The political path has been cleared for Elizabeth May to participate in the televised leaders debates after first NDP Leader Jack Layton and minutes later Conservative Leader Stephen Harper withdrew threats to boycott.
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hell hath frozen over.
A contested NDP nomination in Red Deer is not something that I imagined would happen during this election (or during my lifetime for that matter…). Farmer and Teacher Stuart Sommerville will be duking it out against recent Red Deer Mayoral candidate Matt Chapin (who was 21-years old when he faced off against Mayor Morris Flewwelling in the October 2007 election) for the September 14 nomination meeting.
The nominated candidate will face off against first-time Conservative candidate Earl Dreeshen and Liberal Garfield Marks in the riding vacated by longtime Conservative MP Bob Mills.
The list of nominated federal election candidates in Alberta will be updated as more candidates are nominated.
Former Prime Minister Joe Clark has waded into the debate and is asking some pretty tough questions about why Green Party leader Elizabeth May is being left out of the televised Leaders’ Debate.
Clark also made a point that I can imagine a lot of Canadians would agree on (this Canadian included):
The tone of federal politics today is the worst I can remember in my 50 years in public life. Of course, there were angry partisan differences before, but they were tumultuous exceptions to a general rule of common public purpose, even civility. By contrast, the standard today has become consistently bitter and negative – personal invective routinely displaces any serious discussion of issues or differences.
This low standard helps corrode respect for the democratic institutions in which this mean drama plays out. It comes at a bad time, because there has been a general decline in the reputation of politicians, parties, legislatures and other institutions. Cynicism grows. Candidates are hard to attract. Citizens turn away from politics – especially young people, who see nothing to attract or inspire them. That constitutes a long-term threat to the authority of the pan-Canadian political institutions that have always been essential for citizens of this diverse democracy to act positively together.
And here I was thinking there would be nothing to blog about on the second day of the election campaign…
– Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach sheepishly waded in to the Federal Election campaign yesterday, officially marking the passing of the torch to Canada’s new provincial maverick: Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams. Williams and 43 of his 44 Conservative MHAs have signed on to defeat Stephen Harper’s Conserative candidates in Newfoundland, a caucus loyalty somewhat reminicent of that held by former Alberta Premier Peter Lougheed.
– Speaking of Newfoundlanders, NDP leader Jack Layton landed in New-Newfoundland (aka: Fort McMurray) the North West Territories and took his message to Alberta’s Tar Sands this week, citing the Harper Cabinet’s decision to overturn a court ruling blocking Imperial Oil’s Kearl Lake development. The development of Kearl Lake only increases the devastating problems created by current oil sands extraction techniques and the resulting tailing ponds left behind.
– On an fairly embarrassing note, Stephen Harper apologized today for a Conservative Party negative ad that showed an Atlantic Puffin pooping on Liberal leader Stéphane Dion‘s shoulder. Yes, contrary to the evidence before you, these are the grown men who want to govern our country.
– Shifting mediums from television to the internet, the Liberals have launched Scandalpedia — an online wiki of Conservative scandals (I was excited to first read out about this on the DailyKos). The Conservatives hit back with Dionbook, which takes aim at Dion as well as media and bloggers who have been critical of Harper’s government.
Two candidates have stepped forward to replace Medicine Hat Conservative MP Monte Solberg. Riding association President LaVar Payne and businessman Dean Shock have both declared their intentions to contest the nomination. Former Medicine Hat Alderman Darren Hirsch and current Alderman Jeremy Thompson are said to be interested in the nomination, but have not yet declared their intentions. The Conservative nomination meeting will be held on September 13.
Solberg was first elected as Medicine Hat’s MP while carrying the Reform Party flag in the 1993 Federal Election and most recently served as Minister of Human Resources and Social Development. In 2006, Solberg was re-elected with 79.7% of the popular vote.
The nominated Conservative candidate will face Liberal Beverly Botter and New Democrat Wally Regeher.
The ruling group of media outlets will not allow Green Party of Canada leader Elizabeth May to join the 2008 televised Leaders Debate because of opposition from Stephen Harper and Jack Layton. Both Harper and Layton have apparently threatened not to participate in the debate if May was allowed to debate. The Conservative and NDP leaders appear to have an issue with May’s support of Stéphane Dion‘s positions on environmental issues.
The idea that two political leaders would cut out a debate because one political leader agrees with another highlights a major flaw in the mentality of Canada’s partisan political system. As admitting that someone else may have a better idea than you is a reality that millions of real Canadians have to come to grips with on a daily basis, perhaps our political leadership should not act so infallible.
Also, at what point in time did Canadians grant private media outlets (with the exception of the CBC, being public) control over deciding which political leaders voters would have access to in a nationally televised debate?
UPDATE: Jason Morris at Gauntlet.ca is blogging in green to protest the media consortium’s decision.
