daveberta.ca – Alberta Politics and Elections

2008 Alberta Provincial Election Alberta Politics

2008 alberta provincial election candidates.

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date June 15, 2007
No Comments on 2008 alberta provincial election candidates.

Here is a list of nominated provincial party candidates nominated to run in the 2008 Alberta general election on March 3, 2008.

I will try to keep this list as updated as possible as candidate nominations occur, but if you have knowledge of candidates that should be added (or that I’ve missed) feel free to post in the comment section below or email me at daveberta.ca@gmail.com.

This list was last updated at 3:32 P.M. on February 22, 2008.

2008 Alberta Provincial General Election Candidates (Margins of victory from previous election or by-election in brackets)

AIRDRIE-CHESTERMERE (PC 5209)
Alberta Liberal – John Burke
Green – David Brandreth
ND – Brian Young
PC- Rob Anderson
Wildrose Alliance – Jeff Willerton

ATHABASCA-REDWATER (PC 2452)
Alberta Liberal – Bill Bonko
Green – Phyllis Penchuk
ND – Peter Opryshko
PC – Jeff Johnson
Wildrose Alliance – Mike Radojcic

BANFF-COCHRANE (PC 2590)
Alberta Liberal – Patricia Robertson
Green – Dan Cunin
Independent – Zrinko R. Amerl
ND – Anne Wilson
PC – Janis Tarchuk*

BARRHEAD-MORINVILLE-WESTLOCK (PC 4756)
Alberta Liberal – Leslie Penny
Green – Dan Evans
ND – Rod Olstad
PC – Ken Kowalski*
SC – Carl Haugen

BATTLE RIVER-WAINWRIGHT (PC 4964)
Alberta Liberal – Horst Schreiber
Green – Will Munsey
ND – Doris Bannister
PC – Doug Griffiths*

BONNYVILLE-COLD LAKE (PC 2648)
Alberta Liberal – Justin Yassoub
Green – Jennifer Brown
ND – Jason Sloychuk
PC – Eugenia Leskiw

CALGARY-BOW (PC 2585)
Alberta Liberal – Greg Flanagan
Green – Randy Weeks
ND – Teale Phelps-Bondaroff
PC – Alana DeLong*
Social Credit – Len Skowronski
Wildrose Alliance – Barry Holizki

CALGARY-BUFFALO (PC 550)
Alberta Liberal – Kent Hehr
Green – Steven Rickets
ND – Robert Lawrence
PC – Sean Chu
SC – Antoni Grochowski

CALGARY-CROSS (PC 2317)
Alberta Liberal – Rob Reinhold
Green – Susan Stratton
ND – Shelina Hassanali
PC – Yvonne Fritz*
Wildrose Alliance – Gordon Huth

CALGARY-CURRIE (ALP 634)
Alberta Liberal – Dave Taylor*
Green – Kim Warnke
ND – Marc Power
PC – Arthur Kent
Wildrose Alliance – Ken Mazeroll

CALGARY-EAST (PC 2127)
Alberta Liberal – Bill Harvey
Communist – Bonnie Collins
Green – Ross Cameron

ND – Chris Dovey
PC – Moe Amery*
Wildrose Alliance – Mike McCraken

CALGARY-EGMONT (PC 3315)
Alberta Liberal – Cathie Williams
Green – Mark McGillvray
Independent – Craig Chandler
ND – Jason Nishiyama
PC – Jonathan Denis
Wildrose Alliance – Barry Chase

CALGARY-ELBOW (ALP 784)
Alberta Liberal – Craig Cheffins*
Green – Jonathon Sheffield
Independent – Barry Erskine
ND – Garnet Wilcox
PC – Alison Redford
SC – Trevor Grover
Wildrose Alliance – Dale Nelson

CALGARY-FISH CREEK (PC 3984)
Alberta Liberal – Laura Shutiak
Green – Kerry Tynan Fraser
ND – Eric Leavitt
PC – Heather Forsyth*
Wildrose Alliance – Jamie Buchan

CALGARY-FOOTHILLS (PC 2258)
Alberta Liberal – Michael Robinson
Green – Ian Groll
ND – Stephanie Sundburg
PC – Len Webber*
Wildrose Alliance – Kevin Legare

