With the end of summer fast approaching and the Labour Day long-weekend just days away, I’ve opened up the mailbag to answer a few Alberta politics questions about health care privatization, early election speculation, and small nuclear reactors sent in by Daveberta subscribers. Read it all on the Daveberta Substack.
I joined Éric Grenier of TheWrit.ca on his excellent podcast this week to discuss Alberta’s election and the candidates who will be on the ballot on May 29. Éric was generous enough to share the audio from that episode so I can share it with the lucky paid subscribers of the Daveberta Substack.
Thank you to Daveberta Podcast producer Adam Rozenhart for editing this so we can share it with you today.
Listen to this episode of the Daveberta Podcast by signing up for a paid subscription to the Daveberta Substack.
The official list of candidates was released by Elections Alberta at the end of last week. I’ve been tracking candidate nominations for this election quite closely over the past two years and shared some initial thoughts a few weeks ago. But now that the list of candidates is official, here’s a quick look at the slates on the ballot on May 29.
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The deadline has passed for candidates to get on the ballot for Alberta’s provincial election and, as was widely expected, only the United Conservative Party and the Alberta NDP have fielded a full slate of 87 candidates.
The Green Party has the third largest slate with 41 candidates and Pastor Artur Pawlowski’s Solidarity Movement of Alberta has 38.
The Independence Party (formerly led by Pawlowski) has 14 candidates and the Paul Hinman-led upstart Wildrose Loyalty Coalition also has 16.
The Alberta Party has nominated 19 candidates and the Liberal Party has 13.
There are 14 registered political parties and 349 nominated candidates.
I will update the list of candidates to reflect the Elections Alberta official list this weekend and I will share some thoughts about the nominated slates soon on the Daveberta Substack (subscribe!).
I’ve been tracking candidate nominations for this election since March 2021 and it is always a bit of a bitter sweet ended when we reach deadline day. I want to thank everyone who reached out, emailed, DMed, texted and tweeted me with candidate updates over the past two years.
I’m sure it won’t be long before I start collecting nomination updates for the next Alberta election.
The separatist Wildrose Loyalty Coalition was only recognized as a political party by Elections Alberta last week and this weekend the right-wing splinter party registered a slate of 54 candidates in ridings across Alberta.
The right-wing slate includes leader Paul Hinman, who is running in Taber-Warner, an area he represented as an Alberta Alliance and Wildrose Alliance MLA from 2004 to 2008.
The Wildrose Loyalty Coalition was formed by Hinman after he was removed as leader of the Wildrose Independence Party. Hinman was leader of the Wildrose Alliance from its creation in 2008 until 2009, when Danielle Smith was chosen as leader.
Meanwhile, the formerly-Hinman-led Wildrose Independence Party has nominated 2 candidates, including now-leader Jeevan Mangat in Innisfail-Sylvan Lake.
The other right-wing separatist party, the Independence Party, has 11 candidates nominated, including recently named Cody Ray Both in Cypress-Medicine Hat, David Braun in Grande Prairie, Vicky Bayford in Red Deer-North, Kerry Lambert in Chestermere-Strathmore, and Frank Kast in Taber-Warner. Kast replaces previously nominated candidate Brent Ginther.
Recently ousted Independence Party leader Pastor Artur Pawlowski announced last week that he plans to create a new party called the Solidarity Movement of Alberta.
I’m planning to write a more in-depth piece about Alberta’s cottage industry of right-wing political parties on the Daveberta Substack next week.
Other smaller parties have also announced new candidates:
The Alberta Party nominated Darrell Dunn in Vermilion-Lloydminster-Vegreville, Wayne Jackson in Calgary-Beddington, and Preston Mildenberger in Grande Prairie.
The Green Party has nominated Christopher Khan in Edmonton-Meadows, David Clarke in Edmonton-City Centre, Derek Thompson in Edmonton-Manning, Lane Robson in Calgary-Currie, Shane Diederich in Grande Prairie. Michelle Overwater Giles in Airdrie-Cochrane, Justin Fuss in Maskwacis-Wetaskiwin, and Galloway Hiatt in West Yellowhead.
