Too much ink has already been spent on James Cameron‘s visit to Alberta, but I could not let the day end without mentioning the front cover of today’s Edmonton Sun. “Hilariously nonsensical” is how a good friend of mine described it. A very apt description.
It has been fascinating to observe how Alberta’s long-governing Progressive Conservatives have reacted to the challenge created by the Wildrose Alliance‘s rise in the polls. In most circumstances, the PCs appear to have kept a level head and tacted their policies to the centre to compete with Danielle Smith’s party’s more right-wing conservative policies, but there are exceptions.
Even though she was elected with 75% of the vote in 2008, Bonnyville-Cold Lake PC MLA Genia Leskiw appears to be feeling the pressure of the Wildrose within her own constituency. Ms. Smith recently toured the area and former PC MLA and current Bonnyville Mayor Ernie Isley is now supporting the Wildrosers. On her website, Ms. Leskiw recently published a long rant on her website about the dangers of the Wildrose Alliance in which she invokes union-busting, George W. Bush, and the fear of southern Alberta domination.
Be wary of the Wild Rose Alliance!
Very often the grass looks greener on the other side of the fence. When one looks deeper at the quality of grass that actually exists there, the extra greenness is usually an illusion. Politics is no different, as many Conservatives look at the Wildrose Alliance. Another old saying fits this situation is “Beware of a wolf in sheep’s clothing!”
All this attention to this new party is a result of their leader. A former broadcaster, she is articulate, and a master of the quick soundbite that the media eats up. As a result she has given her party much more publicity than it deserves. Her normalcy masks some of the lunacy of the platform of her upstart party. Her biggest challenge will be to try and hide some of the ridiculous promises in her party platform before critical Albertans see them for what they are. The party’s strength is in its timing. During harsh economic times, when tough decisions are being made, it is much easier to be a critic than a builder. We are in such a time now.
The platform of the party follows a shotgun approach to political planning. Promise everything to everybody, and hope no-one actually reads the whole platform. Some of their promises, like ending all homelessness in Alberta during their first term in office are naively simplistic. Some are dangerous, like striking down parts of our Human Rights and Multicultural Act that prevent discrimination. Other policies of the party are openly contradictory. They promise the oil companies they will slash our royalty system, other sectors they will slash taxes that affect input costs, yet promise Albertans they will keep a balanced budget.
Putting an end to public education by using ‘Alberta Opportunity Scholarships’ instead of per pupil student grants to public schools will set off alarm bells for those concerned about the future of public education. They promise standardized annual testing of students and teacher quality. This comes straight from George Bush’s American plans for school improvement. We all know how well that worked. During a time of labour peace, when all teachers are in a long term contract, this party wants to pick a fight and limit teacher’s labour rights. The only MLA in the party speaks of limiting teacher’s right to strike to weekends and holidays. A well thought out platform indeed. They also intend to punish teachers if their students do not perform to Wildrose standards. Pity the poor teacher of disadvantaged kids. It is critical that teachers everywhere have a close look at this platform before they remove the controversial parts until after they are elected! Most of the sane parts of their platform merely reflect what the current government is doing in education, such as enhancing online educational initiatives for students, or funding arts, music, and physical education. I analyze education first, because that was my career for thirty six years, and I know it well. I challenge every constituent in Bonnyville-Cold Lake to zero in on the area you are most familiar with, and read their platform carefully and critically. The problem with an all encompassing platform is that it may seem reasonable in areas you are unfamiliar with, but alarm bells should go off when you analyze your area of specialization. Beware of this party!
Teachers aren’t the only group they want to pick a fight with though. The Wildrose aim is to strip unions of any influence they currently have by setting up a situation that would ‘allow individual workers the choice to determine their membership in labour organizations’. It is difficult to imagine a union jobsite with workers who choose not to be union members!
Read the platform with a wary eye. Remember that this is a Calgary based, southern Alberta party. We can’t be certain if promises to ‘Develop and implement an on and off-stream fresh water storage plan.’ is code for inter-basin transfers of water from northern Alberta to southern Alberta. Scientists have told us this would be environmentally catastrophic. But we shouldn’t let science get in the way of sugar beet irrigation. Maybe Cold Lake water should be shipped to southern Alberta farms before Bonnyville.
James Cameron & the Avatarsands.
Premier Ed Stelmach is facing criticism for acting like a “starstruck teenager” after receiving an invitation to take film director James Cameron on a tour of Alberta’s oil sands. While I doubt that the Ed “Hollywood” Stelmach label will stick, the Premier’s response does show how eager the PCs have become in taking any opportunity to challenge the international criticism of Alberta’s energy beach. (Will fish be on the lunch menu?)
Brian Mason’s “Just trust me” tour.
NDP MLA Brian Mason made two announcements this week in his and MLA Rachel Notley‘s “Earning your trust” tour across Alberta. In Calgary Edmonton last week, the NDP leader announced a fiscal plan, pledging that an NDP government would balance Alberta’s budget in one year. The NDP leader also announced support for the construction of a post-secondary institution in the Town of Hinton. The NDP are not going to form government or gain wide-spread support in Alberta anytime soon but I have to give that party’s two MLAs credit for being the only party on their side of the political spectrum to be making policy announcements.
