Alberta, is seeking the Alberta Party nomination.

Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville: Strathcona County Councillor Jacquie Fenske has announced that she will seek the Progressive Conservative nomination to replace current MLA and outgoing Premier Ed Stelmach in the next provincial election.

Lacombe-Ponoka: Local Rancher and Agricultural Policy Specialist Tony Jeglum is seeking the Alberta Party nomination.

Livingstone-Macleod: Matthew Halton is seeking the NDP nomination.

Red Deer-South: Red Deer College Professor Serge Gingras is seeking the Alberta Party nomination.

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premier alison redford’s challenge to change her party and alberta’s government.

Alberta Premier-Designate Alison Redford at an all-candidates forum in Vermilon on July 21, 2011.
Alberta Premier-Designate Alison Redford at an all-candidates forum in Vermilon on July 21, 2011.

Alberta politics became a little more exciting in the early hours of Sunday, October 2, 2011 when the sharp-minded former Justice Minister and human rights lawyer Alison Redford defied critics, but not readers of this blog, by defeating front-runner Gary Mar in the PC leadership contest. Ms. Redford will become Alberta’s first woman Premier when she is sworn-in to her new office in the coming days. She also rides into victory carrying a banner that promises change to her party members and Albertans.

One of her first challenges will be to build a new provincial cabinet.

Without many endorsements from her fellow MLAs, Ms. Redford may have more freedom to pick and choose the members of the next cabinet. Her win was a strike against the PC Party establishment that lined up behind Mr. Mar, so it will not be surprising to see a significant cabinet shuffle after she officially enters her office.

It is too early to know who will be in cabinet for sure, but there are a number of political indicators that we can use to speculate. Former Deputy Premier Doug Horner, who placed third in the leadership contest and whose supporters helped push Ms. Redford over the top on the run-off vote will likely grab a key cabinet spot. Remaining in cabinet because of their political strength on the ground (as proved by the total number of memberships sold in their constituencies) should be Lac La Biche-St. Paul MLA Ray Danyluk and Edmonton-Whitemud MLA Dave Hancock.

Uncertain futures lie ahead for former Finance Minister Ted Morton and Battle River-Wainwright MLA Doug Griffiths, who both endorsed Mr. Mar after they were eliminated from the first ballot vote on September 17, 2011. It should be noted that both their campaign managers endorsed Ms. Redford, as did voters in their constituencies in the October 1, 2011 vote.

To reinforce the message of change that Ms. Redford reminded PC Party members of in her victory speech, she will need to clean out some of the dead wood in the current provincial cabinet. This will mean smaller offices and salary cuts for some cabinet ministers, including loyalists of outgoing Premier Ed Stelmach.

Also significant to watch along with a new cabinet team will be the appointment and shuffling of Deputy Ministers. These top public servants are the professionals who can spell the key to success or failure for a new cabinet minister and can also signal the direction in which a government wishes to drive an agenda.

Ms. Redford ran a policy heavy campaign, of which two of the main issues were education and health care. She announced the restoration of funding to rehire the thousand teachers who were laid off only months ago. The campaign also highlighted her support for the public health care system in order to differentiate her from front-runner Mr. Mar, who came out strongly in support of privatized healthcare earlier in the campaign. Alberta may be fertile ground for conservative political movements, but the results of the PC leadership contest reinforces the position that those same conservative party members also support a strong public health care system.

Like her opponent, Mr. Mar, she has committed to represent the Government of Alberta at congressional hearings being held in Washington D.C. about the controversial Keystone XL pipeline on October 7, 2011. Increased international attention on the oilsands and our province’s environmental record has created a new challenge that the previous government struggled to handle. It will be interesting to watch what kind of approach Ms. Redford’s government will take to defending Alberta’s record in natural resource extraction.

Ms. Redford’s selection as Premier has already made Alberta politics more exciting and unpredictable. Opposition leaders Danielle Smith, Raj Sherman, Brian Mason, and Glenn Taylor will not be given a chance to challenge Ms. Reford during a Fall session of the Assembly, which will be delayed while the new Premier legitimately prepares a Legislative agenda for 2012. They will have to take to the airwaves, newspapers, and twittersphere with their criticisms.

With a provincial general election expected next year, Ms. Redford will have less than a year to prove that she can walk the talk when it comes to changing attitudes and politics within her forty-year governing Progressive Conservative Party. It is going to be interesting to watch!