Newly registered Independent candidates include Andrej Gudanowski in Edmonton-Beverly-Clareview, Nancy O’Neill in Lesser Slave Lake, Larry Heather in Calgary-Acadia, and disqualified UCP candidate Zulkifl Mujahid in Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo.
Here are the total nominated candidates running in Alberta’s provincial election:
I’m continuing to post candidate nomination updates on this website but subscribe to the Daveberta Substack to read my latest Alberta election coverage. My most recent piece dives into how the United Conservative Party went from being a political juggernaut in 2019 to being neck-and-neck with the Alberta NDP in 2023.
I am planning to share most of my writing for the upcoming Alberta election on Substack, so don’t miss out!
As the first day of Alberta’s provincial election winds down, I have a few quick candidate nomination updates to share.
He waited until almost the very last minute, but Independent MLA Drew Barnes announced through a video posted on social media that he will not seek re-election for a fourth term as the MLA for Cypress-Medicine Hat.
Barnes was first elected in 2012 as a Wildrose Party MLA and was re-elected under the Wildrose banner in 2015. He won a third-term in 2019 as a United Conservative Party candidate but was removed from the UCP Caucus in 2021 after two years of being a general thorn in then-premier Jason Kenney‘s side.
The Wildrose Loyalty Coalition (not to be confused with the Wildrose Independence Party) is now an official registered political party recognized by Elections Alberta.
The new party is led by former Wildrose Independence and Wildrose Alliance Party leader Paul Hinman, who was pushed out of his role as leader of the WIP last year. Two-time Wildrose Party candidate and UCP nominee aspirant Danny Hozack is the party president.
And there is always room for one-more fringe party on the political right in Alberta.
Pastor Artur Pawlowski, known for his 11-minute phone call with Premier Danielle Smith and his ousting as leader of the Independence Party of Alberta, was joined by former Conservative Member of Parliament Rob Anders (who is still listed as a board member of the Wildrose Independence Party) to announce they are forming another new political party – The Solidarity Movement of Alberta.
Meanwhile, the Pro-Life Alberta Political Association (formerly known as the Social Credit Party) has nominated Lucas Hernandez as their candidate in Calgary-Mountain View. Hernandez carried the party banner in Calgary-Currie in 2019, where he earned 60 votes.
The CBC’s Jason Markusoff recently wrote an analysis of the Alberta Pro-Life Political Association, a political party that acts like a political action committee.
There are also a handful of people who have registered as candidates with no party affiliation who will run as Independents.
They include Andrew Lineker in Edmonton-McClung, Graham Lettner in Edmonton-Gold Bar, Jody Balanko in Strathcona-Sherwood Park, and Matthew Powell in Vermilion-Lloydminster-Wainwright.
Powell sought the Freedom Conservative Party nomination in the riding in 2019 (FCP joined with Wexit Alberta to become the Wildrose Independence Party in 2021).
Here are the total nominated candidates running in Alberta’s provincial election:
I will continue to post candidate nomination updates on this website but subscribe to the Daveberta Substack to read my latest Alberta election coverage. My most recent piece covers how the UCP and NDP kicked-off the election, the role that Conservative Party MPs are playing in the election, and how the two main parties are spending money on digital advertising.
I am planning to share most of my writing for the upcoming Alberta election on Substack, so don’t miss out!
The Alberta NDP became the second party to fill its full slate of 87 candidates late last night with the nomination of Calan Hobbs in Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche and Jazminn Hintz in Taber-Warner.
The NDP announced on Saturday that author and editor Dustin Archibald would be the party’s candidate in Grande Prairie-Wapiti.
“As a parent, I was very concerned when the UCP introduced their inappropriate curriculum. This backwards curriculum is not one that will give my son a strong start in life,” Archibald said in a statement released after his nomination “Education is one of our biggest economic drivers in the province, so we must invest in public education to ensure children have the best start to their lives.”
