Back in Edmonton. Post coming soon.
It’s really nice outside.
Categories
This blog has seems to have become a one-stop-shop for information dealing with former Edmonton “lawyer,” Chief Consel to the Alberta Legislative Assembly, business owner, philanthropist, and international man of financial skullduggery Michael Ritter. For the information of all daveberta readers and interested suspects, here is a chronology of all Michael Ritter related posts on this blog.
Feel free to comment and discuss.
The list will be updated as new posts are added.
Very Bad Men “The Man Without a Conscience” – Tonight (April 15, 2008)
Ritter Loses Appeal (December 11, 2007)
Michael Ritter scandal documentary (November 10, 2007)
Michael Ritter gets ten (November 1, 2006)
Where Ritter put the money (October 28, 2006)
Ritter pleads guilty (October 28, 2006)
One week left for Ritter (October 21, 2006)
Ritter gets Six (August 3, 2006)
Ritter Guilty of Passport Charge (August 2, 2006)
Fate on a Passport (August 2, 2006)
Clear as Mud. (August 2, 2006)
Ritter fails “to establish an air of reality” (July 31, 2006)
More Michael Ritter Scandal Action (July 9, 2006)
Col. Ritter in the Boardroom with the Ponzi Scheme (July 5, 2006)
The Western Standard on Ritter (June 21, 2006)
I’m sure Belize is nice in June. Ask Adam D’Orleans… err, Michael Ritter (June 20, 2006)
More Michael Ritter Madness (April 26, 2006)
The Michael Ritter Scandal Continues (April 25, 2006)
Summertime in Belize (April 24, 2006)
Michael Ritter Scandal Update (December 20, 2005)
Gordon gets 42 months for $43 billion (October 14, 2005)
Jailhouse Blues for Ritter (October 2, 2005)
The Michael Ritter Saga Continued (Sept 24, 2005)
Who let the Ritter out? Who? Who? Who? Who? (Sept 15, 2005)
When Visa Isn’t Enough: The Michael Ritter Story (Sept 14, 2005)
Here is a Michael Ritter scandal timeline provided by the Edmonton Journal on October 28, 2006.
DIARY OF A DOWNFALLMarch 1, 2001: Michael Ritter’s financial services company, Newport Pacific Financial Group, hires Paul Hoag as its vice-president. Five months later, Newport hires Hoag’s wife, Susan Edwards, as office administrator.
Jan. 28, 2002: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is granted a temporary restraining order against J.T. Wallenbrock, a Los Angeles-based trust company accused of selling unregistered securities as part of a massive pyramid fraud scheme.
July 11, 2002: Hoag and Edwards tell Ritter they want out of Newport and raise concerns about the company’s relationship with J.T. Wallenbrock and its owner, Larry Osaki.
July 15, 2002: Hoag, according to Ritter, asks for a severance payment of $600,000. Ritter refuses.
August 2002: Hoag and Edwards file complaints against Ritter and Newport with the Alberta Securities Commission, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the RCMP.
September 2002: Jeremy Carter, Ritter’s executive assistant, asks Hoag to return two highly confidential files Ritter believes Hoag has taken.
Oct. 9, 2002: Ritter and his lawyer, accompanied by several Edmonton police officers, execute a civil-court search on the home of Hoag and Edwards. They seize boxes of documents allegedly taken from Newport. Ritter then sues Hoag, Edwards and two other Newport employees for $40 million, alleging a conspiracy to undermine the company and steal its clients. The lawsuit is sealed by court order, allegedly to protect Newport’s clients. The former employees later countersue for $1.5 million, claiming wrongful dismissal, harassment, theft and abuse of process.
December 2002: RCMP raid Ritter’s office and home, searching for evidence implicating him in the pyramid scheme and the laundering of $43 million US that Wall Street energy trader Dan Gordon had stolen from his employer, Merrill Lynch.The raid doesn’t come to light until The Journal obtains the search warrants three months later.
