Tag: Banff-Kananskis

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Alberta Politics

More federal candidate nomination updates from Alberta

Photo: Campaign central in Edmonton-Centre: Randy Boissonnault’s campaign office (in an old bank) and James Cumming’s campaign office (in an old car dealership) are kitty-corner to each other on Jasper Avenue and 115 Street.

The first full day of Canada’s 2019 federal election campaign marked another round of new candidate nomination updates for the Liberal Party, New Democratic Party, Green Party, and other opposition parties in Alberta. Here are the latest updates:

  • Gwyneth Midgley has been nominated as the Liberal Party candidate in Banff-Airdire. Midgley is the executive director of the Alberta Liberal Party and was that party’s 2019 candidate in Banff-Kananaskis, where she earned 1.08 per cent of the vote. Previously declared nomination candidate Jaro Giesbrecht announced on social media that his candidacy had not passed the Liberal Party’s vetting process.
  • The NDP has nominated retired Registered Nurse Holly Heffernan in Calgary-Heritage, app developer Patrick King in Calgary-Nose Hill, UFCW Local 401 activist Charmaine St. Germain in Edmonton-Manning, and law student Noah Garver in Edmonton-Wetaskiwin. Hefferman has run for the NDP in numerous past provincial and federal elections, most recently as the provincial NDP candidate in Drumheller-Stettler.
  • Logan Garbanewski is seeking the NDP nomination in Red Deer-Mountain View and a selection meeting is scheduled to take place on September 20
  • The Green Party has nominated Jeff Cullihall in Edmonton-West, Brian Deheer in Fort McMurray-Cold Lake, Shannon Hawthore in Medicine Hat-Cardston-Warner, Angelena Satdeo in Yellowhead, Allison Tulick in Calgary-Heritage, Chris Vallee in Edmonton-Manning, and Stephanie Watson in Lethbridge
  • The Christian Heritage Party has nominated Tom Lipp in Bow River, Esther Sutherland in Calgary-Forest Lawn, Larry Heather in Calgary-Heritage, Joseph Alexander in Calgary-Skyview, Christine Armas in Edmonton-Griesbach, Pamella Phiri in Edmonton-Manning, Don Melanson in Edmonton-Mill Woods, and Marc Singerland in Lethbridge. Slingerland narrowly lost the United Conservative Party nomination in Cardston-Siksika to Joseph Schow ahead of the 2019 provincial election.
  • The Marxist-Leninist Party has nominated Kevan Hunter in Calgary-Confederation, Peggy Askin in Calgary-Nose Hill, Daniel Blanchard in Calgary-Skyview, Peggy Morton in Edmonton-Centre, Mary Joyce in Edmonton-Griesbach, and Andre Vachon in Edmonton-Manning.
  • Naomi Rankin is the Communist Party of Canada candidate in Edmonton-Strathcona. Rankin has served as leader of the Communist Party of Alberta since 1992 and has run in every provincial and federal election in Alberta since 1982. Also running for the Communist Party are Jonathan Trautman in Calgary-Forest Lawn and Adam Handy in Calgary-Skyview.

Please contact me at david.cournoyer@gmail.com for additions or updates related to candidate nominations in Alberta and I will add them to the list. Thank you!

Thank you to CBC Edmonton for having me on the radio on Tuesday morning to talk politics with Mark Connolly, Melissa Caouette, and Chaldeans Mensah ahead of the official election call.

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Alberta Politics

Dale Nally secures UCP nomination in Morinville-St. Albert, Nicholas Milliken wins UCP race in Calgary-Currie, and the latest candidate updates

Morinville-St Albert Electoral Boundaries
Morinville-St Albert Electoral Boundaries
Dale Nally Morinville-St. Albert UCP candidate
Dale Nally

North of Edmonton in the new Morinville-St. Albert district, Dale Nally defeated past Wildrose Party candidate, Joe Gosselin, Legal town councillor Trina Jones, and former Sturgeon County mayor Don Rigney to win the United Conservative Party nomination.