And at a party event on Sunday afternoon, Alberta Liberal Party leader John Roggeveen announced he is running in Calgary-Lougheed. The Liberals currently have 12 candidates nominated to run in Alberta’s election.
Here is the list of total nominated Alberta election candidates as of this morning:
Subscribe to the Daveberta Substack to read my latest Alberta election coverage, including what I learned from years of tracking election candidate nominations and a recent Daveberta Podcast interview with Edmonton Public School Board chairperson Trisha Estabrooks.
I am planning to share most of my writing for the upcoming Alberta election on Substack, so don’t miss out!
With three days left until Alberta’s provincial election begins, most parties are still filling their slates of candidates. The United Conservative Party is the only party currently with a full slate of 87 candidates. The Alberta NDP have named 84 candidates and are expected to complete their slate of 87 by Sunday, April 30.
The NDP have nominated Colleen Quintal in Cardston-Siksika. Quintal is President of the NDP constituency association in Lethbridge-East and works as a staff representative with CUPE in Lethbridge.
The NDP are expected to name candidates this weekend in Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche, Grande Prairie-Wapiti and Taber-Warner.
Here are the other recent updates to the list of Alberta election candidates:
Here is the list of total nominated Alberta election candidates as of this morning:
Subscribe to the Daveberta Substack to read my latest Alberta election coverage, including what I learned from years of tracking election candidate nominations and a recent Daveberta Podcast interview with Edmonton Public School Board chairperson Trisha Estabrooks.
I am planning to share most of my writing for the upcoming Alberta election on Substack, so don’t miss out!
With 33 days left until Election Day, the United Conservative Party has named candidates in all 87 ridings and the Alberta NDP is only four away from completing its slate.
Although their nomination meetings are still scheduled on the NDP website, Elections Alberta’s website shows the NDP have endorsed Tanika Chaisson in Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo, Kevin McLean in Grande Prairie, Harry Singh in Drayton Valley-Devon and Jessica Hallam in Highwood.
The NDP is expected to have candidates nominated in Cardston-Siksika, Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche, Grande Prairie-Wapiti and Taber-Warner by April 30. The four are all considered extremely safe UCP ridings, which is probably why the NDP is in no rush to fill those spots.
Meanwhile, some of the smaller parties are continuing to name candidates.
The Alberta Party now has a slate of 16 with the addition of three more candidates to its roster:
The Liberal Party is now up to 11 candidates after naming Zarnab Zafar in Calgary-Beddington, Leila Keith in Calgary-Currie, and Dylin Hauser in Livingstone-Macleod. Keith ran in Calgary-South East and Hauser ran in Livingstone-Macleod in 2019.
The Buffalo Party has nominated Andrew Jacobson in Edmonton-Strathcona. Jacobson is the first candidate nominated to run in an election under the Buffalo banner since the party’s creation in February 2022.
Brooklyn Biegel has been named as the Independence Party candidate in Grande Prairie-Wapiti.
Conrad Nunweiler is running as an Independent separatist candidate in Peace River.
Subscribe to the Daveberta Substack to read my latest Alberta election coverage, including what I’ve learned after years of tracking election candidate nominations. I am planning to share most of my writing for the upcoming Alberta election on Substack.
Most of my writing during the election will be accessible to all subscribers but to get full access to election extras (like this and this) and future episodes of the Daveberta Podcast (like the new episode coming out soon where I talk about public education with Edmonton Public School Board chairperson Trisha Estabrooks) please consider signing up for a paid subscription. Thank you!
“Hey, you’re the candidate nominations guy!”
It’s not what people usually call me when I meet them for the first time, but it’s what a longtime daveberta.ca reader said when I met them for the first time a few weeks ago.
But I guess it’s true.
I started tracking the names of people running for nominations to become party candidates in elections 16 years ago and have since done it for every provincial and federal election in Alberta and municipal election in Edmonton. By my count that’s 15 elections.