Feb. 26, 2003: The Journal and other media outlets are successful in unsealing Ritter’s lawsuit. It contains sensational allegations that he was involved in helping perpetuate a massive and fraudulent pyramid scheme in California after it was shut down by the SEC. It is also alleged Ritter fabricated parts of his resume, including his legal credentials. In a news conference, Ritter denies all the allegations and claims he is the victim of a “drive-by smear campaign” by disgruntled employees.
March 19, 2003: A judge issues an order freezing two private airplanes, a condo and an Oilers skybox, which RCMP allege were bought with money laundered by Ritter on behalf of Gordon.
Sept. 10, 2003: Ritter files a $300-million lawsuit against James H. Donell, the Los Angeles receiver hired by the SEC to handle the dismantling of J.T. Wallenbrock. The lawsuit alleges Donell used his website to connect Ritter and a company he set up in Belize called Village Capital Trust to criminal fraud.
Oct. 8, 2003: Osaki, the owner of J.T. Wallenbrock, is arrested and charged with operating a $270-million US pyramid scheme. An affidavit filed with the arrest alleges Ritter helped Osaki keep the scheme operating after American authorities had shut it down.
Oct. 28, 2003: RCMP arrest Ritter after he is indicted in Los Angeles on charges of securities fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, obstruction of justice, money laundering, criminal contempt and other charges in relation to the pyramid scheme. Ritter is released on $250,000 bail and denies the charges. Carter, his executive assistant, is also charged. American authorities say Ritter could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted.
Feb. 7, 2004: After pleading guilty in New York, Gordon tells American authorities that Ritter did not conspire with him to launder the stolen money.
Feb. 28, 2005: Carter pleads guilty to helping the pyramid scheme continue.
March 22, 2005: Osaki pleads guilty to operating the pyramid scheme. He is sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Sept. 9, 2005: The RCMP charge Ritter in connection with the theft and money laundering of $43 million US stolen by Gordon. Ritter is denied bail.
Jan. 23, 2006: The RCMP charge Ritter with breach of recognizance for obtaining a Belizean passport under an assumed name in violation of his previous bail conditions. Edmonton lawyer Casey O’Byrne is charged with aiding Ritter to breach the recognizance. O’Byrne denies the charge.
July 30, 2006: The Court of Queen’s Bench rules against Ritter on a crucial legal argument in his fight to avoid extradition to the United States.
Aug. 30, 2006: Ritter is sentenced to six months in prison for breach of recognizance.
Oct. 20, 2006: Ritter agrees to plead guilty to two new charges in Edmonton to avoid extradition to the U.S. He agrees to plead guilty to stealing $10.5 million US from Gordon and to helping perpetuate the American pyramid scheme.
Oct. 27, 2006: Ritter pleads guilty. The Crown and defence recommend a sentence of 10 years, to be served in Canada.
Categories
inconveniently out of town.
From the Western Standard…
The mandarin, the mogul and the missing millions
Kevin Steel – June 19, 2006=
He went from the legislature to a high life of private jets and caviar parties. They feted him as a brilliant lawyer and philanthropist. Only when the cops came looking for millions in laundered, stolen cash, did Edmonton’s elite discover who Michael Ritter really was.
“Everyone was hiding their true identities.” When Michael Ritter wrote those words to Larry Osaki in August 2002, he knew what he was talking about. Ritter was a man who knew all about how to hide a lot of things, which is why Osaki had tracked him down in the first place. Osaki needed someone who knew how to get a lot of money out of the U.S., and out of the reach of Securities and Exchange Commission authorities who were closing in on his illegal pyramid scheme. Ritter was going to help him relocate his Ponzi scheme somewhere where they couldn’t reach it. Osaki also wanted Ritter to ensure that all the foreign employees knew enough to keep quiet in case they were ever subpoenaed by police, to plead the fifth if they had to. “Will do, Larry,” assured Ritter in an e-mail, adding that it wasn’t likely that would happen anyway, since all the employees would be operating under fake names: “Everyone was hiding their true identities.”
Read the rest here…
As well, here is the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta document (United States of America v. Ritter, 2006 ABQB 398) documenting the Crown’s request to Honourable Madam Justice J.B. Veit that Ritter’s lawyer, Sid Terrabain, be removed as his counsel.
