Ala Buzreba – daveberta.ca – Alberta Politics and Elections

Federal Election Digest | Alberta Edition

While most Albertans are enjoying the last few weeks of summer, here are some of the more interesting and bizarre news stories from the federal election campaign trail in our province:

Independent Rathgeber: Conservative leader Stephen Harper’s “only ethical barometer is not getting caught,” according to Independent Member of Parliament Brent Rathgeber. The former Conservative MP and Progressive Conservative MLA tweeted his criticism of Mr. Harper, who is campaigning in the midst of the trial of former Conservative Senator Mike Duffy. In another blog post, Mr. Rathgeber explains why he is running as an Independent candidate in the new St. Albert-Edmonton riding.

Two new riding-level polls: The Lead Now group commissioned Environics to conduct polls in a handful of swing ridings across Canada, including two in Alberta. The poll shows NDP candidate Janis Irwin with 16 point lead over Conservative Kerry Diotte in Edmonton-Griesbach and Conservative Joan Crockatt with a 12 point lead over Liberal Kent Hehr in Calgary-Centre.

Crockatt Drops Out of Pride Parade: Ms. Crockatt will not participate in this year’s Calgary Pride Parade after an online campaign highlighted her opposition to a parliamentary bill that would have protected the rights of transgender Canadians.

NDP Protest: Syed Hyder Ali and his supporters wore “Justice for Syed” stickers to protest his exclusion from the Edmonton-Wetaskiwin NDP nomination contest. Ali’s non-inclusion on the ballot was due to his Facebook posts accusing the State of Israel of committing war crimes, reports the Leduc Representative. He told the Representative that the posts and characterization of Israel’s actions were based on an Amnesty International report about the 2014 invasion of Gaza.

Strong Opinions: An Edmonton activist is protesting the decision by an R.C.M.P officer to issue a traffic fine for having a giant “Fuck Harper” sign in the back window of his vehicle.

Toronto Star columnist comes to Alberta: Toronto Star national affairs columnist Tim Harper wrote a column on NDP chances and the political climate in Alberta.

Social Media claims another victim: Liberal Ala Buzreba withdrew her candidacy in Calgary-Nose Hill after the media reported on controversial tweets published when she was a teenager. Ms. Buzreba’s sister stepped up and explained what no media reported did, the context of these tweets. In other news, it seems that political candidates in Alberta did we not learn much from the media storm around Calgary-Bow MLA Deborah Drever‘s youthful social media indiscretions.

Alberta candidate update: 111 days until Canada’s federal election

With only 111 days left until Canada’s next federal election, parties are scrambling to nominate candidates in Alberta’s thirty-four new electoral ridings. Despite their win in the recent provincial election and a sharp rise in the polls, the federal NDP are still far behind in choosing candidates in Alberta, with only ~~four~~ five of thirty-four candidates nominated. The Conservatives recently lost one incumbent following the surprise announcement by MP James Rajotte that he would not seek re-election. The federal Liberals have nominated at least 23 candidates.

Here are some of the latest additions to the list of candidates nominated and seeking nominations to run in the federal election in Alberta:

Calgary-Forest Lawn: Myra D’Souza is seeking the NDP nomination in this east Calgary riding. Ms. D’Souza was a candidate for the Calgary Catholic School Board elections in 2013 and is currently serving her third term as a member of Calgary’s Co-op.

Calgary Heritage: Dr. Brendan Miles has been nominated as the Liberal candidate in this southwest Calgary riding. The physician will challenge Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister Stephen Harper in the October 2015 election.

Calgary-Midnapore: Laura Weston has been nominated as the NDP candidate in this south Calgary constituency. Formerly nominated candidate Michael Connolly was elected as the MLA for Calgary-Hawkwood on May 5, 2015.

Calgary Nose Hill: The Liberals have nominated Ala Buzreba as their candidate. Ms. Buzreba currently studies at the University of Calgary and works with the City of Calgary’s Community and Neighbourhood Services.

Calgary Shepherd: Mechanical engineer Jerome James is the nominated Liberal candidate.

Calgary Signal Hill: The Liberals have nominated lawyer Katherine Kowalchuk to challenge former Progressive Conservative Finance Minister Ron Liepert in this west Calgary riding. She is the founder of Law Boutique and has served on the boards of the Association of Women Lawyers, Commercial Real Estate Women, and the Calgary Women’s Emergency Shelter.

Edmonton-Manning: Artist and advocate Aaron Paquette, community activist Jeanne Lehman, and University of Alberta english instructor Glenda Baker are seeking the NDP nomination in this newly redrawn north east Edmonton riding. Mr. Paquette was one of the creators of the #Ottawapiskat hashtag, that satirized criticisms of the Idle No More protests.

Edmonton Riverbend: With the announcement last week by Mr. Rajotte that he would not seek re-election, former PC MLA Matt Jeneroux has announced plans to seek the Conservative nomination. Mr. Jeneroux was first elected in the 2012 provincial election and was unseated in May 2015 by NDP candidate Thomas Dang.

Edmonton-West: Former Edmonton Public School Board trustee Heather Mackenzie and hotelier Jim Hill are seeking the NDP nomination. The Liberals have nominated former city councillor and mayoral candidate Karen Leibovici as their candidate.

Lethbridge: Michael Pyne has been nominated as the Liberal candidate.

Sherwood Park – Fort Saskatchewan: Joanne Cave and Adam Comartin are seeking the NDP nomination. Mr. Comartin is the son of retiring NDP MP Joe Comartin, who has represented a Windsor-area riding since 2000.

Sturgeon River-Parkland: Guy Desforges has announced plans to seek the NDP nomination in this new riding, which includes areas west and north of Edmonton.