Envision Bonnyville/Edson/etc.
Ethical questions have been raised since it was made public that the lobby group opposing the redevelopment of Edmonton’s City Centre Airport lands were asking for financial contributions from northern Alberta municipalities to help fund its campaign. According to news reports, Envision Edmonton asked a number of municipalities for funds, including the Town of Edson, which turned down their request for $10,000 in public funds. The Town of Bonnyville initially said yes, but needs to ratify the decision once again since the lobby group’s plebiscite petition was ruled invalid. (Kudos to Paula Simons who wrote an excellent column on this subject).
Envision Wildrose
There is an important political question about how much the Wildrose Alliance, which has endorsed the Envision Edmonton lobby group, is using this issue to promote their own political agenda. Bonnyville Mayor Ernie Isley told the Bonnyville Nouvelle in a recent interview that ‘his goal in life is to do everything possible in the next two years to elect a Wildrose government next election.’ ‘everything possible.’
Legislature Staffers standing in the municipal election.
Two political staffers at the Alberta Legislature are trying to make the jump to municipal politics this fall. NDP Caucus Research Director Sarah Hoffman is challenging Edmonton Public School Board Trustee George Rice in Ward G. Wildrose Caucus staffer James Johnson is running against City Councillor Jane Batty in Edmonton’s downtown Ward 6. Calgary-Buffalo Liberal MLA Kent Hehr dropped out of the Calgary Mayoral contest last week.
Next Provincial Election.
I have started a list of candidate nominated to stand in the next provincial election (I have also created a link to the list in the bar above). By my count, the Wildrosers have nominated 9 candidates, the NDP 2, and the Liberals will nominate their first candidate on October 2. I will try to keep the list up to date, so please email daveberta.ca@gmail.com if there are additions to the list.
Read more in the Alberta Politics Notes archive.
A shed fire in Mill Woods has destroyed hundreds of lawn signs being stored for Ward 4 City Council candidate and former MLA Dan Backs. Edmonton Fire and Rescue (EFR) estimated that the shed went up in flames around 10:00 pm on Thursday, September 23.
From the Edmonton Sun (published at 4:28pm on Friday, September 24):
The fire is not considered suspicious — investigators think a discarded cigarette may be to blame.
“There is no evidence found to conclude this was arson,” said EFR spokesman Corwin Odland. “Smoking materials were found around the shed so it’s possible it was accidently set by a cigarette.”
Without much information available to him at the time, Mr. Backs posted a news release on his website at 1:00am on Friday, September 24 titled “Probable Arson Destroys Campaign Signs.” The news release pre-empted and contradicted the EFR spokesperson by claiming that the fire was probably intentionally set and that the case had been referred to Police arson investigators:
In consultation with the Edmonton Fire Department, Dan Backs was informed that this matter has been referred to Edmonton Police Department arson investigators.
There was no source of ignition, electrical or otherwise, and according to discussions with fire department representatives, it had to have been set.
Mr. Backs’ news release then eludes to a previous media report to suggest (without evidence) that his opponent, Councillor Ed Gibbons or his supporters, may have been connected to the fire:
This comes after Dan’s main opponent, incumbent Councillor Ed Gibbons lamented in the Edmonton Journal on September 22, that Dan Backs’ sign campaign was an indication that his campaign was in trouble. ‘I’m not sure that we will ever prove who actually did this’, said Backs. ‘That shed has stood for seventeen years – and my friend has lived in that house for thirty-four years, and there has never been any trouble. This destruction of my signs suddenly places my campaign at a great disadvantage, especially as we were planning to transfer many of them to my new campaign headquarters on Friday.
Since the EFR spokesperson announced that the fire is not considered suspicious, no update has been posted on Mr. Backs’ website correcting his claims of arson or apologizing for his suggestion that Councillor Gibbons’ could be connected to the fire.
Anytime I walk into an election candidates forum I almost immediately think of this great scene from Season 3 of the West Wing. Maybe I am a dreamer, but I hope that one day I will witness a debater who reaches the level of President Josiah Bartlett.
I was not sure what to expect when I ventured into the packed auditorium at Harry Ainlay High School on Edmonton’s south side. Walking the halls of the giant high school, I remembered the last time I had been in that building was for a Ward 5 (now Ward 9 and 10) all-candidates forum in 2007. I remember that auditorium three years ago being packed with skeptics of then-Councillor Mike Nickel and supporters of first-time challenger Don Iveson.
Last night, I entered the auditorium two minutes before the candidates took to the podium and I wedged myself into a seat in the back row next (which ended up being right next to City Clerk Alayne Sinclair and elections staff, who were overseeing the event and updating the @EdmontonClerk twitter account).
While last night was nothing comparable to the Bartlett-Ritchie debate in the video about, it was a raucous evening. Over the course of the evening, the boisterous crowd jeered, cheered, and heckled the candidates when different issues various pet issues mentioned (the City Centre Airport, the Art Gallery of Alberta, and… David Suzuki and climate change).
First time candidate Dan Dromarsky was the most likable among the candidates. While answering each question, Mr. Dromarsky beamed with genuine concern for Edmonton and demonstrated that he had also done his homework when it came to a lot of the issues. His performance last night made me wish that he would have decided to run for City Council, instead of a Mayoral position that he has no chance of being elected.