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mapping alison redford’s victory on the second-ballot of the alberta pc leadership vote.

Maps: MLA endorsements of leadership candidates, poll-by-poll results in the second-ballot vote. (Click to enlarge)
Maps: MLA endorsements of leadership candidates, poll-by-poll results in the second-ballot vote. (Click to enlarge)

 

Maps from September 17, 2011 results: Percentage of PC voter support for Gary Mar, Alison Redford, and Doug Horner. (Click to enlarge)
Maps from September 17, 2011 results: Percentage of PC voter support for Gary Mar, Alison Redford, and Doug Horner. (Click to enlarge)

 

Maps from October 1, 2011 results: Percentage of PC voter support for Gary Mar, Alison Redford, and Doug Horner. (Click to enlarge)
Maps from October 1, 2011 results: Percentage of PC voter support for Gary Mar, Alison Redford, and Doug Horner. (Click to enlarge)

 

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alison redford is alberta’s new premier.

Alison Redford Alberta
Alberta's new Premier Alison Redford

Former Justice Minister Alison Redford won a surprise victory today to become leader of Alberta’s Progressive Conservative Party and Premier-designate of Alberta. Ms. Redford, first elected as the MLA for Calgary-Elbow in 2008 (a constituency previously represented by Premier Ralph Klein), defeated long-time frontrunner Gary Mar to become Alberta’s next Premier.

RESULTS
First Ballot Results (from September 17, 2011)

Tonight
Second Ballot
Gary Mar: 33,175
Alison Redford: 28,923
Doug Horner: 15,557

Third Ballot
Alison Redford: 37,104
Gary Mar: 35,491

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blog readers choose alison redford as pc leader.

A blog poll shows that Alison Redford is the choice of daveberta.ca readers.
A blog poll shows that Alison Redford is the choice of daveberta.ca readers.

In a online poll posted earlier this week, readers of this blog have chosen Alison Redford as their choice to win today’s Alberta Progressive Conservative leadership contest. Ms. Redford was the first choice with 44%, and first-ballot winner Gary Mar placed second with 39%. Former Deputy Premier Doug Horner placed third with 17%.

PC Party members are voting today for their new leader. Results of the preferential ballot vote will be available tonight. The new leader will become the next Premier of Alberta.

 

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no shock and awe, alberta pc leadership debate was a tame affair.

Alberta PC leadership Debate 2011
PC leadership candidates on the set of the Global TV debate: Doug Horner, Gary Mar, and Alison Redford.

Last night’s Alberta Progressive Conservative leadership debate, broadcast live province-wide on Global Television and QR77 and 630CHED, was a tame affair.

Overshadowing the evening was the recent passing of candidate Alison Redford‘s mother, who had been admitted into the hospital in High River the day before. Despite what must have been an incredibly difficult day, Ms. Redford demonstrated personal strength and delivered a strong performance during the debate. She was also the only candidate not to refer to notes during the course of the debate, only glancing at her notes during her opening and closing remarks.

None of the three candidates hit a home run during the debate, but each of the candidates demonstrated their own strengths and solid speaking skills. Each of the candidates highlighted their experience, both at and away from the cabinet table.

Unlike the 2006 leadership contest, where there were very obvious ideological and policy differences between the top three candidates, the three candidates standing at the podiums last night share similar political space within their party, with some notable exceptions.

Over the course of the hour-long debate, Ms. Redford and Doug Horner honed their criticisms on first-ballot front-runner Gary Mar. A seasoned politician of almost 20 years, Mr. Mar was quick to fend off criticisms of his support for privatized healthcare and his quiet acceptance of more than $400,000 in MLA transition allowance when he became Alberta’s chief lobbyist in Washington D.C. Both Ms. Redford and Mr. Horner took positions that health care can be improved from within the public system, rather than introducing more for-profit health care. They also raised the issue of trust in reference to Mr. Mar’s transition allowance flip-flop.

Mr. Mar played the front-runner game during the debate, saying a lot without actually saying much. Mr. Mar is intelligent and articulate, but his highly staged campaign has given him the air of an overly polished professional politician. He took every opportunity to remind the viewers that unlike his two opponents, he did not sit at Premier Ed Stelmach‘s cabinet table (though most of that cabinet table is now supporting Mr. Mar).

Ms. Redford and Mr. Horner used the debate to differentiate themselves from Mr. Mar on issues including health care, education, municipal affairs, and the oilsands. Mr. Mar earned 40% on the September 17 first-ballot vote, which presents a tough challenge for any candidate trying to close that lead. Is it impossible? No. Is it improbable? Maybe.