CALGARY-FORT (PC 2351)
Alberta Liberal – Carole Oliver
Green – Mark Taylor
ND – Julie Hrdlicka
PC – Wayne Cao*
Wildrose Alliance – Travis Chase

CALGARY-GLENMORE (PC 1899)
Alberta Liberal – Avalon Roberts
Green – Jared McCollum
Independent: David Crutcher
ND – Holly Heffernan
PC – Ron Stevens*
Wildrose Alliance – Arden Bonokoski

CALGARY-HAYS (PC 3597)
Alberta Liberal – Bill Kutze
Green – Keeley Bruce
ND – Tyler Kinch
PC – Art Johnson*
Wildrose Alliance – Devin Cassidy

CALGARY-LOUGHEED (PC 3364)
Alberta Liberal – Lori Czerwinski
Green – Bernie Amell
Independent – Keith Laurie
ND – Clint Marko
PC – Dave Rodney*
Wildrose Alliance – Derrek Jacobson

CALGARY-MACKAY (PC 2958)
Alberta Liberal – Tianna Melnyk
Green – Ryan Smith
ND – Daena Diduck
PC – Teresa Woo-Paw
Wildrose Alliance – Rob Gregory

CALGARY-MCCALL (PC 304)
Alberta Liberal – Darshan Kang
Green – Heather Brocklesby
ND – Preet Sihota
PC – Shiraz Shariff*
Wildrose Alliance – Ina Given

CALGARY-MONTROSE (PC 1632)
Alberta Liberal – Michael Embaie
Green – Fred Clemens
Independent – Ron Leech
ND – Al Brown
PC – Manmeet Bhullar
Wildrose Alliance – Said Abdulbaki

CALGARY-MOUNTAIN VIEW (ALP 3074)
Alberta Liberal – David Swann*
Green – Juliet BurgessND – John Donovan
PC – Leah Lawrence
Wildrose Alliance – Cory Morgan

CALGARY-NORTH HILL (PC 1157)
Alberta Liberal – Pat Murray
Green – Kevin Maloney
ND – John Chan
PC – Kyle Fawcett
SC – Jim Wright
Wildrose Alliance – Jane Morgan

CALGARY-NORTH WEST (PC 3268)
Alberta Liberal – Dale D’Silva
Green – George Read
ND – Collin Anderson
PC – Lindsay Blackett
Wildrose Alliance – Chris Jukes

CALGARY-NOSE HILL (PC 1765)
Alberta Liberal – Len Borowski
Green – Nick Burman
ND – Tristan Ridley
PC – Neil Brown*

CALGARY-SHAW (PC 4325)
Alberta Liberal – John Roggeveen
Green – Jennifer Oss-Saunders
ND – Jenn Carlson
PC – Cindy Ady*
Wildrose Alliance – Richard Dur

CALGARY-VARSITY (ALP 756)
Alberta Liberal – Harry Chase *
Green – Sean Maw
ND – Tim Stock-Bateman
PC – Jennifer Diakiw
Wildrose Alliance – Brennan Ltyle

CALGARY-WEST (PC 2685)
Alberta Liberal – Beth Gignac
Green – James Kohut
ND – Chantelle Dubois
PC – Ron Liepert*
Wildrose Alliance – Bob Babcock

CARDSTON-TABER-WARNER (AA 129)
Alberta Liberal – Ron Hancock
Green – Billy Turner
ND – Suzanne Sirias
PC – Broyce Jacobs
Wildrose Alliance – Paul Hinman*

CYPRESS-MEDICINE HAT (PC 2406)
Alberta Liberal – Dick Mastel
Green – Bright Pride
ND – Manuel Martinez
PC – Len Mitzel*
Wildrose Alliance – Dan Pierson

DRAYTON VALLEY-CALMAR (PC 4296)
Alberta Liberal – Norma Block
Green – Edwin Erickson
ND – Luanne Bannister
PC – Diana McQueen
Wildrose Alliance – Dean Schmale

DRUMHELLER-STETTLER (PC 3184)
Alberta Liberal – Tom Dooley
Green – Amanda Bolton
ND – Richard Bough
PC – Jack Hayden*
Wildrose Alliance – Dave France

DUNVEGAN-CENTRAL PEACE (PC 341)
Alberta Liberal – Bob Woken
ND- Nathan Macklin
PC – Hector Goudreau*
Wildrose Alliance – Dale Leuken

EDMONTON-BEVERLY CLAREVIEW (ND 2218)
Alberta Liberal – Dawit Issac
Green – Fredrick Pivot
ND – Ray Martin
PC – Tony Vandermeer
SC – Robin Porteous
Wildrose Alliance – Brian Dell

EDMONTON-CALDER (ND 337)
Alberta Liberal – Jim Kane
Green – Mike Brown
ND – Dave Eggen*
PC – Doug Elniski

EDMONTON-CASTLE DOWNS (PC 3)
Alberta Liberal – Chris Kibermanis
Green – Bob Reckhow
ND- Ali Haymour
PC – Thomas Lukaszuk*

EDMONTON-CENTRE (ALP 3581)
Alberta Liberal – Laurie Blakeman *
Alberta Party – Margaret Saunter
Green – David Parker
ND – Deron Bilous
PC – Bill Donahue
Wildrose Alliance – James Iverson

EDMONTON-DECORE (ALP 1427)
Alberta Liberal – Bill Bonko*
Green – Trey Capenhurst
ND – Sidney Sadik
PC – Janice Sarich

EDMONTON-ELLERSLIE (ALP 201)
Alberta Liberal – Bharat Agnihotri *
Green – Paul Boos
ND – Marilyn Assheton-Smith
PC – Naresh Bhardwaj
SC – Cheryl Ullah
Wildrose Alliance – Krista Leddy

EDMONTON-GLENORA (ALP 552)
Alberta Liberal – Bruce Miller *
Green – Peter Johnson
ND – Arlene Chapman
PC – Heather Klimchuk
SC – Walter Schachenhofer
Wildrose Alliance – Elden Van Hauwaert

EDMONTON-GOLDBAR (ALP 6226)
Alberta Liberal – Hugh MacDonald*
Green – David Zylstra
ND – Sherry McKibben
PC – David Dorward

EDMONTON-HIGHLANDS NORWOOD(ND 3846)
Alberta Liberal – Brad Smith
Green – Mohamad Maie Mohamad
ND – Brian Mason*
PC – Andrew Beniuk
Wildrose Alliance – Travis Loewen

EDMONTON-MANNING (ALP 282)
Alberta Liberal – Sandeep Dhir
Green – Odette Boily
Independent – Dan Backs*
ND – Rick Murti
PC – Peter Sandhu
Wildrose Alliance – Phil Gamache

EDMONTON-MCCLUNG (ALP 526)
Alberta Liberal – Mo Elsalhy*
Green – Bryan Wyrostok
ND – Bridget Stirling
PC – David Xiao
Wildrose Alliance – Christine Jassman

EDMONTON-MEADOWLARK (ALP 193)
Alberta Liberal – Debbie Cavaliere
Green – Amanda Doyle
ND – Pascal Ryffel
PC – Raj Sherman
Wildrose Alliance – Richard Guyon

EDMONTON-MILL CREEK (PC 781)
Alberta Liberal – Aman Gill
Communist – Naomi Rankin
Green – Glen Argan
ND – Stephen Anderson
PC – Gene Zwozdesky*

EDMONTON-MILL WOODS (ALP 2020)
Alberta Liberal – Weslyn Mather*
Green – David Hruska
ND – Christina Gray
PC – Carl Benito
Wildrose Alliance – Robert Leddy

EDMONTON-RIVERVIEW (ALP 6705)
Alberta Liberal – Kevin Taft *
Green – Cam Wakefield
ND – Erica Bullwinkle
PC – Wendy Andrews
Wildrose Alliance – Kyle VanHauwart

EDMONTON-RUTHERFORD (ALP 3048)
Alberta Liberal – Rick Miller*
Green – Kate Wyrostok
ND – Michael Butler
PC – Fred Horne
Wildrose Alliance – John Baloun

EDMONTON-STRATHCONA (ND 5197)
Alberta Liberal – Tim Vant
Green – Adrian Cole
ND – Rachel Notley
PC – T.J. Keil

EDMONTON-WHITEMUD (PC 926)
Alberta Liberal – Nancy Cavanaugh
Green – Valerie Kennedy
ND – Hana Razga
PC – Dave Hancock*

FOOTHILLS-ROCKYVIEW (PC 4826)
Alberta Liberal – Herb Coburn
Green – Larry Ashmore
ND – Ricardo de Menezes
PC – Ted Morton*

FORT MCMURRAY-WOOD BUFFALO (PC 2631)
Alberta Liberal – Ross Jacobs
Green – Reg Normore
ND – Mel Kraley
PC – Guy Boutilier*

FORT SASKATCHEWAN-VEGREVILLE(PC 3000)
Alberta Liberal – Earl J. Woods
Green – Ryan Scheie
ND – Clayton Marsden
PC – Ed Stelmach*

GRANDE PRAIRIE-SMOKY (PC 2404)
Alberta Liberal – John Croken
Green – Rebecca Villebrun
ND – Neil Peacock
PC – Mel Knight*
Wildrose Alliance – Todd Loewen

GRANDE PRAIRIE-WAPITI (PC 2665)
Alberta Liberal – Augustine Ebinu
Green – Art Proctor
ND – Manuella Campbell
PC – Wayne Drysdale

HIGHWOOD (PC 4891)
Alberta Liberal – Stan Shedd
Green – John Barret
ND – Carolyn Boulton
PC – George Groenveld*
Wildrose Alliance – Daniel Doherty

INNISFAIL-SYLVAN LAKE (PC 3967)
Alberta Liberal – Garth Davis
Green – Lisa Grant
Independent – Anthony Harrarty
ND – Tophie Davies
PC – Luke Oullette*
Wildrose Alliance – Wayne Edmundson

LAC LA BICHE-ST. PAUL (PC 3017)
Alberta Liberal – Alex Broadbent
ND – Della Drury
PC – Ray Danyluk*

LACOMBE-PONOKA (PC 4709)
Alberta Liberal – Edith McPhedran
Green – Joe Anglin
ND – Steve Bradshaw
PC – Ray Prins*
Wildrose Alliance – Daniel Freisen

LEDUC-BEAUMONT-DEVON (PC 3388)
Alberta Liberal – Joyce Assen
Green – Kevin Colton
ND – Lisa Erickson
PC – George Rogers*
Wildrose Alliance – Sharon MacLise

LESSER SLAVE LAKE (PC 2934)
Alberta Liberal – Steve Noskey
Green – Bonnie Raho
ND- Habby Sharkawi
PC – Pearl Calahasen*

LETHBRIDGE EAST (ALP 635)
Alberta Liberal – Bridget Pastoor*
Green – Helen McMenamin
ND – Tom Moffatt
PC – Jason Herasemluk
Wildrose Alliance – Grant Shaw

LETHBRIDGE WEST (PC 782)
Alberta Liberal – Bal Boora
Green – Helen McMenamin
ND – James Moore
PC – Greg Weadick
Wildrose Alliance – Matt Fox

LITTLE BOW (PC 2938)
Alberta Liberal – Everett Tanis
Green – Marie Read
ND – Duane Petluk
PC – Barry McFarland*
Wildrose Alliance – Kevin Kinahan

LIVINGSTONE-MACLEOD (PC 3053)
Alberta Liberal – Mike Judd
Green – Bryan Hunt
ND – Phil Burpee
PC – Evan Berger
Wildrose Alliance – Jack Macleod

MEDICINE HAT (PC 1842)
Alberta Liberal – Karen Charlton
Green – Karen Kraus
ND – Diana Arnott
PC – Rob Renner*
Wildrose Alliance – Karen Kraus

OLDS-DIDBURY-THREE HILLS (PC 5254)
Alberta Liberal – Tony Vonesch
Green – Kate Haddow
ND – Andy Davies
PC – Richard Marz*
Wildrose Alliance – Curt Engel

PEACE RIVER (PC 1792)
ND – Adele Boucher Rymhs
PC – Frank Oberle*
Wildrose Alliance – Georg Beinert

RED DEER-NORTH (PC 1086)
Alberta Liberal – Richard Farrand
Green – Rueben Tschetter
ND – Shawn Nielsen
PC – Mary-Ann Jablonski*
Wildrose Alliance – Urs Lehner

RED DEER-SOUTH (PC 1296)
Alberta Liberal – Diane Kubanek
Green – Evan Bedford
ND – Johana Stark
PC – Cal Dallas
Wildrose Alliance – Ed Klop