Click here for the complete Michael Ritter Scandal Chronology…
I couldn’t find an interweb link for this story, but this story was in today’s Edmonton Journal:
Lawyer admits signing Ritter’s name change and passport papers
Edmontonian charged with laundering $43 million USCharles Rusnell
The Edmonton Journal
Tuesday, June 20, 2006EDMONTON – While Michael Ritter was under a court order not to apply for another passport, the high-profile Edmonton businessman changed his name in Belize and successfully applied for a Belizean passport under his new name, a court heard Monday.
The applications for Ritter’s name change and his new passport were signed by his friend, lawyer Casey O’Byrne.
In testimony, O’Byrne acknowledged signing Ritter’s name change application. But he said he had not read the document and didn’t know it was for the tiny Central American country of Belize, where Ritter is also a citizen, until he was contacted by the RCMP months later.
O’Byrne was subpoenaed to testify in Ritter’s trial for breach of recognizance, a charge that carries a penalty of up to two years in jail. The Edmonton lawyer also has been charged with aiding Ritter to breach that recognizance.
Under the law, none of O’Byrne’s testimony in the Ritter case can be used against him in future legal proceedings.
The charges against Ritter and O’Byrne stem from an order by a judge in October 2003. Ritter, Alberta’s former chief parliamentary counsel, had been indicted in the United States for his alleged role in a $250-million US Ponzi scheme, in which money from later investors is used to pay earlier ones.
To gain bail, Ritter signed a recognizance and agreed to surrender his passport, not try to get another one and not to leave Alberta. The wealthy businessman also put up $100,000 in cash, and $150,000 worth of security in his house.
O’Byrne shared the same law firm as Sid Tarrabain, Ritter’s lawyer in the extradition case. O’Byrne told the court he helped Tarrabain on the case, including signing, but not preparing, the documents related to Ritter’s recognizance.
O’Byrne said that in March 2005, Ritter told him the case against him in the U.S. was falling apart and he wanted to get his financial trust business going again.
Ritter, according to O’Byrne, said he needed to travel to Toronto and wanted O’Byrne’s legal assistance to change his name to get a new driver’s licence.
Ritter obtained a Belizean passport in the name of Adam d’Orleans. The Mounties learned of the passport from an employee of Ritter’s company, Newport Pacific, who found a scanned image of the passport on Ritter’s office computer.
Police and the Crown have contended Ritter wanted the new passport and new identity so he could flee serious charges in the U.S. and Canada. The Americans are seeking Ritter’s extradition for his alleged role in the Ponzi scheme. In Canada, he faces several charges related to his alleged role in laundering $43 million US, stolen from a brokerage firm by a Wall Street trader.
Ritter has pleaded not guilty to all the charges. He has been in custody since his arrest Sept. 9, 2005. The trial was adjourned and is expected to resume sometime in the next two weeks.
crusnell@thejournal.canwest.com
Click here for the complete Michael Ritter Scandal Chronology…
Categories
obergtastic.
Independent MLA and Alberta PC leadership candidate Lyle Oberg is launching his campaign to lead the caucus that voted to sack him!
Along with these spify invitations, Oberg has also relaunched his Obergerffic website – ObergforAlberta.ca (as opposed to the burgeoning “AlbertaforOberg.ca” campaign)
I also discovered Dr. Oberg’s Obergasmic website, “Oberg for Alberta Business Leaders Golf Tournement.”
If this is any indication, I’m looking forward to the “Oberg for Farm Families,” “Oberg for Working People,” “Oberg for starving and debt-ridden University Students,” and the ever so popular “Oberg for Albertans on AISH” campaigns…
Categories
oil fever.
Oilers fever swept Edmonton over the past month – and our team played great in the Stanley Cup play-offs – the final series in particular. Though they weren’t able to make the Stanley Cup an Edmonton reality tonight – the Edmonton Oilers brought themselves back from a 3-1 series to Game 7! Good work, guys! You did awesome!