Just in time for a Federal Election, Craig Chandler has decided that it was a good time to set sail for Ontario by blazing his way into Conservative MP Helena Guergis‘ riding of Simcoe-Grey to do some anti-Mayoral campaigning in the Town of Collingwood (something that I can only imagine Guergis is ecstatic about — read: sarcasm).
A right-wing talk radio host and Executive Director of the Calgary-based Progressive Group for Independent Business, Chandler fell into the national spotlight a year ago when he was dumped as the Conservative candidate in Calgary-Egmont after writing a controversial rant against new Albertans on an online webboard and getting into trouble with the Alberta Human Rights Commission. Known for his less than mainstream views, Chandler has previously run for the Reform Party in Hamilton-Mountain in 1993 and for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 2003.
Now in Ontario, Chandler and PGIB affiliate David Crutcher are running a media smear campaign and mass phone attack against Collingwood Mayor Chris Carrier. According to the Collingwood Enterprise-Bulletin, PGIB has accused Carrier of being “anti-business” following the Town’s decision to fine two companies who were dumping more waste into the local sewage system than local bylaws permitted. One of the two companies, Collingwood Ethanol, is connected to Chandler’s father, Bruce Chandler. Ontario’s Ministry of Environment has also laid 17 charges against the company.
PGIBs accusations against Mayor Carrier have confused Collingwood blogger and businessman Rick Crouch, who offered these comments:
“You must ask yourself, is it realistic or sensible for any of us to believe that a Mayor or any politician for that matter would have an “anti-business” mandate. Hardly and that’s where the hilarity in PGIB’s accusations begin and end.”
Radio Free Collingwood has also been following the story and offers a couple of posts detailing PGIBs activities in the Ontario town.
Though I’m not sure what effect, if any, Chandler’s campaign could have on the Conservative campaign in the Simcoe region, I’m sure that even the thought Chandler being within 100 kilometers of battleground Ontario could make even the most seasoned Conservative veteran organizer a bit nervous.
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canadians go to the polls…
…and after weeks of exciting televised conventions, I’m really looking forward to voting for Barack Obama and change I can believe in… oh, wait…
Damn.
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rich tories, poor liberals, ndp.
Elections Alberta financial statements from the March 3, 2008 election campaign now show that Ed Stelmach‘s Progressive Conseravtives spent a record $3 million to sustain their 37-year old majority in the Alberta Legislature (with $1.7 million sitting in their coffers).
The four opposition parties raised and spent much less than the Tories. During the campaign period the Alberta Liberals netted $440,000 in contributions and spent $650,000, the New Democrats netted $465,000 in contributions and spent $816,000, the Wild Rose Alliance netted $513,000 in contributions and spent $464,000, and the Alberta Greens netted $27,000 in contributions and spent $50,000. The 2008 campaign left both the Liberals and NDP in some pretty deep financial debt.
Though I knew it was coming, I was sad to read that my former boss, Kieran Leblanc, will be let go by the Alberta Liberals due to lack of funds. A former public education advocate, Leblanc jumped into politics before the 2001 provincial election when she sought the Edmonton-Mill Creek Liberal nomination against Bharat Agnihotri. She later joined the Liberal central campaign and became Executive Director in 2001 and saw the Liberal Party through the 2004 and 2008 election campaigns. Leblanc, who Calgary Herald columnist Don Braid described as an “excellent executive director“ was a great boss and has been a great friend to me over the years. She is a passionate fighter and the Liberals will feel her loss.
The loss of Leblanc will leave the Alberta Liberals with a skeleton staff of two in the party office. With an election loss fresh in their minds and a leadership race underway, candidates Mo Eslalhy, David Swann, and Dave Taylor are going to have to figure out how to raise a lot of money to fix this sinking ship if they are serious about challenging the current Tory dynasty in the next election.
“…as much culture as a bowl of yogurt.”
That is how Federal Liberal leader Stéphane Dion described the amount of culture in Stephen Harper‘s Conservative Party following recent cuts to arts and culture funding. Dion was pre-campaigning in Edmonton yesterday and made an afternoon stop at the University of Alberta. This being Alberta, I was surprised to be packed in a 250 person lecture theatre filled with Albertans wanting to catch a glimpse of a Federal Liberal (with over 200 people listening from outside). Dion gave a short and quick stump speech which focused generally on the Green Shift, which is what I expect his upcoming campaign speeches to resemble — short and green.
The hour-long question and answer period was worth attending and included a wide-range of questions including an student affordability question from U of A Students’ Union Vice-President (External) Beverly Eastham, to which Dion replied that students would be very pleased when the Liberal’s released their Post-Secondary Education policy during the campaign (we shall see…). Other questions covered a broad-range of issues including Darfur, Afghanistan, climate change, affordable housing, free trade, culture funding, and education.
I found Dion’s response to a question about the Athabasca/Fort McMurray oil sands a little confusing, as I believe that he suggested that the oil sands could become sustainable. I’m not a scientist, but I’m fairly sure that a heavily exploited non-renewable natural resource does not easily fall into the “sustainable” category (but Dion did promise lots of research funding for the University of Alberta to make it so…).