Read the rest on the Daveberta Substack. Sign up for a paid subscription to get access to the Daveberta Podcast and special election extras.
Rebuking a decision by the United Conservative Party to disqualify candidate Zulkifl Mujahid, the board of directors of the UCP constituency association in Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo has voted to continue supporting him as their candidate. The motion was passed at a meeting on April 18.
Here’s the motion:
“Zulkifl Mujhid is the UCP Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo Constituency preferred candidate. He is democratically elected.”
Mujhid became the UCP candidate after winning a hotly contested UCP nomination vote against MLA Tany Yao and construction association president Keith Plowman.
The nomination vote followed another contentious annual general meeting that saw a slate of new candidates elected to the local constituency board of directors.
The UCP announced last week that it had disqualified Mujahid after court records revealed he is being sued for defamation by Sultan Zamman, the vice-president of fundraising for the riding’s constituency association. Zamman is seeking $250,000 in damages and a further $50,000 in special damages.
The UCP is expected to appoint a candidate to replace Mujahid before the election is officially called on May 1. But the board’s motion and the former UCP candidate’s continued posting on social media as if he is still a candidate could create some difficulty for whoever the is appointed candidate by the party.
There has been some speculation that the UCP could appoint Yao as the candidate. He is a long-time friend of the MLA from the neighbouring Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche riding, Brian Jean, and endorsed him in the 2022 UCP leadership race.
Yao appears to have spent most of the past week canvassing door-to-door with UCP MLAs running for re-election in Calgary ridings.
The election in this otherwise safe UCP riding in northern Alberta could also be made even more interesting by the entry of Wood Buffalo Municipal Councillor Funky Banjoko, who is running as an Independent candidate in the riding. Banjoko earned more votes than any other candidate running for municipal council in 2021.
Suncor laboratory technician and Unifor organizer Tanika Chaisson is expected to be nominated as the Alberta NDP candidate.
There are 37 days left until Alberta’s May 29 provincial election.
UPDATE: The UCP has appointed Tany Yao as the party’s candidate in Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo. With his appointment, the UCP once again have 87 candidates nominated to run in the next election (see the full list of candidates).
If you haven’t already, please subscribe to the Daveberta Substack. I am planning to share most of my writing for the upcoming Alberta election on Substack.
Most of my writing during the election will be accessible to all subscribers but to get full access to election extras and future episodes of the Daveberta Podcast, please consider signing up for a paid subscription. Thanks!
Days after celebrating the nomination of the party’s 87th candidate of the 2023 election, the United Conservative Party is back down to 86 candidates.
The UCP announced today that Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo candidate Zulkifl Mujahid was disqualified after court records revealed he is being sued for defamation by Sultan Zamman, the vice-president of fundraising for the riding’s constituency association. Zamman is seeking $250,000 in damages and a further $50,000 in special damages.
Mujahid defeated two-term MLA Tany Yao and Fort McMurray Construction Association President Keith Plowman in the UCP nomination in December 2022.
The UCP is expected to appoint a candidate to replace Mujahid before the election is officially called on May 1.
Wood Buffalo municipal councillor Funky Banjoko is running as an Independent candidate in the northern Alberta riding. Suncor laboratory technician and Unifor organizer Tanika Chaisson is running for the NDP nomination.
Here is the current list of nominated candidates:
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The United Conservative Party has filled their slate of 87 candidates with the nomination of Nick Kalynchuk as their candidate in Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood.
Kalynchuk is a staffer in Premier Danielle Smith‘s office and was Vice-President of the United Conservative Club at the University of Alberta. He started working in the Premier’s office during Jason Kenney‘s time as Premier and previously worked for the UCP Caucus.
Kalynchuk will face Alberta NDP MLA Janis Irwin, Green Party candidate Kristine Kowalchuk and Communist Party leader Naomi Rankin.
Irwin was elected in 2019 with 63.4 per cent of the vote. The NDP have held the riding since it was created in 2004.