Nally lives in St. Albert and works as a Senior Director of Learning and Development at Loblaw Companies Limited. He earned a Master of Distance Education from Athabasca University in the mid-2000s and was a spokesperson for Canada Post in the late 1990s.

This new district north of Edmonton was created from areas in the current Athabasca-Sturgeon-Redwater and Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock and the northeast corner of St. Albert. It is also is the area where I was raised and many of my family members still live.

Nicholas Milliken defeated past Wildrose Party candidate Terry Devries, Amoriza Gunnink, Dan Morrison, and Bettina Pierre-Gilles to secure the United Conservative Party nomination in Calgary-Currie.

Nicholas Milliken UCP Calgary Currie
Nicholas Milliken

Milliken is a lawyer and CEO of Brolly Legal Recruitment. He is also the great grandson of Alberta MLA William Howson, who represented Edmonton in the Alberta Legislature from 1930 to 1936 and led the Alberta Liberal Party from 1932 to 1936.

New Democratic Party MLA Barb Miller is expected to be chosen as her party’s candidate in Red Deer-South at a meeting on November 8, 2018.

Here are more of the latest updates to the list of candidates running for party nominations ahead of Alberta’s 2019 provincial general election:

Banff-Kananskis – Brenda Stanton is seeking the Alberta Party nomination. Stanton is the owner of Back to Basics Hospitality Training & Consulting and is the former president of the Canmore/Kananaskis Chamber of Commerce and former vice chair of Tourism Canmore/Kananaskis.

Calgary-Falconridge – Paramjit Singh Mann is seeking the NDP nomination. Ricky Dhaliwal and Harwinder Kang are the latest candidates to enter the UCP nomination contest in this district. Kang is a real estate agent and President of the Taradale Community Association.

Edmonton-Mill Woods – Nazia Naqvi is seeking the UCP nomination.

Edmonton-South – Inderdeep Sandhu has withdrawn from the UCP nomination contest.

Livingstone-Macleod – Allen MacLennan is seeking the UCP nomination. MacLennan was a candidate for the right-wing Confederation of Regions Party in the 1993 election in Calgary-McCall. He earned 129 votes in that race.

St. Albert – Cameron Jefferies is seeking the Green Party nomination. Jefferies is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Law and the University of Alberta where he researches environmental law, natural resource law, ocean law and animal law and sustainability law.

Devin Dreeshen appointed in Innisfail-Sylvan Lake?

Devin Dreeshen UCP MLA Innisfail Sylvan Lake
Devin Dreeshen

The only electoral district in Alberta where the UCP does not have a nominated candidate or nomination activities is in Innisfail-Sylvan Lake, where MLA Devin Dreeshen was elected in a July 2018 by-election.

There is speculation that the UCP board of directors could appoint Dreeshen as the party’s candidate in that district. The argument in favour of appointing Dreeshen is said to be that he already won a hotly contested nomination vote earlier this year and that his electoral district will not face any significant boundary changes when the election is called.

Dreeshen’s appointment would be a contrast to the situation faced by his fellow rookie UCP MLA Laila Goodridge, who was elected in a July 2018 by-election in Fort McMurray-Conklin and recently won a contested nomination in the redrawn Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche district.

Dreeshen is a former political staffer and is the son of Red Deer-Mountain View Member of Parliament Earl Dreeshen.

If you know any candidates who have announced their intentions to stand for party nominations, please send me an email at david.cournoyer@gmail.com. I will add them to the list. Thank you!

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Alberta Politics

Alberta NDP get their first contested nomination in Calgary-Varsity, more than 3,000 UCPers vote in Cardston-Siksika

Photo: Julia Hayter, Joseph Schow, Kara Levis, and Marg McCuaig-Boyd

The New Democratic Party has its first contested nomination race of this election season, and it is taking place in the newly redrawn Calgary-Varsity district. With current NDP MLA Stephanie Mclean not seeking re-election, MLA Michael Connolly announced he would run for re-election in the new district, which including a significant portion of the current Calgary-Hawkwood district he now represents. Julia Hayter is challenging Connolly for the NDP nomination. Hayter is a Constituency Assistant in Mclean’s office and has received the endorsement of the University of Calgary New Democratic Party Club.