ROCKY MOUNTAIN HOUSE (PC 4507)
Alberta Liberal – Norm McDougall
Green – Jennifer Ripley
ND – Jorge Souza
SC – Wilf Tricker
Separation Party – Bruce Hutton
PC – Ty Lund*
Wildrose Alliance – Fanie van Heerden

SHERWOOD PARK (PC 1694)
Alberta Liberal – Louise Rogers
Green – Rick Hoines
ND – Katherine Hay
PC – Iris Evans*
SC – Gordon Barrett

SPRUCE GROVE-STURGEON-ST. ALBERT (PC 599)
Alberta Liberal – Ray Boudreau
Green – Allan West
ND – Peter Cross
PC – Doug Horner*

ST. ALBERT (ALP 412)
Alberta Liberal – Jack Flaherty *
Green – Ross Vincent
ND – Katy Campbell
PC – Ken Allred

STONY PLAIN (PC 2200)
Alberta Liberal – Bill Fraser
Green – Nora Shea
ND – Shelina Brown
PC – Fred Lindsay*
Wildrose Alliance – Sandy Pariseau

STRATHCONA (PC 2756)
Alberta Liberal – Jon Friel
Green – Kate Harrington
ND – Denny Holmwood
PC – Dave Quest

STRATHMORE-BROOKS (PC 4738)
Alberta Liberal – Gerry Hart
Green – Chris Bayford
ND – Brian Stokes
PC – Arno Doerksen
Wildrose Alliance – Amanda Shehata

VERMILION-LLOYDMINSTER (PC 3029)
Alberta Liberal – Robert Sawatzky
Green – Ngaio Hotte
ND – Wendy Myshak
PC – Lloyd Snelgrove*

WEST YELLOWHEAD (PC 1982)
Alberta Liberal – Lisa Higgerty
Green – Scott Pickett
ND – Ken Kuzminski
PC – Robin Campbell
Wildrose Alliance – Earle Cunningham

WETASKIWIN-CAMROSE (PC 3464)
Alberta Liberal – Keith Elliott
Green – Midge Lambert
ND – Sarah Mowatt
PC – Verlyn Olsen
Wildrose Alliance – Tyler Knelsen

WHITECOURT-STE. ANNE (PC 2742)
Alberta Liberal – Mike Gray
ND – Leah Redmond
PC – George VanderBurg*
Wildrose Alliance – Link Byfield

(*incumbent)

Uncategorized

p3? no thank you.

Apparently it’s like buying schools at Costco…

Calgary Elbow By-Election Kevin Taft

kevin taft on calgary-elbow.

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date June 14, 2007
No Comments on kevin taft on calgary-elbow.

Alberta Liberal Leader Kevin Taft with Calgary Elbow MLA-elect Craig Cheffins on Tuesday night.

Uncategorized

re-districting.

This is an interesting site to play around with.

Calgary Elbow By-Election Drumheller-Stettler By-Election

by-election rundown.

I’ve had some time to compile some thoughts about yesterday’s by-elections. Here are some of them:

Calgary Elbow
Alberta Liberal candidate Craig Cheffins was elected in Calgary Elbow – Ralph Klein’s former constituency and a bedrock Tory constituency since 1971. This is significant for all the obvious reasons.

Though I don’t think Cheffins’ election in Calgary Elbow is a complete deathblow to the Stelmach Tories, I do think it is a substantial kick in the teeth. Voters in Calgary Elbow sent a strong message that Calgary may be more in-play than it has been in a long time. Many Calgarians aren’t happy with the Stelmach Tories and if strong local candidates like Craig Cheffins continue to let their name stand for Kevin Taft’s Alberta Liberals in Calgary, the Tories could be in trouble in the next election.

While many Calgary Tory MLAs are rumoured to be stepping down in the next election, the Alberta Liberals are already starting to line up quality candidates like Kent Hehr (Calgary Buffalo), Carole Oliver (Calgary Fort), and Avalon Roberts (Calgary Glenmore).

Strom-o-meter:
For those of your keeping score, you can add another Ed Stelmach-point to the Strom-o-meter. In 1969, the Lougheed Tories wrestled away the Strathcona East constituency following Socred Premier Ernest Manning’s retirement. Peter Lougheed led the Tories to victory over Premier Harry Strom’s Social Credit Party in 1971.

Drumheller-Stettler
Tory Jack Hayden’s landslide victory wasn’t a big surprise as Drumheller-Stettler is probably one of the strongest conservative constituencies in Alberta. There are some interesting results though. Alberta Liberal candidate Tom Dooley may have won 14% across the constituency, but won 9 out of the 11 Town of Drumheller polls (something that reflects the warm reaction on the doors last weekend).

If the Liberals are able to become competitive in Alberta’s smaller cities like Drumheller, then a number of normally safe-Tory rural ridings will shift to the in-play column.

Low Turnout
Albertans already hold the lowest voter turnout rates in Canada, so it wasn’t surprising that turnout was dismal yesterday. It doesn’t downplay the significance of the Liberal victory in Calgary Elbow and I don’t think you can place the blame for this on any one thing, but his is a serious issue that needs to be discussed and addressed (in a soon to be written post).

RIP Alberta Alliance:
The results of this by-election were a clear deathblow for the Alberta Alliance. Even with the help of Alliance Leader Paul Hinman, Drumheller-Stettler Alliance candidate Dave France still only garnered 5% of the vote – 8% less than he won in the 2004 General Election – and 2% behind Alberta independent advocate John Rew. If the Alliance can’t win votes in Drumheller-Stettler, the question must be asked if they can win anywhere else.

The Unstoppable New Democrats
The New Democrats garnering 1% in Drumheller-Stettler and 3% in Calgary Elbow. These results certainly prove that the New Democrats are a force to be reckoned with in Alberta – watch out!

Calgary Elbow By-Election Drumheller-Stettler By-Election

elbow deep in red.

Calgary Elbow By-Election

calgary gets a little grittier.

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date June 13, 2007
No Comments on calgary gets a little grittier.

Alberta Liberal candidate Craig Cheffins was elected in tonight’s by-election in Calgary Elbow (Ralph Klein’s former seat).

Calgary Elbow
Craig Cheffins, Liberal – 4801 (46%)
Brian Heninger, PC – 4017 (38%)
George Read, Grn – 611 (6%)
Jane Greydanus, Alliance – 456 (4%)
Al Brown, NDP – 348 (3%)
Trevor Grover, SC – 175 (2%)
Jeff Willerton, Ind – 124 (1%)

Here’s the unofficial poll-by-poll breakdown.

Calgary Elbow By-Election Drumheller-Stettler By-Election

polls closed.

Let the vote counting begin.

Calgary Elbow By-Election Drumheller-Stettler By-Election

vote.

Don’t forget to get out and vote today if you live in Calgary Elbow or Drumheller-Stettler. The by-election polls are open from 9:00am to 8:00pm.

If you don’t know where to vote, you can find your polling station here.

Calgary Elbow By-Election Drumheller-Stettler By-Election

t-minus 1.

I spent the past weekend campaigning in Drumheller-Stettler by-election for Tom Dooley.

Being in Drumheller, I didn’t expect a warm reception at the doors, so I was pretty surprised at the positive reaction I recieved when I told people I was campaigning for Tom Dooley (quite literally every second door).

It soon became fairly clear that Tom Dooley is a really well known man in the Drumheller area (he’s also a really nice guy). As a local rancher, former County Councillor and Deputy Reeve, I get the feeling Tom Dooley do pretty well in Drumheller.

Even though Tory candidate Jack Hayden is considered the by many to be the frontrunner in this long-time rural ‘c’onservative riding, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a substantial slip in the ‘C’onservative vote this time around. I say this for a number of reasons.

First, it’s a by-election. In by-elections, voters can express their satifaction or disatisfaction with the governing party without changing government.

Second, with four right-wing candidates in the running, there is a good chance that the ‘c’onservative vote will be split between Hayden, Social Credit candidate Larry Davidson (Davidson actually had noticeably more signs on private property in Drumheller than Hayden), Alliance candidate Dave France, and Alberta Independence advocate John Rew. This right-wing split could cause some interesting senarios when the votes are counted.

Third, the Balzac water management issue has exploded in Drumheller. I’m still blown away by how mad the people I spoke with on the doors are about this issue. When the Drumheller Valley Times runs “Liberals show PC’s lied” as their frontpage headline, you know this has become a big issue.

As for the other smaller party candidates, it’s always tough to predict how well the Greens will do, so it will be interesting to see how Jennifer Wigmore makes out (Her husband ran as the Green candidate in the area during the last Federal Election, so there is probably a certain amount of ‘Wigmore’ name recognition in the constituency). As for the New Democrats, well… the ‘Brian Mason’ campaign signs everywhere signal to me that if the New Democrats aren’t even buying signs with their candidate’s name on them, they’ve pretty much given up on these races (I hear the same signs have shown up in Calgary Elbow).

As for the Calgary Elbow race (which most of the media attention has been on), some of the media outlets seem to be calling it already, but I’ve been around enough election campaigns to know that it’s not over until the polls close at 8pm (or on the third judicial recount in some cases). It’s been a hot race between Alberta Liberal Craig Cheffins and Brian “the choker” Heninger, so it should add some excitement to tomorrow’s day on the Alberta political scene.

Nether the less, both the Drumheller-Stettler and Calgary Elbow by-elections tomorrow will be uphill battles for any of the opposition candidates running as both constituencies have been held by the Tories for over 30 years

If you live in either of these constituencies, remember to get out and vote tomorrow!

Alberta Tories Calgary Elbow By-Election

stranglehold.

More later, but what?

“I’d choke our premier,” Heninger says to the disgruntled voter, the latest in a string of citizens who have expressed frustration with Progressive Conservative Premier Ed Stelmach.

UPDATE: As Dan points out, Stelmach has provided Albertans with an incredibly entertaining update:

According to reports, [Henninger] told a constituent at the door he would like to “choke” Stelmach. The premier said that kind of enthusiasm is exactly what he wants in his MLAs.

Public Interest Alberta

piadvocacy.

Public Interest Alberta held their Annual General Meeting on Saturday (I meant to go, but didn’t make it in the end). At the AGM, Jackie Flanagan, Publisher of Alberta Views Magazine received the “Public Interest Award for her work with the magazine and as an advocate of the public good.” Video clips of Flanagan’s acceptance speech are below for your viewing pleasure:

Alberta Teachers' Association Education

budget more.

The Alberta Teachers’ Association has launched a new website calling on Minister of Education Ron Liepert to not short-change our education system and to make education funding a priority. I would have to agree.

Alberta Liberals Alberta NDP Alberta Tories Campaign Finance Ed Stelmach

flap flap flap.

The adventures of Honest Ed continue…

EDMONTON — Premier Ed Stelmach admitted Monday that “overzealous” organizers for his Conservative leadership bid wrongly solicited a $10,000 cheque from a municipal garbage agency, money his campaign returned after he won the race.

The premier said the donation last summer from Beaver Regional Waste Management Service’s Commission was legal but clearly unethical, though the Tofield-area body’s records show the cheque was only returned a day before Stelmach’s campaign had officially cleared its debt in February.

It’s the second time Stelmach has blamed his campaigners for questionable practices, months after public outcry forced him to cancel a $5,000-a-ticket fundraising reception billed as a chance to have a private audience with Alberta’s top politician.

Liberal Leader Kevin Taft, who made public the $10,000 donation in the legislature Monday, accused Stelmach of developing a “conscience of convenience” once the leader had a campaign surplus and knew his finances faced more public scrutiny.

“It was only after they began to feel they would be watched that they developed a conscience and refunded the money,” Taft told reporters.

And yet some people will tell me that donations to leadership races have no business being public.

I’m of the belief that there should be much more accoutability through involvement by Elections Alberta in internal party financial and fundraising rules similar to those of Elections Canada.

Can you imagine an Alberta where an end would be put to massive secret and loophole backdoor out-of-province political donations?

Sigh.

UPDATE: Calgary Grit’s take on Stelmach’s ““The donation might have been legal, it certainly was not ethical.” comment.

Alberta Politics

alberta’s new balance of power?

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date June 4, 2007
No Comments on alberta’s new balance of power?

A good friend passed along this message to me:

Alberta’s newfound fiscal capacity has led many to predict it will lead to a new balance of power and perhaps even instability in the federation. How will Alberta choose to exercise this political and economic clout? How will the federal government, and the other provinces, react? And to what extent will this affect the regional balance of power and the national agenda? These were the questions that were asked at a recent Public Policy Forum event held at the Ranchmen’s Club in Calgary.

At the event, presentations were made by the Honourable Rona Ambrose, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and Tom Courchene, Professor of Economic and Financial Policy at Queen’s University. You can read Minister Ambrose’s speech here and Dr. Courchene’s speech here.