NDP leader Rachel Notley announced today that her party would have their full slate of 87 candidates nominated by April 30.
Also announced today: Harry Singh will be nominated as the party’s candidate in Drayton Valley-Devon on April 30.
Here is the current list of nominated candidates:
If you haven’t already, please subscribe to the Daveberta Substack. I am planning to share most of my writing for the upcoming Alberta election on Substack.
Most of my writing during the election will be accessible to all subscribers but to get full access to election extras and future episodes of the Daveberta Podcast, please consider signing up for a paid subscription. Thanks!
A quick Saturday morning candidate nomination update:
The right-wing Advantage Party of Alberta (previously known as the Alberta Advantage Party) has now nominated three candidates to run in the election:
I’ve added these names to the growing list of candidates running in the May 29 provincial election.
If you haven’t already, please subscribe to the Daveberta Substack. I am planning to share most of my writing for the upcoming Alberta election on Substack.
Most of my writing during the election will be accessible to all subscribers but to get full access to election extras and future episodes of the Daveberta Podcast, please consider signing up for a paid subscription. Thanks
The Alberta NDP now have candidates nominated in 80 of 87 ridings after nominating Samson Cree Band Councillor Katherine Swampy in Maskwacis-Wetaskiwin and former city councillor Kevin McLean in Grande Prairie. Nomination meetings are still scheduled for those ridings but the Elections Alberta website indicates both candidates have already been endorsed by the party.
Update: Tanika Chaisson is seeking the NDP nomination in Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo. Chaisson is a Laboratory Technician with Suncor and a former National Representative with Unifor. A nomination meeting is scheduled for April 30.
The NDP are expected to announce their candidates in Grande Prairie-Wapiti and Highwood soon.
The United Conservative Party are expected to complete their slate of 87 candidates when they acclaim Lieberson Pang in Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood. The candidate entry deadline in the riding was yesterday.
The Green Party has nominated two new candidates, Vanessa Diehl in Lac Ste. Anne-Parkland and Kurt Klingbeil in Morinville-St. Albert, bringing that party’s total number of nominated candidates to 30.
Myles Chykerda has been nominated as the Alberta Party candidate in Lacombe-Ponoka. The Alberta Party now has 13 candidates nominated and an email from party president Sid Kobewka to supporters yesterday confirmed the party does not intend to nominate a full slate of candidates in this election.
Alberta’s fractious right-wing fringe parties are becoming even more divided after leadership turmoil in the Wildrose Independence Party and the Independence Party of Alberta. Candidates formerly affiliated with the two Alberta independence parties are declaring themselves to be Independent candidates on the ballot.
The Wildrose Loyalty Coalition, a new unregistered party founded by ousted Wildrose Independence Party leader Paul Hinman, announced that Daniel Jeffries will run as the new coalition’s candidate in Lacombe-Ponoka. Though unless the WLC is able to get official party status before May 10, Jeffries will be listed as an Independent candidate on the ballot.
Former Wexit Alberta interim leader Kathy Flett, who briefly served as the Wildrose Independence Party’s VP Communications, is running as an Independent candidate in Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville under the “Independents for Alberta” banner.
Joining Flett as an IFA-affiliated Independent candidate is Angela Tabak, who briefly claimed the title of President of the Wildrose Independence Party following an unsuccessful counter coup, is running as an Independent candidate in Cardston-Siksika.
And in Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre, former Independence Party candidate Fred Schwieger is now running as an Independent candidate. Schwieger joins a handful of former IPA candidates who are running an Independents since Pastor Artur Pawlowski was ousted from the party leadership last month.
Here is the current list of nominated candidates:
If you haven’t already, please subscribe to the Daveberta Substack. I am planning to share most of my writing for the upcoming Alberta election on Substack.
Most of my writing during the election will be accessible to all subscribers but to get full access to election extras and future episodes of the Daveberta Podcast, please consider signing up for a paid subscription. Thanks!