More than 3,000 party members voted in this week’s United Conservative Party nomination contest in the new hour-glass shaped Cardston-Siksika district. The new district includes most of the current Little Bow and part of the current Cardston-Taber-Warner districts and is located in one of the strongest conservative voting areas of Alberta, referred to by many as Alberta’s ‘bible belt.’

The UCP contest in Cardston-Siksika saw Joseph Schow, who led field operations for Jason Kenney’s leadership campaign, defeat Marc Slingerland, the principal of Calvin Christian School in Coalhurst. Schow ran for the federal Conservative Party nomination ahead of the 2016 by-election in Medicine Hat-Cardston-Warner and previously worked as chief of staff and campaign manager for Fort Saskatchewan-Sherwood Park MP Garnett Genuis.

The NDP immediately jumped to criticize some of Schow’s social conservative political positions, including his comments about women’s reproductive rights and gay-straight alliances.

Grande Prairie-Smoky MLA Todd Loewen has been nominated as the UCP candidate in the new Central Peace-Notley district. Dunvegan-Central Peace-Notley MLA Marg McCuaig-Boyd was chosen as the NDP candidate in Central Peace-Notley at a nomination meeting tonight. This will mark the first time since 1993 that two incumbent MLAs will run against each other in a general election in Alberta.

Here are some of the latest updates to the list of candidates running for party nominations ahead of Alberta’s 2019 provincial election:

Banff-Kananskis – Conservative activist Cory Morgan’s bid to seek the NDP nomination has been denied by the NDP.

Bonnyville-Cold Lake-St. Paul – Town of Cold Lake mayor Craig Copeland is running for the UCP nomination in this new district. Copeland was the Progressive Conservative candidate in Bonnyville-Cold Lake in the 2015 election. Glenn Anderson is seeking the Alberta Party nomination. Anderson is a former mayor of the town of St. Paul. In 2015, he ran for the PC Party nomination in Lac La Biche-St. Paul-Two Hills.

Calgary-Bow – Paul Godard is seeking the Alberta Party nomination.

Calgary-Cross – Jesse Minhas is seeking the UCP nomination. Minas ran for the Progressive Conservative nomination in this district ahead of the 2015 election and was the Wildrose Party candidate in Calgary-East in the 2012 election.

Calgary-Klein – Kara Levis has been nominated as the Alberta Party candidate. Levis ran for the leadership of the Alberta Party in early 2018 and is the former President of the National Women’s Liberal Commission of the Liberal Party of Canada.

Calgary-North East – Gul Khan has become the first Liberal Party candidate nominated for the 2019 election.

Calgary-South East – Lawyer Eva Kiryakos is seeking the UCP nomination.

Drumheller-Stettler – Former Hanna mayor Mark Nikota has been nominated as the Alberta Party candidate.

Edmonton-Castle Downs – Gennadi Boitchenko is seeking the UCP nomination. He served as Chair of United Way’s Engineering Challenge from 2011 to 2015.

Edmonton-Ellerslie – Yash Sharma has been nominated as the Alberta Party candidate. Sharma is the Publisher of the Asia Tribune and producer of Harmony TV and in 2016 he was one of 32 candidates to run in the Ward 12 by-election.

Edmonton-Manning – Kulshan Gill is seeking the UCP nomination.

Edmonton-Whitemud – Jonathan Dai has been nominated as the Alberta Party candidate. Dai was the PC Party candidate in Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood in the 2015 election and the Liberal candidate in Edmonton-Strathcona in the 2000 federal election.

Grande Prairie-Wapiti – Travis Toews is seeking the UCP nomination. toes is the former president of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association.

Sherwood Park – Jason Lafond is seeking the UCP nomination.

West Yellowhead – Paul Chauvet is seeking the UCP nomination. Chauvet is a real estate broker in Whitecourt and was first elected to Whitecourt Town Council in 2013. He was re-elected to a second-term on council in October 2017.