And of course, congrats to the Carolina Hurricanes in offering to take care of Lord Stanley’s Cup for the next year – we’ll be asking for it back in 12 months. 😉
On a side note, the bar I watched Game 7 at was picking up a satellite feed from Atlantic Canada and showed at least two Pizza Delight commercials every commercial break… Pizza Delight must have spent their entire advertizing budget on the Stanley Cup final series…
And finally, we shall see if Whyte Ave survives the night – the kill-joycopter is flying low tonight…
Categories
al gore is hot stuff.
I got this email from an old friend yesterday. I haven’t seen the movie yet, but I’m planning to…
Hi everyone,
I know lately some of you have been receiving e-mails from me about climate change and this movie that just came out called “an inconvenient truth” starring Al Gore Jr..
I just saw the movie and felt extremely moved to change from being a pseudo-environmentalist to taking the everyday choices that I make involving climate change seriously. I urge all of you to please see this movie because it is highly informative and has no poltical bias. It clears up the many misperceptions provided by small groups of people feeding misinformation to the public and shows us that even as individuals, we can make a change.
This movie is currently playing at the Garneau which opened on June 16th. The following is a weblink to a page about the movie and some interesting information, www.climatecrisis.net.
Thanks for the read and please take it seriously.
Categories
let’s go oilers!
Categories
the west wants change.
I thought this was interesting…
The West wants change
The Ottawa Citizen
Tue 13 Jun 2006
Page Name: Editorial
Column: Andrew CohenCALGARY – In the high summer of 1971, there was a historic election in the province of Alberta. The Social Credit party had been in power since 1935 and was seen as the Natural Governing Party. But something was going on here.
The formidable Ernest Manning had resigned as premier in 1968, giving way to Harry Strom. It was an orderly, bloodless succession that seemed to assure the government’s re-election. Mr. Manning had been premier from 1944 to 1968, offering what historian John J. Barr calls “a cautious financial conservatism and a cautious social reformism” that led him to oppose the universal healthcare program introduced by Lester Pearson in the mid-1960s.
The Conservatives, led by a rugged lawyer named Peter Lougheed, didn’t seem much of a threat. Although he had been elected to his seat in the legislature in 1967 with the largest majority of any candidate, he was joined by only five other Conservatives.
Yet the earth opened in Alberta in the election of 1971. Mr. Lougheed promised a regime of change that a tired government of 36 years could not match. He was articulate, intelligent and energetic. The Conservatives said the Socreds had had their day. Albertans gave Mr. Lougheed 49 of 75 seats.
That was 35 years ago. The Conservatives have been in power in Alberta now almost as long as the Socreds had been then. But this time it is the Conservatives who are tired, divided over their leadership and direction and pressed by a spirited opposition led by a popular leader.
Are we on the cusp of a generational watershed here? Could history repeat itself in Alberta?
Maybe. It depends on the depth of the public’s desire for change, the appeal of a new Conservative leader, and how the Liberals position themselves in the new political firmament.
Mr. Lougheed was the nemesis of eastern Canada and Pierre Elliott Trudeau, whom he battled over the constitution and energy. But when he left in 1985, Mr. Lougheed was widely respected as an honourable advocate of his province’s interests. In leadership, it has been downhill ever since for Alberta.
Mr. Lougheed was succeeded by the feckless Don Getty, who showed he did not have stature of his predecessor in the constitutional negotiations at Meech Lake in 1987. Mr. Getty was followed by Ralph Klein, who represents the descent of politics. He is vain, vulgar, mercurial and petulant. His response to the province’s budgetary surplus was to issue every Albertan a cheque for $400. It is said that Mr. Lougheed thinks Mr. Klein is an embarrassment, and won’t be sorry to see him go this autumn.
The favourite to succeed Mr. Klein is Jim Dinning, the former provincial treasurer who has been out of politics for years. Mr. Dinning would bring experience and credibility to the job, but it won’t be enough to save the Conservatives if Albertans are shopping for something else, as they were in 1971.
At one time this province worried about having too little money: Now it worries about having too much. Managing oil revenues, balancing competing claims on the public purse, re-positioning Alberta in Confederation, dousing the persistent brushfires of alienation — these will be the challenges facing the new premier of one the wealthiest jurisdictions in the world.