Although he did not have a huge impact on the debate, Daryl Bonar has positioned himself as the most aggressive alternative to Mayor Stephen Mandel. His “fight back” campaign and actual platform positions presented a contrast to the other challengers who appeared unprepared for their candidacies.
The most entertaining candidate of the evening turned out to be Bob Ligertwood, who used every opportunity to decry the Internet and Facebook (even stating at one point that the Oil City Roadhouse should be shut down so that the Police could monitor computers at the public libraries). Candidate Andrew Lineker touched on some fair points about the transition of EPCOR to Capital Power, and Dave Dowling was remarkably subdued in light of his previous runs for Mayor.
David Dorward seemed like a nice man who would probably be a great financial adviser, but his focus on repeating platitudes and grasping for political points left me wondering if had the leadership skills or vision to lead an entire City. His campaign has the backing of Envision Edmonton lobby group and the support of their wealthy financial backers, which puts him in a financial advantage over the other challengers. Mr. Dorward has only made one policy announcement (on seniors taxes yesterday) and his campaign has yet to show that he has the policy depth to be a successful Mayor.
It is unfortunate that his campaign feels like it was thrown together at the last hour. Had Mr. Dorward began preparing his bid earlier in the summer, rather than a week before the election period started, the Edmontonians in the room last night probably would have seen a more vigorous debate centered around ideas and vision, rather than platitudes and talking points.
Two-term Mayor Stephen Mandel was the most confident and answered questions with a confidence that none of the other candidates had. He fumbled a few questions, but gave the impression that of the three serious candidates (himself, Mr. Bonar, and Mr. Dorward), he was the only one who actually understood how governance works.
I voted for Mayor Mandel in 2004 and 2007, and I generally believe that he has done a good job over the past six years. I also support City Council’s decision to close the City Centre Airport over a phased period of time and redevelop the lands.
On some other issues, I have been less impressed with the Mayor. I am not comfortable with his cozy relationship with the Katz Group in light of their request for City funding of a downtown arena and I am skeptical about the City’s bid to host the 2017 World Expo. As a young Edmontonian, I also feel that the City should be more aggressive in promoting the construction of family-orinented densification and infill in the urban core, something that none of the candidates spoke about last night.
Most of Mayor Mandel’s challengers demonstrated a fairly evident lack of understanding of how our democratic process and representative democracy functions. Mr. Dorward’s supporters in the crowd jeered at the Mayor and the challengers charged that it was undemocratic for City Council to have rejected a plebiscite on the City Centre Airport redevelopment. None of the challengers thought to mention that the petition was ruled invalid under provincial law. If a candidate cannot demonstrate that they understand how a clearly laid out petition process works, then it is difficult for me to imagine them tackling the macro-level important issues facing the City.
Edmontonians deserved a better debate last night and Mayor Mandel deserved a more serious challenge in this election. Unless the challengers undergo a miraculous change between now and October 18, we may have to wait to see what October 2013 has to offer us.
Depending on what part of Edmonton you live in, you have probably noticed the lawn signs beginning to line up on private front lawns and sprawled across City-owned boulevards. While I hear that the sign war is red hot in the closely contested Wards 3, 7, and 11, in my downtown Ward 6 I have only noticed signs from a handful of candidates (Michael Janz, Bev Sawyer, Brian Kaptiza, and Rudy Arcilla).
Thus far there is virtually no signage belonging to incumbent Councillor Jane Batty in my neighborhood. This is a stark contrast from the last time I lived in this neighborhood during a municipal election. Back in 2004, I remember the area being covered with signs belonging to Councillors Michael Phair, Mrs. Batty, and then-challenger Ben Henderson (who is now standing for election in the new Ward 8 on the south side of the North Saskatchewan River).
I spoke with Adam Rozenhart from The Unknown Studio earlier this week about my Nomination Day experience and shared some thoughts on the election candidates. You can listen to my conversation with Adam on The Unknown Studio website or download the podcast on iTunes. The conversation starts at the 11:36 mark and also includes a conversation about how my dog needed to be rushed to the Emergency Veterinary Clinic after getting his jaw stuck in his kennel door (he is fine now).
There have been three City of Edmonton sponsored all-candidates forums held since Nomination Day in Wards 3, 7, and 11. They were all live-streamed online and should be posted shortly afterwards on the City of Edmonton election website.
Jeff Samsonow wrote a thought-provoking article yesterday that raised some serious questions about how the media cover their colleagues who are jumping into politics. More specifically, Mr. Samsanow is referring to on-leave Edmonton Journal columnist Scott McKeen, who is standing for election in Ward 7. Journal columnist Todd Babiak shared some of his thoughts on the Edmonton Commons blog, but did not really address the issue that Mr. Samsonow was getting at.
Scanning some of the candidates websites over the past few days has revealed some interested gems. Who would have thought that the people in your neighbourhood were such a colourful bunch? For example, did you know that the guy living down the street believes that the relationship between North Edmonton and South Edmonton is similar to North Korea and South Korea? Ward 3 candidate John Oplanich says so on his website.