If you know any candidates who have announced their intentions to stand for party nominations, please send me an email at david.cournoyer@gmail.com. I will add them to the list. Thank you!

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Alberta Politics

Alberta Candidate Nomination Update: Lisa Davis in Calgary-Bow, Another former PC MLA in with Alberta Party, and more.

Sunset at the Alberta Legislature (source: Dave Cournoyer)

Calgary school trustee Lisa Davis announced this week that she will seek the United Conservative Party nomination in the Calgary-Bow district. While Davis’ conservative leanings are well-known, her desire to leave the trustee role she was only first elected to a short 9 months ago came as a surprise and has led to calls for her resignation by some groups.

Davis ran as part of the UCP-connected ‘Students Count’ slate in the October 2017 election. She will face at least three other candidates in the nomination contest, including her former campaign manager, Demetrios Nicolaides.

Heating up in Highwood

MLA Wayne Anderson had some choice words for Carrie Fischer and Richard Sigurdson, who are challenging him for the UCP nomination in the newly redrawn Highwood district:

“My understanding was she still wants to be Mayor of Okotoks, so I’m not clear on what her political intentions are. Whether it’s for name brand recognition or not. And then Mr. Sigurdson was the President of the PC Party here in Highwood. But, was a very inactive board. Didn’t raise any funds. They weren’t really meeting on a formal or regular basis.”

Anderson and Fischer faced each other in the 2015 election as the Wildrose Party and Progressive Conservative candidates in the district.

Another former PC MLA in with Alberta Party

It appears as though former Progressive Conservative MLA Ron Casey is organizing for the Alberta Party in the new Banff-Kananaskis district. Casey was MLA for Banff-Cochrane from 2012 to 2015 and Mayor of Canmore from 1998 to 2001 and 2004 and to 2012. He was unseated in 2015 by New Democrat Cameron Westhead.

Here are some of the latest updates to the list of candidates running for party nominations ahead of Alberta’s 2019 provincial election:

Calgary-Klein – Julie Huston is seeking the UCP nomination. She previously worked as a constituency assistant to former Wildrose MLAs Paul Hinman and Jeff Wilson.

Calgary-North West – Lawyer Cyndy Morin is seeking the UCP nomination.

Edmonton-Beverly-Clareview – Jeffery Walters is seeking the UCP nomination.

Edmonton-City Centre – Stephanie Shostak is seeking the Alberta Party nomination. Shostak is the former north Edmonton regional director for the PC Party. Shostak.

Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo – MLA Tany Yao is seeking the UCP nomination. He was first elected as MLA for this district in 2015 as the Wildrose Party candidate.

A number of candidate nomination meetings will be held in the next week:

June 23, 2018 – Kieran Quirke is expected to be nominated as the NDP candidate in Drayton Valley-Devon.

June 24, 2018 – Gul Khan is expected to be nominated as the Liberal Party candidate in Calgary-North East.

June 25, 2018 – Todd Loewen is expected to be nominated as the UCP candidate in Central Peace-Notley. The Alberta Party is expected to officially nominate Yash Sharma in Edmonton-Ellerslie, Carla Stolte in Edmonton-Glenora, and Mark Nikota in Drumheller-Stettler.

June 26, 2018 – Jonathan Dai is expected to be nominated as the Alberta Party candidate in Edmonton-Whitemud. Dai was the PC Party candidate in Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood in the 2015 election and the Liberal candidate in Edmonton-Strathcona in the 2000 federal election.

June 27, 2018 – UCP members will select Joseph Schow or Marc Slingerland as their candidate in the new Cardston-Siksika district. Kara Levis is expected to be nominated as the Alberta Party candidate in Calgary-Klein.

June 28, 2018 – Marg McCuaig-Boyd is expected to be nominated as the NDP candidate in Central Peace-Notley.

June 29, 2018 – Nate Pike is expected to be nominated as the Alberta Party candidate in Calgary-North East.

If you know any candidates who have announced their intentions to stand for party nominations, please send me an email at david.cournoyer@gmail.com. I will add them to the list. Thank you!

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