Everyone knows Alberta is surging. Developers are throwing up office towers and building subdivisions, creating suburbs in search of a city. The price of the average house in Calgary is said to be rising by $500 a day. Calgary hums with a vitality unimaginable to cities of similar size and means.
Yet for a province awash in wealth, why are hospitals still crowded, why are neighbourhoods without schools, why are social services uneven, why is the environment an afterthought? Why was homelessness up 49 per cent in Calgary between 2002 and 2004?
A column in Avenue, an impressive, glossy magazine in Calgary, dreams of the city as the next Florence. There are no great cathedrals here, of course, but the idea that money can create something grand and enduring on the Prairie is worthy.
The Liberals see an opening. In Kevin Taft, they have a smart, aggressive leader, a former entrepreneur and policy analyst who has written widely on social and political issues. Like Mr. Lougheed in 1967, he won more votes in his last election in 2004 than any other candidate in the province; he also doubled the party’s seats in the legislature to 16 of 83, elected three representatives in Calgary and is reducing the party’s debt.
The Liberals, who gathered on the weekend to talk about their vision of Alberta, want a broad, open, progressive province, an exemplar on the environment and an innovator of social programs. They want this to be an influential, respected player in Canada, not a small, resentful one, and they appear to be striking a chord with a changing electorate.
An election is expected here within two years. The man to watch is Kevin Taft.
Andrew Cohen is a professor of journalism and international affairs at Carleton University.
Check out Daveberta’s thoughts on the First-Ballot of the Alberta PC leadership race…
For interests sake, here is a who’s-who list of who in the Alberta PC caucus is supporting who in the Alberta PC leadership race.
I think I have all of the declared supporters listed, but feel free to email me at daveberta@linuxmail.org if you’ve heard something I haven’t. I’ll try to keep the list as updated as possible.4
2006 Alberta PC caucus/leadership race support:
Total declared support:
Jim Dinning – 36 MLA’s
Ed Stelmach – 9 MLA’s
Lyle Oberg – 3 MLA’s
Mark Norris – 2 MLA’s
Ted Morton – 1 MLA (Alberta Alliance MLA Paul Hinman);
Victor Doerksen – No Declared MLA Support
Dave Hancock – No Declared MLA Support
Gary McPherson – No Declared MLA Support
Undeclared – 8 MLA’s
MLA List
Jim Dinning Supporters -34 MLA’s
Cindy Ady, Calgary-Shaw (Jim Dinning)
Moe Amery, Calgary-East (Jim Dinning)
Neil Brown, Calgary-Nose Hill (Jim Dinning)
Wayne Cao, Calgary-Fort (Jim Dinning)
Hon. Mike Cardinal, Athabasca-Redwater (Jim Dinning)
Hon. Harvey Cenaiko, Calgary-Buffalo (Jim Dinning)
Hon. David Coutts, Livingstone-Macleod (Jim Dinning)
Alana DeLong, Calgary Bow (Jim Dinning)
Hon. Heather Forsyth, Calgary-Fish Creek (Jim Dinning)
Hon. Yvonne Fritz, Calgary-Cross (Jim Dinning)
Hon. Gordon Graydon, Grande Prairie-Wapiti (Jim Dinning)
Doug Griffiths, Battle River-Wainwright (Jim Dinning)
Hon. Denis Herard, Calgary-Egmont (Jim Dinning)
Mary Anne Jablonski, Red Deer-North (Jim Dinning)
Art Johnston, Calgary-Hays (Jim Dinning)
Ronald Liepert, Calgary-West (Jim Dinning)
Rob Lougheed, Strathcona (Jim Dinning)