The Northside has been ignored for far too long at the expense of the Southside/Westend/Millwoods and City Council (Ron Hayter, Kim Krushell, Ed Gibbons, Tony Caterina) has allowed this to happen. The southside/westend /Millwoods continues to flourish, prosper and live in luxury as the northside is drowning in controversy – City Center Airport/CN Railway in Calder. For 80 years we have called this corridor a Wasteland-Dead Zone. Can we afford to wait another 40 years? We need a strong and clear voice on City Council. VOTE for CHANGE. I‘m starting to feel like I live in North Korea and on the opposite side of the river is beautiful South Korea.
Ward 4 candidate Scott Robb is the first open Satanist to stand for election in Edmonton. I do not wade into the topic of organized religion very often on this blog (for good reason) and I am not going to start now, so you can make your own judgments. Whether you agree with Mr. Robb’s religious beliefs or not, he deserves some credit for being so open with it (at least he’s not running for the Catholic School District). I asked Mr. Robb about an online campaign that has emerged against him:
“All I have to say about it is it is one man’s narrow-minded ignorant opinion of me in which he fabricated stories, took posts of mine out of context (and some were photoshopped, although he publicly denies it)…
I’m curious, is that where everyone is finding out my religious beliefs? Because Satanism is not a cult, it’s been recognized as a legit religion since the british repealed their witchcraft laws in 1951! Cults brainwash people and don’t let members leave, we urge people to learn on their own and allow them to leave our church simply with a notification that they wish to…”
Country music singer KD Lang has some kind words to say about Councillor Bryan Anderson, who is running for re-election in Ward 9.
Meanwhile, retiring Trustee Gerry Gibeault is sharing some advice from his fifteen years on the Edmonton Public School Board: School Board Secrets. One political watcher close to the public school board has told to me that the online presence of this normally low-profile Trustee in this campaign could signal Mr. Gibeault’s desire for more than just a quiet retirement. The source suggested that Mr. Gibeault could be interested in a return to provincial politics in the near future. He was the NDP MLA for Edmonton-Mill Woods from 1986 to 1993.
Mayoral candidates targeted the vote rich communities of Senior citizens in the City today. Mayor Stephen Mandel announced plans today about Seniors Housing and Recreation. The Seniors Housing plan proposes more cooperation between the City, the Province, Builders, and Seniors Groups to expand the number of seniors housing units available in Edmonton.
Mayoral candidate David Dorward made his first non-City Centre Airport related policy announcement today focusing on seniors and taxes. It has not yet been posted online or emailed out to their media list, so I do not have link to refer to. Thanks to @OrganizerMike for providing a less than 140 character summary of Mr. Dorward’s announcement:
@davecournoyer i stopped by his Presser- tax caps, tax rebates to seniors, review LRT spending -basically #yegvote
The first Mayoral all-candidates forum will be held tonight at Harry Ainley School from 7:00pm to 9:00pm. I will be there live-tweeting (follow @davecournoyer and #yegvote) and will provide some reflections on the debate later tonight.
Municipal elections only come once every three years (on the third Monday of October) and if I had my choice, they would come every year. I love election season, especially on the municipal level. While provincial and federal elections are defined by partisan politics and leaders with micro-managed images, local politics offers a more gritty and real politics.
Instead of hearing about billion dollar gun-registries or carbon taxes, we all get to spend four weeks talking about potholes and roads, garbage pickup, traffic congestion, and other issues that affect people literally where they live. Generally there are a number of larger issues that will shape the larger debate, like (hopefully an end to the never ending debate about) the closure of the City Centre Airport or the financing of Daryl Katz‘s downtown arena – but so much about municipal politics falls under the old adage “all politics is local.”
It may be easy to believe that because the Prime Minister gets more airtime on the 6pm news that your municipal elected officials are just not important. Although Mayor Stephen Mandel‘s single-vote on City Council probably will not have national repercussions, it could affect the way your City operates and your quality of life. This is why it is important to take some time over the next few weeks to learn more about your candidates and see what ideas they are running on and platforms they are presenting (or not presenting, as is the case thus far with the platform-absent Mayoral candidate David Dorward). Take the time to learn about your candidates and then vote.
If you think you will not have any time over the next four weeks to learn more about the candidates who will be on your ballot on October 18, 2010, you should think again. The miracle of the Internet has led to the birth of extensive resources and information available about the issues and candidates. Instead of spending your lunch hour watching YouTube or your evening chatting on Facebook, take a look at some of the online resources available.
The City of Edmonton has a comprehensive website with any kind of elections information you will need as a voter or candidate. The fourteen all-candidate forums sponsored by the City of Edmonton will also be live-streamed online so that anyone can tune in from their homes and even submit questions online. For political watchers, this will make it much easier to catch what is being said at the forums (and who is excelling or crashing and burning). Remember that the Ward boundaries have changed and that you will only be able to vote for one Councillor this year.
Share Edmonton is an excellent resource for finding out which Ward you will be voting in, dates and times of all-candidate forums in your Ward, and links to candidates’ websites and contact information. Share Edmonton is also a great resource for finding out the election buzz on Twitter. Avnish Nanda has also compiled a great social media catalogue for City Council, Public School Board, and Catholic School District candidates.