On a final note, I very much enjoyed the two of militant young Campus Conservatives who were handing out anti-carbon tax sheets outside the event and donning their yellow anti-Dion t-shirts (they almost fit in with the Greenpeace Stop the Tarsands campaigners, who were there in force).
A friendly reader close to the Alberta NDP passed along these upcoming nomination candidates in Alberta. The nominations will most likely be held between next Tuesday and Sunday.
Edmonton Sherwood Park – Provincial Sheriff and recent provincial Edmonton-Castle Downs candidate Ali Haymour.
Peace River – Alternative Energy/Anti-Nuclear Activist and recent provincial Peace River candidate Adele Boucher Ryhms.
Red Deer – Farmer and Teacher Stuart Sommerville is running for the nomination to replace former candidate Kelly Bickford.
Westlock-St Paul – Catholic School system curriculum coordinator Jason Porteous.
The list of nominated federal election candidates in Alberta will be updated as these candidates are nominated next week.
Categories
a new way forward?
Alberta Liberal leadership candidate Dave Taylor announced an addition to his campaign team yesterday with the appointment of former Mount Royal College Students’ Association President Jonathan MacPherson as Assistant Deputy Campaign Manager for Calgary. In his media release, Taylor described MacPherson as “an excellent spokesperson for a number of pressing issues.”
In March 2007, MacPherson was less of an excellent spokesperson for his organization when he created and became the centre of a public scandal at his college:
Current Mount Royal Students’ Association president Jon MacPherson, who was re-elected to a second term Sat., March 7, was punished by the MRC students’ council for sending an email to U of C SU president Emily Wyatt defaming his competitor, current vice-president student life Tami Rothery.
MacPherson ended up winning the election over Rothery–his only other competitor–by 428 votes. As part of his punishment, he is required to write letters of apology to both Wyatt and U of C VP external Julie Labonte.
Wyatt said she was surprised to receive an email from MacPherson asking her to support his election campaign. She responded to the email by telling MacPherson she had to remain neutral and forwarded the email to Labonte. Somehow the email got into the hands of an MRC VP who brought it to the attention of council. Then the Calgary Herald also reported on the story.
MacPherson will also lose his spot on the MRC board of governors as well as any remaining vacation time. He cannot hold leadership positions on any external lobby groups and is required to pay a $1,000 fine to the students’ association.
No word if MacPherson will be given access to a campaign email address.
During the Spring sitting of the Alberta Legislature, MLA Rachel Notley gave an interesting statement in support of Dave Taylor‘s amendment to Bill 7, which would oppose the introduction of the phrase “for the economic prosperity of Alberta” into Alberta’s Post-Secondary Learning Act.
MS. NOTLEY: We acknowledge that within the system of post secondary education delivery is a process which relies on partnerships. It relies on partnerships historically between students, between education providers, between the community as a whole, between, in my view, business — and when I say business, I include the labour movement in that, you know, the economy as a whole — and then, of course, as I say, our community. So there is a balance that needs to be struck in the delivery of our post secondary education system and the education within the province.
My concern is that the amendment that’s being proposed here in essence unstrikes the balance and that it rather puts in place a priority system. The first priority is, in fact, the economic interests of the province and the economic prosperity — as defined by who I’m not exactly sure, but nonetheless the economic prosperity — of the province. I have to say that I think if you were to look historically at all of the most venerable post secondary education institutions in the world, they did not premise their reputation or their service on how well they were able to contribute ultimately to the economic prosperity of the given government of a given day. Rather, they were more focused on providing a true academic opportunity and education outside of the day-to-day influences that might be brought to bear by any particular political government of the day.
A big concern that we have relates to what the impact of this change would have on research and research initiatives in the future. Sponsored research is a type of research that occurs within the post-secondary institution that, frankly, we have some very significant concerns with. Sponsored research fundamentally compromises academic integrity in a number of cases. It can result in a skewing of the research choices, the topic choices, and the outcomes that are widely reported with respect to the research that is undertaken. […]
We know that the roles and mandate framework actually identifies as an objective the goal of making Alberta have the highest level of sponsored research in the country. I would suggest that that is a direction that we should not pursue and that we should change direction. I am all for, you know, considered economic development and integration in certain cases with respect to the post secondary education system where it works. I have concerns about a legislated direction that economic prosperity be the priority consideration for boards of post secondary institutions when they are considering how and where to allocate their resources.
Just think how much of an international powerhouse Alberta could be if we looked beyond the oil rigs and tar sands? With $2 billion being spent on harebrained short-term solutions like carbon capture and sequestration, Albertans could get a better bang for their buck if we jumped ahead of the curve on other new innovative long-term solutions and technologies…
Dutch venture plans cheap, powerful electric cars
VIJAY JOSHI, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SHAH ALAM, Malaysia – A Dutch-based company announced plans Tuesday to produce affordable electric cars by the end of 2009, promising they will be much more powerful than existing models and have zero emissions.