PC members will vote in a second-ballot preferential vote on October 1. If no candidate receives more than 50% on the second-ballot, the third place candidate will be dropped off and their second place votes will be redistributed among the top two candidates.

A big thanks to Rob Breakenridge for inviting me to talk about the PC leadership debate on his radio show on QR77 and 630CHED last night.

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Alberta Politics

alison redford takes a break, hugh macdonald calls it quits.

Progressive Conservative leadership candidate Alison Redford, who placed second in her party’s first ballot leadership vote on September 17, announced yesterday that her campaign would be temporarily suspending its efforts so that she could spend time with her mother who had recently been admitted to the hospital in High River. 630 CHED has reported that Ms. Redford’s mother passed away last night.

My thoughts and prayers are with Ms. Redford and her family in this difficult time.

Candidates Doug Horner and Gary Mar are continuing to campaign for the second ballot vote to be held on October 1. Ms. Redford’s campaign manager, Stephen Carter, told 630 CHED that Ms. Redford would be participating in a television leadership debate scheduled for this evening.

Hugh MacDonald calls it quits

You read it here first – four-term Liberal MLA Hugh MacDonald announced that he will not be seeking re-election when the next general election is called. Mr. MacDonald has represented the Edmonton-Gold Bar constituency since 1997, continuing the legacy of former Liberal MLA Bettie Hewes, who represented the constituency starting in 1986.

Mr. MacDonald is easily one of the hardest working MLAs sitting in the opposition benches, though his undying focus on uncovering scandal in the PC government can easily be confused with obsession. Placing second in the recent Liberal leadership contest, Mr. MacDonald made a very public spectacle about his concerns around the legitimacy of the voters list that helped elect former Tory MLA Raj Sherman.

The Liberals are losing a veteran MLA, but this could be a golden opportunity for them to bring new blood into their caucus in the closest thing that party has to a “safe riding” in Alberta.

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Alberta Politics

alberta candidate nomination update – september 2011 (part 3)

I have updated the list of nominated and declared candidates standing for parties in the next provincial general election:

Calgary-McCall: Liberal MLA Darshan Kang was nominated as his party’s candidate. Mr. Kang was first elected as MLA in 2008.

Calgary-Mountain View: Christopher McMillan announced over Twitter that he is seeking the NDP nomination in the inner city Calgary constituency currently represented by Liberal MLA David Swann.

Calgary-Northern Hills: Iqtidar Awan was nominated as the Liberal candidate in this north Calgary constituency.

Dunvegan-Central Peace-Notley: Nathan Macklin willl seek the NDP nomination on September 30, 2011. Mr. Macklin was the NDP candidate in the 2008 election, earning 15% of the vote in that election.

Edmonton-Ellerslie: Recent Edmonton Public School Board Trustee Tina Jardine is seeking the NDP nomination in this south Edmonton constituency.

Edmonton-Gold Bar: MLA Hugh MacDonald has announced that he will not seek re-election (you read it first here).

Edmonton-Meadowlark: Newly elected Liberal Party leader Raj Sherman was nominated as his party’s candidate yesterday. Dr. Sherman was elected as leader of the Liberal Party on September 10, 2011 and was first elected as a PC MLA in the 2008 general election.

Grande Prairie Smoky: Mary Dahr is seeking the NDP nomination scheduled for September 29, 2011. Ms. Dahr is a Lab Tech at the Queen Elizabeth II Hospital in Grande Prairie and is a Northern District Board member of the Health Sciences Association of Alberta.

Lethbridge-East: MLA Bridget Pastoor is seeking her party’s nomination on October 5. Ms. Pastoor was first elected in 2004 and re-elected in 2008. The NDP have nominated Tom Moffatt as their candidate. Mr. Moffatt ran in 2008 when he earned 5.7% of the vote.

Lethbridge-West: Independent Financial Adviser Bal Boora is seeking the Liberal nomination on October 5, 2011. This will be Mr. Boora’s third consecutive election as the Liberal candidate in this constituency. He finished second in both elections, with 32% in 2004 and 35% in 2008.

Peace River: Peace River teacher and environmentalist Wanda Laurin is seeking the NDP nominations scheduled for September 30, 2011.

Spruce Grove-St. Albert: Reverend Juliette Trudeau was nominated as the NDP candidate on September 22, 2011.

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