The Edmontonian and The Unknown Studio will most certainly be providing informed, entertaining, and unique coverage of the election. EdmontonPolitics.com will have some commentary and Mastermaq is the man about town and the king of data. Edmonton’s alternative news Vue Weekly also has their very own special elections webpage.
The mainstream media has also set up special websites dedicated to election information. Check out CTV Edmonton, the Edmonton Journal, and the Edmonton Sun. Also make sure to check out the new Edmonton Commons blog hosted by Edmonton Journal columnists Paula Simons and David Staples.
As I delve through the links, websites, platforms, and news I will publish profiles of some of the contests and issues over the next few weeks. If you are following any of the contests or candidates on the ground, or just have some information you want to share, please comment or send me an email at daveberta.ca@gmail.com.
It was Christmas morning for political watchers this morning as candidates poured into City Hall to file their nomination papers. I have been to a lot of different political events in my time, but nothing has so far matched the euphoria of Nomination Day at City Hall.
Starting at 9am, bright eyed and well-intentioned candidates began to line up to submit their papers. As they moved down the line, candidates were peppered with questions and camera flashes by the media. For most candidates running in this election, this will be the closest they get to walking the red carpet.
After filing their nomination papers, candidates were scrummed and pressed by the media about who they were, where they were running, and what their positions were on pressing issues. Most of the media questions had to do with the decision to redevelop the City Centre Airport lands, but candidates also brought up their pet issues. Some candidates, like Councillor Jane Batty, came and left quickly. Others, like Ward 11 candidate Kerry Diotte, lingered to get as much media coverage as possible. Different styles for different candidates I suppose.
I was able to live-tweet this morning and you can see those tweets at @davecournoyer and others at #yegvote.
You might think that 30 days is a short time to reasonably campaign for election, and you would be right, but there were many candidates who came out of the woodwork to launch their campaign today. Most candidates came prepared and some, like Ward 11 candidate Vishal Luthra, came with campaign t-shirt toting entourages.
One unfortunate Mayoral aspirant, Cheryl Ullah, came with her nomination papers signed, but forgot to bring her $500 deposit with her. In a bizarre scene, she started collecting donations from reporters and other candidates only 10 minutes before the nomination deadline. Although she was able to raise $90 in about 8 minutes (with a generous $60 donation from Ward A Public School Board Trustee Cheryl Johner), she was unable to make up the extra $410 and dropped out of the race. Don Koziak has now lost the record for shortest Mayoral candidacy.
Luckily for Edmontonians, Mayor Stephen Mandel and challengers Daryl Bonar, David Dorward, Dave Dowling, Dan Dromarsky, Bob Ligertwood, and Andrew Lineker remembered their $500 deposits.
Out of 114 candidates who submitted their nomination papers today, only two were acclaimed. Incumbent Public School Board Trustees Dave Colburn (Ward D) and Catherine Ripley (Ward H) will not face any challengers on October 18. There had been rumours that some City Councillors may also be acclaimed, but in the end a few last-minute candidates filed papers to run against Councillor Don Iveson (Ward 10) and Councillor Karen Leibovici (Ward 5).
There are new candidates and competitive races across the City, but there are three City Council Wards that at this point stick out in my mind as the hot races to watch. Curiously, they are in Wards with prime numbers.
In the incumbentless Ward 3, Former Liberal candidate Kim Cassady filed his papers to run for City Council in Ward 3, taking on challengers Dave Loken and Terry Demers. This is Mr. Loken’s third time running for City Council and Ms. Demers second. As retiring Councillor Ron Hayter‘s Executive Assistant, Ms. Demers will have a special insight into the issues in this Ward. New entries into the Ward 3 contest are Shawn Philip Fairbridge, Hatem Naboulsi, John Oplanich, Greg Siver, Louis Sobolewski, and Michael Suess.
In Ward 7, former Edmonton Journal columnist Scott McKeen put his name forward last week to run against Councillor Tony Caterina. Challenger Brendan Van Alstine has been pounding the pavement for over a year to unseat Councillor Caterina, so Mr. McKeen’s entry had added some extreme unpredictability to the race in this north east central Ward. Other candidates entering the contest in Ward 7 today are Terry Rolls and Grant David Pullishy.
In south east central Edmonton, the vacant Ward 11 has drawn four main challengers in Community League organizer Shane Bergdahl, many-time candidate Chinwe Okelu, former Edmonton Sun columnist Mr. Diotte, and the well-organized Mr. Luthra. There has been an intense sign and door-knocking war happening in this Ward since earlier this year, which leads me to believe that it could be any one’s race. New candidates entering the race this morning are Roberto Maglalang and Brent Schaffrick
It also appears that some of the most competitive contests in this year’s election might be at the School Board level. In south central Ward F, long-time Public School Board Trustee Don Fleming is not seeking re-election, leaving a three-way race between Michael Janz, Bev Sawyer, and Joanna Rozmus. In Ward G, incumbent Trustee George Rice is facing some serious competition from Sarah Hoffman.
Attending Nomination Day at City Hall was an interesting and worthwhile experience. At no other time during the next 30 days are all of the candidates going to be in the same room at the same time. This morning have me the opportunity to put the names (and websites, Facebook groups, and twitter accounts) to the faces and actually talk with some of the candidates. I hope that all the readers of this blog take the time to read up and try to meet with the candidates standing for election in your area. As the campaign begins in full (and the full list of candidates are released this afternoon), I will be taking a closer look at each Ward contest, the Mayoral election, and the races at the School Board level.
UPDATE: The full list of candidates has been released (h/t to TheEdmontonian.com)
Edmonton Mill Woods Liberals
The Liberal Party will nominate its first candidate for the next election on October 2 in Edmonton-Mill Woods. According to an email from constituency President Paula Stein last week, former MLA Weslyn Mather is the only candidate to have declared their intention to seek the nomination. The Liberals held Mill Woods under MLA Don Massey from 1993 to 2004 and under Mrs. Mather from 2004 until 2008, when she was defeated by PC candidate Carl Benito. Since becoming MLA, Mr. Benito has become the centre of controversy after he reneged on his election promise to donate his entire salary to a scholarship fund. The Liberals have placed Mill Woods in their key target constituencies in the next election and recently flooded the constituency with volunteers to remind voters of Mr. Benito’s promise.
Tory staffers migrate to more conservative pastures
The Wildrose Alliance will claim that they are a lot different than the Progressive Conservatives, but a quick glance at their caucus staff list reveals that a number of former PC caucus staffers are now employed by the tiny insurgent conservative caucus. Brock Harrison worked in the research and communications branch of the PC caucus until he recently joined the Wildrose caucus as their Communications Co-ordinator. Wildrose Legislative Assistant Jeffrey Trynchy was previously employed as a Legislative Assistant in the PC caucus. Shannon Stubbs, Staff Coordinator for the Wildrose Alliance Caucus is the former VP Organization of the PC Party and was a candidate in 2004.
Alberta Health Act
Is it simply legislative housekeeping or an agenda to increase the role of privatized medicare in Alberta? Edmonton-Rutherford PC MLA Fred Horne‘s travelling committee released a report last week that declared the need to ‘putting people first.’ Instead of including the mixed reviews that were voiced at the public consultation meetings, Mr. Horne’s report focuses on motherhood and apple pie. There are some good points in the report, but it is clear that this report is an exercise in the Tories reporting what they wanted to hear.
Trust me. Really.
NDP leader Brian Mason is setting off on a mission to Earn Your Trust in a fall province-wide tour where he will make a series of policy announcements on fiscal responsibility, the economy, and health care.
Read more in the Alberta Politics Notes archive.
As I blogged yesterday, Edmonton’s City Clerk Alayne Sinclair has found the petition opposing the redevelopment of the City Centre Airport lands to be invalid. According to the City Clerk, the petition spearheaded by the Envision Edmonton lobby group did not have the required number of valid signatures required to trigger a plebiscite. Under the Municipal Government Act, the petition would have also needed to have been submitted within 60 days of the original decision to be considered valid. City Councillors voted in June 2009 for the phased closure of the City Centre Airport. Councillors re-affirmed their decision yesterday when they voted 10-3 not to include a ballot question in the October 18, 2010 elections.
Not enough valid signatures
According to the City Clerk’s office, the petition would need to have 78,244 valid signatures in order to force a plebiscite on the issue. After Envision Edmonton submitted their petition on August 27, the City Clerk ruled that only 73,657 of the signatures on the petition were valid.
Envision Edmonton’s reaction
Following the City Clerk’s announcement, Envision Edmonton Chairman Charles Allard accused the city of trying to “weasel” out of holding a plebiscite. Mr. Allard’s accusation is disappointing and reeks of the kind of entitlement that many of the City Centre Airport’s supporters do not deserve to be associated with.
Envision Edmonton should be commended for having collected the number of signatures that they did, as it is no easy task to collect that many. At the same time, they owed it to their supporters to have fully understood and accepted the laws that outline the process when they began collecting signatures.
A large unanswered question is what Envision Edmonton will do with the money that they raised and advertising space they have purchased in the expectation that their petition would trigger a plebiscite? Will the lobby group accept that their petition was not valid under provincial law or will it shift its deep pockets and resources to support challengers to the Mayor and Councillors who support redeveloping the City Centre Airport lands? With nomination day approaching soon (Monday, September 20), the Mayor and many incumbent Councillors are facing minimal opposition and some less than credible candidates.
City Council
“You have to meet certain standards and those standards were not met” Mayor Stephen Mandel.
Following a long debate yesterday afternoon, Councillors voted 10-3 to not allow an exception to the rules and leave the City Centre Airport question off the ballot. This was the same number of Councillors who voted for and against the phased closure of the City Centre Airport in June 2009. Councillors like Don Iveson did not shy away from their decision to both support the phased closure in 2009 and oppose the ballot question in 2010.
I’ll stand for re-election on a record of decisions I’ve made, including and especially #ecca closure. #yegcc #yegvote – Councillor Don Iveson on Twitter
While I am continually confused why Councillors Tony Caterina and Ron Hayter are opposing the closure, I can respect the position that Councillor Linda Sloan has taken in support of continued medevac flights into the City’s core. While it may be a bit of a red herring, it is a legitimate concern. Councillor Kim Krushell told the Edmonton Journal that Alberta Health Services will not move their medevac services until a suitable establishment has been constructed at the Edmonton International Airport.
Mayoral effects
The lack of a City Centre Airport related plebiscite question on the ballot could spell a short end for some Mayoral challengers. Candidate David Dorward, who is suspected to have Envision Edmonton’s support, announced his campaign earlier this week. If Envision Edmonton is to pour their funds into a candidate’s war-chest, it will likely be Mr. Dorward’s.
Second-time Mayoral candidate Don Koziak based a large part of his campaign on opposing the redevelopment of the airport. Mr. Koziak is scheduled to hold a press conference today at 11:00am. It is obvious that he will discuss today’s news about the invalid petition and there are also rumours that he may drop out of the Mayoral race to seek a seat on City Council. Update: Mr. Koziak has dropped out the Mayoral race to challenge Councillor Krushell in Ward 2. This will be Mr. Koziak’s fifth attempt at running for City Council (he ran unsuccessfully for Council in 1995, 1998, and 2004, and for Mayor in 2007).
Provincial interference?
After meeting with Mr. Allard on September 7, Premier Ed Stelmach said that he supported the lobby group’s recommendation that the Health Quality Council should review the possible impact on medevac services before the Airport was closed. The Provincial Government may not have any official ability to prevent the closure and Premier Stelmach has been careful not to interfere too overtly in municipal affairs since entering the Office in 2006.
Only one PC MLA, Doug Elniski, whose Edmonton-Calder constituency includes the airport lands, has been vocal in support of Envision Edmonton’s petition. Edmonton-Gold Bar Liberal MLA Hugh MacDonald and Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood NDP MLA Brian Mason have expressed support for the petition, as has the Wildrose Alliance caucus.
What’s next?
The drive to force a plebiscite opposing the City Centre Airport redevelopment was essentially the Envision Edmonton lobby group last ditch effort at using a democratic mechanism to stop the closure. While there will be not ballot question on October 18, the lobby group could very likely throw their support and endorsement behind some of the aforementioned candidates for Mayor and Council. Strategy wise, it really appears that the lobby group was unprepared for their petition to be ruled invalid. These time constraints will limit their choices of legitimate candidates if they decide to support and endorse candidates of their choosing.
On August 27, I wrote that I was looking forward to sharing why I support the redevelopment of the City Centre Airport lands and why I believe our City will benefit from this redevelopment. While yesterday’s decision will allow me to focus less on the specifics of the City Centre Airport lands, I am still looking forward to writing about the challenges and opportunities for redevelopment and new ideas in our City’s urban core. There are a broad range of issues that are going to play a defining role in shaping our City and communities in the next decades. Without a single ballot issue dominating the headlines, there will be a lot of room for Edmontonians to have a serious debate about how our City will grow – schools, public transit, infrastructure, crime, economy, and urban sprawl – let us have an election that focuses on these real quality of life issues.
According to Edmonton’s City Clerk, the petition opposing the redevelopment of the City Centre Airport lands is invalid under provincial legislation.
A fifth candidate has joined Edmonton’s sleepy Mayoral contest. David Dorward, a chartered accountant and driver behind the GO Community Centre in south Edmonton announced his candidacy yesterday. Mr. Dorward’s speaking notes were vacant of policy positions or what he actually wants to accomplish if elected Mayor. The only issue he appears to have a position on is his support of the Envision Edmonton petition to stop the redevelopment of the City Centre Airport lands.
Mr. Dorward’s supporters include Cal Nichols, the Chairman of the Alberta Enterprise Group and pro-airport advocate. His media release lists Paul Edwards-Shand as his media contact. Mr. Edwards-Shand is the former assistant to former Conservative Edmonton-Strathcona MP Rahim Jaffer.
In 2008, Mr. Dorward ran as the PC candidate in Edmonton-Gold Bar, placing over 1,000 votes behind Liberal MLA Hugh MacDonald.
Incumbent Mayor Stephen Mandel is also being challenged by declared candidates Daryl Bonar, Don Koziak, and Daniel Dromarsky.
Mr. Bonar was the first candidate to launch his Mayoral challenge and recently held a joint-media conference with Ward 6 Councillor candidate Cris Basualdo and Ward 8 candidate Lori Jeffery-Heaney announcing their intentions to “fight back” against City Hall. Mr. Koziak, a hotelier and second time Mayoral candidate, launched his campaign by taking a bizarre stand against LRT expansion and for more freeway construction. Both candidates also oppose the redevelopment of the City Centre Airport lands.
Six years ago, Mayor Mandel’s election was considered a breath of fresh air after nine stodgy years under cheerleader Mayor Bill Smith. For all his faults, I believe that Mayor Mandel has done a decent job over the past six years.
With only a month until Election Day, it is difficult to imagine any of these candidates mounting a serious challenge against Mayor Mandel. As the election period official begins on September 20, I hope that these candidates will at least take the time to expand on their vision for our City beyond the single-issue of the City Centre Airport.