Thomas Lukaszuk, Edmonton-Castle Downs (Jim Dinning)
Ty Lund, Rocky Mountain House (Jim Dinning)
Richard Magnus, Calgary-North Hill (Jim Dinning)
Hon. Gary Mar, Calgary-Mackay (Jim Dinning)
Richard Marz, Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills (Jim Dinning)
Hon. Barry McFarland, Little Bow (Jim Dinning)
Hon. Greg Melchin, Calgary-North West (Jim Dinning)
Len Mitzel, Cypress-Medicine Hat (Jim Dinning)
Frank Oberle, Peace River (Jim Dinning)
Ray Prins, Lacombe-Ponoka (Jim Dinning)
Hon. Rob Renner, Medicine Hat (Jim Dinning)
Dave Rodney, Calgary-Lougheed (Jim Dinning)
George Rogers, Leduc-Beaumont-Devon (Jim Dinning)
Shiraz Shariff, Calgary-McCall (Jim Dinning)
Hon. Ron Stevens, Calgary-Glenmore (Jim Dinning)
Janis Tarchuk, Banff-Cochrane (Jim Dinning)
Hon. George VanderBurg, Whitecourt-Ste. Anne (Jim Dinning)
Len Webber, Calgary-Foothills (Jim Dinning)
Hon. Gene Zwozdesky, Edmonton-Mill Creek (Jim Dinning)
Ed Stelmach Supporters – 9 MLA’s
Ray Danyluk, Lac La Biche-St. Paul (Ed Stelmach)
Hon. Iris Evans, Sherwood Park (Ed Stelmach)
Mel Knight, Grande Prairie-Smoky (Ed Stelmach)
Fred Lindsay, Stony Plain (Ed Stelmach)
Hector Goudreau, Dunvegan-Central Peace (Ed Stlemach)
George Groeneveld, Highwood (Ed Stelmach)
Hon. Luke Ouellette, Innisfail-Sylvan Lake (Ed Stelmach)
Lloyd Snelgrove, Vermilion-Lloydminster (Ed Stelmach)
Ivan Strang, West Yellowhead (Ed Stelmach)
Lyle Oberg Supporters – 3 MLA’s
Hon. Guy Boutilier, Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo (Lyle Oberg)
Hon. Pearl Calahasen, Lesser Slave Lake (Lyle Oberg)
Hung Pham, Calgary Montrose (Lyle Oberg)
Mark Norris Supporters – 2 MLA’s
Carol Haley, Airdrie-Chestermere (Mark Norris)
Hon. Doug Horner, Spruce Grove-Sturgeon-St. Albert (Mark Norris)
Ted Morton Supporters – 1 MLA
Paul Hinman, Cardston-Taber-Warner – Alberta Alliance Leader
Undeclared – 9 MLA’s
Tony Abbott, Drayton Valley-Calmar (Rumoured Ted Morton supporter)
Hon. Denis Ducharme, Bonnyville-Cold Lake
Hon. Clint Dunford, Lethbridge-West
LeRoy Johnson, Wetaskiwin-Camrose
Hon. Ralph Klein, Calgary-Elbow
Hon. Ken Kowalski, Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock Hon. Ty Lund, Rocky Mountain House
Hon. Shirley McClellan, Drumheller-Stettler
Updates: September 29, 2006 to reflect 7 MLA endorsements for Ed Stelmach.
October 7, 2006 to reflect six new MLA endorsements for Jim Dinning.
October 11, 2006 to reflect leadership candidate Alana DeLong‘s endorsement of Jim Dinning and Paul Hinman’s endorsement of Ted Morton.
October 28, 2006 to reflect MLA Mel Knight’s endorsement of Ed Stelmach.
November 3, 2006 to reflect MLA Rob Lougheed’s endorsement of Jim Dinning.
November 8, 2006 to reflect MLA Ivan Strang’s endorsement of Ed Stelmach, and Pearl Calahasen and Guy Boutillier’s endorsement of Lyle Oberg.
Categories
p-a-t-r-o-n-a-g-e.
Yesterday, Tory Advanced Education Minister Denis Herard appointed failed Edmonton Riverview PC candidate Fred Horne to the Governing Council of Athabasca University. Only one more indication that the sky is the limit for political patronage opportunities if you invest in an Alberta PC membership…
As well, apparently the sky is also the limit for Jim Dinning supporters interested in becoming Alberta’s next Minister of Agriculture… any bets on which Tory MLA’s were promised what?