Like many political watchers, I have been fascinated by this year’s mid-term elections in the United States. Four years ago during the last mid-term elections, I was enrolled in Professor Greg Anderson‘s American Politics course at the University of Alberta. As the course took place during the mid-term election year, our term project was to follow and write a report on one of the election races and the contest that I covered was the Missouri Senate race. The contest saw Democrat Claire McCaskill unseat Republican Senator Jim Talent in a year that saw a general swing against the Republicans towards the Democrats. In Missouri, McCaskill was given a boost when actor and stem-cell research advocate Michael J. Fox endorsed her campaign (and then was lambasted by conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh – a move which obviously backfired on Mr. Limbaugh).
Four year’s later, it appears that the Republicans have an edge in these mid-term elections. While I have not paid as much attention to the contests as I did four years ago, one race that caught my eye is the California Gubernatorial election. In the race to replace outgoing Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a clever spoof campaign has emerged in reaction to billionaire Republican candidate Meg Whitman. After spending over $80 million of her own money on her campaign for the Republican nomination, the former eBay CEO turned her attention to the California Nurses Association. After the CNA endorsed Democratic rival Jerry Brown, the Republican candidate launched a campaign to undermine the Union through phone calls and mailers attacking the union’s leadership. What was the union’s responses to Ms. Whitman? “Queen Meg.”
It is pretty clever when you think that at its most basic, all this type of campaign requires is an actor, a videographer, a good sense of humour, and a YouTube account. The campaign has also avoided an expensive design costs by having their URL point to a Facebook Page, rather than a website.
Of course, it is yet to be seen whether the “Queen Meg” campaign will lead to Ms. Whitman’s defeat. The latest CNN poll had Ms. Whitman at 48% to Mr. Brown’s 46% (with a 3.5% margin of error). Regardless of the election results, it has certainly been an entertaining piece of online political theatre.
– Residents of Sherwood Park are rightfully angry to discover that their long-promised hospital is not actually a hospital. Councillor Jason Gariepy had his computer access and blackberry service cut off after he sent an email criticizing a Strathcona County media release. The release quoted Strathcona County Mayor Cathy Olesen praising the County’s two PC MLAs Minister Iris Evans and Dave Quest. Councillor Linda Osinchuk, who is challenging Mayor Olesen, is less pleased.
– In a 2004 interview with the Edmonton Journal, Minister Evans listed bringing “a 24-hour emergency medical care facility to Sherwood Park” as the first of her top three priorities. Since that time, she has served as Minister of Health and Minister of Finance.
– Alberta Health Services has re-announced the opening of 132 beds in Calgary this week. The beds were originally announced on June 25, 2010.
– Premier Ed Stelmach joined Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall, Quebec Premier Jean Charest, and federal Environment Minister Jim Prentice for dinner with US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi this week. The Pembina Institute‘s Marlo Reynolds met with Speaker Pelosi the next day.
– It is official. The Fall Sitting of the Alberta Legislature will begin on October 25.
– Canadian Rockies Public School Trustee Esmé Comfort has written an excellent letter in the Rocky Mountain Outlook about why school trustee work is important for community. The Public School Boards Association of Alberta has also published an excellent letter about the importance of trusteeship and the democratic process.
– NDP MLA Rachel Notley believes that public school fees would be less if the government stopped funding private schools.
– The Wildrose Alliance has released their Education policy.
– An MLA committee conference call caught some comments by Calgary-Buffalo Liberal MLA and Mayoral candidate Kent Hehr about fellow Mayoral candidate Barb Higgins.
– Earlier this week, Mr. Higgins’ campaign manager Donn Lovett shoved Naheed Nenshi supporter Stephen Carter at a campaign event. Mr. Lovett apologized after word of the altercation spread on Twitter.
– Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel launched his website, Twitter, and Facebook campaign.
– Rod Love is now lobbying on License Plate Branding.
– Elections Alberta is currently recruiting Returning Officers and Elections Clerks in seven constituencies for the next provincial election.
Read more in the Alberta Politics Notes archive.
This email landed in my email inbox today. The Wildrose Alliance has nominated eight candidates for the next election (only 79 candidates away from a full-slate). As far as I am aware, the only other party to have nominated a candidate for the next election is the NDP, who have nominated Deron Bilous in Edmonton-Beverly-Clareview.
The Wildrose Alliance Party is pleased to announce the following candidates:
• MLA Rob Anderson in Airdrie
• MLA Heather Forsyth in Calgary – Fish Creek
• MLA Paul Hinman in Calgary – Glenmore• John Carpay in Calgary – Lougheed.
John practices law in Calgary. He is the former Executive Director of the Canadian Constitution Foundation and the former Alberta Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.• Harpreet Nijjar in Calgary – Northern Hills.
Harpreet, a graduate of the University of Calgary, is an award winning young entrepreneur who runs an insurance brokerage.• Shayne Saskiw in Lac La Biche – St. Paul – Two Hills.
Shayne, a graduate of the U of A, practices law in north eastern Alberta and was a former VP Policy for the Alberta PCs.• Milvia Bauman in Medicine Hat.
Milvia is an entrepreneur and community leader in Medicine Hat. She is currently the Chair of the Medicine Hat Chamber of Commerce and Medicine Hat Safe Community Association.• Danny Hozack in Vermillion – Lloydminster.
Danny farms in Streamstown Alberta. He is a long time conservative activist and has served on the boards of the Alberta Beef Producers, the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, and Marwayne Minor Hockey.