Categories
notley quick on the draw.
In my previous post regarding the retirement of NDP MLA Raj Pannu, I noted a rumour that lawyer and labour activist Rachel Notley would be running for the NDP nomination in Edmonton Strathcona for the next election (I originally noted the rumour back in January).
Well, with the floodgates barely open, it looks like her candidacy for the nomination has been confirmed (with my rumour noted on her site).
UPDATE: It seems that a clever webmaster has discovered that I have prematurely announced Ms. Notley’s candidacy.
As such, her site has been taken down until the official announcement is made. Even though I did have the foresight to see this coming and captured screenshots and copied her announcement speech and press release (dated June 16), I’m really not cruel enough to post stuff like that (this early in the nomination game).
So, you’ll just have to wait until Friday to see what she has to say…
June 16 Update…
Ms. Notley’s site has been officially launched, along with this little note in the news section of her website…
Liberal blogger Daveberta wins the prize as the first observer to note Rachel’s Candidacy. Dave noted Rachel’s cadidacy back on January 12th and on June 14th. In his June 14th posting, he argues that the riding is now a wide open contest with the retirement of Raj Pannu.
Kudos to Daveberta for cleverness and moxie. In Daveberta’s second June 14th post, he caused this webmaster to scream panicked obsenities when he found Rachel’s development website and linked to it! A quick trip to the ER for treatment with the defibrillator helped calm me down.
Categories
raj retiring.
Edmonton Strathcona NDP MLA Raj Pannu announced today that he will not be seeking re-election in the next general election. Pannu has served Edmonton Strathcona since first being elected in 1997 and was the leader of the Alberta NDP from 2000 to 2004.
I like Raj Pannu. He’s a hard worker and is passionate about bringing social justice issues to the forfront in Alberta politics (he’s also my MLA). Though some people liked to argue that it wouldn’t be true, I’ve long predicted that the 70+ MLA would not seek re-election.
In my mind, this opens Edmonton Strathcona up as a key battleground between the three-main parties in the next election. Since 1997, Pannu’s personal popularity has gained him support from many traditional non-NDP voters and has more than definately been the cause of many high-profile Liberals and Tories declining to run against him.
As for high-profile candidates that may run in Stathcona, here are some potentials…
Liberal – Don Fleming, Ben Henderson, (and I think Nic would make an awesome candidate!)
NDP – Rachel Notley, Larry Booi
PC – Eric Young, Kim Krushell, Janet Riopel
As for past Edmonton-Strathcona election results, here you go…
1989
Gordon Wright, ND- 6,696
Philip Lister, Lib- 4,237
Jack Scott, PC- 3,724
1990* By-Election
Barrie Chivers, ND- 4,927
Nadene Thomas, Lib- 2,252
Eric Young, PC- 1,512
Betty Paschen, Grn- 424
Robert Alford, SC- 224
1993
Al Zariwny, Lib- 6,542
Barrie Chivers, ND- 5,121
Don Grimble, PC- 4,071
Patrick Ellis, SC- 460
Betty Paschen, Grn- 253
Ben Toane, NLP- 108
Noami Rankin, Com- 47
1997
Raj Pannu, ND- 4,274
Mary MacDonald, Lib- 4,214
John Logan, PC- 4,096
John Forget, SC- 552
Myles Kitagawa, Grn- 236
Eshwar Jagdeo, NLP- 47
2001
Raj Pannu, ND- 6,998
John Logan, PC- 4,749
Jim Jacuta, Lib- 1,944
James Lakinn, AFP- 136
2004
Raj Pannu, ND- 7,430
Shannon Stubbs, PC- 2,256
Steven Leard, Lib- 1,850
Adrian Cole, Grn- 287
Jeremy Burns, AA- 275
Kelly Graham, SC- 162
Categories
kennedy kennedy kennedy.
For those of you who haven’t noticed, I’ve put up a Bloggers for Gerard Kennedy icon on the sidebar because, as I’m sure is obvious by now, I’m supporting Gerard Kennedy for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada.