Alberta’s Legislative Assembly is back in session next week after a weeklong Constituency Break that immediately followed last Thursday’s budget announcement. While Premier Jason Kenney and Health Minister Tyler Shandro have been testing out their new health care friendly talking points this week, pandemic politics inside the United Conservative Party caucus threaten to derail the Premier’s Spring agenda.
An unofficial “end the lockdown caucus” inside the UCP caucus, which originally included outspoken MLA Drew Barnes and Deputy Speaker Angela Pitt – but now appears to have expanded to include former Wildrose MLAs Todd Loewen, Ron Orr, Dave Hanson and rookie MLA Michaela Glasgo (according to Postmedia columnist Rick Bell) – is causing problems for Kenney.
The group of disgruntled backbenchers are unhappy they are being kept out of the loop on public health decisions and want COVID public health measures lifted more quickly and on a regional basis. That most of the six-pack of UCP dissenters come from the former Wildrose caucus is not surprising. The former opposition party was notoriously raucous and unwilling to bow to the kind of centralized party leadership that Kenney would have become accustomed to during his many years in Ottawa.
But they aren’t alone. I’m told that there may be another 10 to 20 UCP backbenchers who are supportive of the six-pack but haven’t said so publicly and number of them are agitating for a leadership review to happen before the 2023 election.
Barnes in particular continues to play a game of chicken with Kenney, almost daring the Premier to kick him out of the caucus. After he was overlooked for a cabinet spot following the 2019 election, Barnes has been outspoken on his support for Alberta autonomy from Canada, has called on Kenney to appoint him as Minister of Autonomy, and most recently declared that he has not yet decided whether he will endorse the budget tabled by Finance Minister Travis Toews last week.
Kenney has been very cautious not to alienate the right-wing of his party, which explains why he hasn’t come down hard on Barnes in the past, but with more UCP backbenchers speaking out against the Premier it is beginning to look like he’s losing control.
That Barnes remains in the UCP caucus today is a sign that Kenney is desperate not to have another conservative party represented in the Assembly – a split that would immediately undermine the entire “United Conservative” project that Kenney helped spearhead four years ago.
Already 1 Independent
Already outside the UCP Caucus is Lesser Slave Lake MLA Pat Rehn, who is sitting as an Independent after he was removed from the UCP caucus following a chorus of calls for his resignation by local municipal leaders and the revelation of questionable expense claims. This all happened after a Christmas vacation to Mexico got him caught up in the hot holiday scandal.
While he now sits in the far corner of the opposition benches, Rehn has been acting on social media as if he is still a UCP MLA by regularity posting government press releases and statements.
New Municipal Affairs Minister?
And speaking of the hot holiday scandal, Kenney has yet to appoint a new Minister of Municipal Affairs following the resignation of former minister Tracy Allard after her unfortunate hot holiday in Hawaii.
Transportation Minister Ric McIver has been serving in a double-role as Municipal Affairs Minister, and there is some speculation that that Spruce Grove-Stony Plain MLA Searle Turton might be up for a promotion. The affable former Spruce Grove city councillor i chair of the UCP Capital Regional Caucus and Kenney’s special envoy to private sector unions.
Rodeo is back
Calgary-North UCP MLA Muhammad Yaseen has introduced a private members’ bill that would make rodeo the official sport of Alberta.
This is not the first time this idea has come up in the Legislative Assembly. Another UCP MLA introduced a private members’ motion calling for this last year and way back in 2008, outgoing Liberal Party leader Kevin Taft did the same (I worked on the caucus communications support for Taft’s motion).
The naysayers may claim it is just a distraction, that it would be controversial, and just play into outdated stereotypes. They are probably correct, but I say go for it. Yahoo! Yeehaw! Saddle up!
The New Democratic Party has recently nominated ministerial press secretary and former CBC reporter John Archer in Edmonton-South West, retired teacher and political columnist Peter Mueller in Cypress-Medicine Hat and Gulshan Akter in Calgary-West.
The NDP has also announced additional series nomination meetings.
– NDP MLA Eric Rosendahl is seeking his party’s nomination in West Yellowhead at a candidate selection meeting scheduled for Feb. 24, 2019. Rosendahl was first elected in 2015 with 39 percent of the vote and, if nominated, will seek re-election in a district that has been drastically enlarged to include the area surrounding the Town of Whitecourt.
– Doug Hart, a Registered Nurse from Ponoka, will seek the NDP nomination in Lacombe-Ponoka. Hart was the NDP candidate in this district in 2012 and in 2015, when he earned 30.1 percent of the vote. He also ran for the NDP in the Ponoka-Rimbey district in the 1989 and 1993 election and against Conservative MP Blaine Calkins in Red Deer-Lacombe in the 2015 federal election. A nomination meeting has been scheduled for Feb. 27, 2019.
– Justin Sharpe will seek the NDP nomination in Peace River at a meeting scheduled for Feb. 28, 2019. The district is currently represented by NDP MLA Debbie Jabbour, who has not yet announced whether she plans to seek re-election.
A nomination meeting has been scheduled by the NDP in Cardston-Siksika on Feb. 26, 2019.
Neudorf re-entered the UCP nomination contest in this district in December 2018 after dropping out to run for the UCP nomination in the Livingstone-Macleod district located west of Lethbridge, but was unsuccessful in that contest. He was endorsed by Roger Reid, UCP Candidate for Livingstone-Macleod, and local Conservative MP Rachael Harder.
Rajesh Arora is seeking the UCP nomination in Edmonton-Ellerslie. The party has also finally opened the nomination process in the Red Deer-South district.
Alberta Party
The Alberta Party announced that it has selected candidates Braham Luddu in Calgary-CrossZac Rhodenizer in Lethbridge-West. The party’s Calgary-Lougheed candidate, Rachel Timmermans, who was one of 6 candidates deemed ineligible to run in the next election, issued a statement announcing that she has retained legal counsel and plans to “apply for relief from the Court of Queen’s Bench.”
Freedom Conservative Party
Cam Khan has been nominated as the Freedom Conservative Party candidate in Calgary-North West, where he unsuccessfully mounted a campaign for the UCP nomination in August 2018 but was defeated by nominee Sonya Savage. Following the UCP nomination contest, he ran for a position on the Alberta Party board of directors at that party’s 2018 annual general meeting. He also ran for Calgary City Council in the 2017 municipal election.
The FCP also nominated Matthew Morrisey in Airdrie-Cochrane and Malcolm Stinson in Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville.
Liberal Party
Rork Hillford is seeking the Liberal Party nomination in Calgary-Glenmore.
Green Party
Carl Svoboda is seeking the Green Party nomination in Calgary-Edgemont. Svoboda previously ran in Calgary-Varsity as the Evergreen Party candidate in the 2012 election and the Green Party candidate in the 2015 election. The candidate selection deadline is Feb. 13, 2019.
Alberta Advantage Party
The right-wing Alberta Advantage Party has nominated Chris Poplatek in Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood, Gordon Perrot in Edmonton-McClung, Donald Petruka in St. Albert, and Donald Melanson in Strathcona-Sherwood Park.
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!
They also delved into the latest candidate nomination news, including recent UCP votes in Calgary-North and Lethbridge-East, former CBC reporter John Archer’s candidacy in Edmonton-South West, and whether we are ever going to find out the true identity of the mystery UCP candidate in Red Deer-South. They also opened the mailbag to answer some of the questions you have sent us over the past few weeks.
Dave Cournoyer with special guests Natalie Pon and David Climenhaga.
We always love to feedback from our listeners, so let us know what you think of this episode and leave a review where you download. You can also comment on the blog, Facebook or Twitter or send us an email at podcast@daveberta.ca.
And a huge thanks to our producer, Adam Rozenhart, who keeps us on track and makes each episode of the Daveberta Podcast sound so great.
Yaseen is the former president of the Calgary-Northern HillsProgressive Conservatives. Fiss works in the oil and gas industry and moved to Alberta from BC in 2003 to establish a Calgary-based office for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. And Frank previous ran for the federal Conservative Party nominations in Calgary-Rocky Ridge in 2014 and Calgary-Heritage in 2017 and ran as an Independent candidate in Alberta’s 2012 Senator-in-Waiting election.
James is the Chief Administrative Officer of the Lethbridge Housing Authority. Litchfield is a Facility Services project manager with the City of Lethbridge and director of the Alberta Off-Highway Vehicle Association. Lyall is a motivational speaker and consultant and was founding president of the local UCP association and previously served as president of the local Wildrose Party association. Neudorfre-entered the UCP nomination contest in this district in December 2018 after dropping out to run for the UCP nomination in the Livingstone-Macleoddistrict located west of Lethbridge, but was unsuccessful in that contest. Zuba is a Development Manager for Lethbridge College and prior to that was the CEO for the Canadian Home Builders Association
Lyall is endorsed by UCP MLA Nathan Cooper, Leela Aheer, and Pat Stier. Neudorf is endorsed by Roger Reid, UCP Candidate for Livingstone Macleod and former Lethbridge city councillor Tom Wickersham, and Conservative MP Rachael Harder.
Following these two nomination contests, the UCP will have six districts remaining where the party has not selected a candidate ahead of the next election. The remaining districts are Edmonton-Ellerslie, Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood, Edmonton-Meadows, Edmonton-Mill Woods, Edmonton-Strathcona, and Red Deer-South.
Liberals nominate two candidates in Calgary
The Alberta Liberal Party has nominated Jaroslav Giesbrecht in Calgary-Peigan and Vesna Samardzija in Calgary-Shaw, bringing the party to a slate of 17 candidates in 87 districts.
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!
Note: The original version of this article did not include Angela Zuba as a nomination candidate in Lethbridge-East. This has been corrected.
Concerns about the change in electoral boundaries and the geographic size of the new district were a reason given for his decision against running in the expected spring election:
“As it stands now my present riding is “only” 13,000 sqr km in size and laid out on a north-south access to Edmonton making it possible to visit communities on my way back and forth to meetings in the city. The new riding come this spring will be almost double that size spread west to east. For perspective, this is about half the size of Nova Scotia and just a little smaller than Belgium. That’s a lot of territory for one person to have to cover on a regular basis. I made no secret of my concerns over the electoral boundary changes and the negative impact they would have on effective rural representation. But I always somehow expected that if they did come to pass I would find a way to overcome the challenges they posed and make it work. However, as the election has drawn closer and campaign preparations have begun in earnest I realize just how much serving these new boundaries would demand, and not only of me. I just can’t see how to do this without an unacceptable degree of sacrifice from my family.”
A map of the new Athabasca-Barrhead-Westlock district
Had he run for re-election, Piquette would have faced United Conservative Party MLA Glenn van Dijken, who was elected to represent Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock in 2015 and is standing for re-election in the new district. His decision not to seek re-election is not surprising. A path to a second term for Piquette, and most other rural NDP MLAs, would be extremely challenging as it is unlikely that this new district will be brimming with NDP voters in 2019. This is not a reflection on Piquette or his record as an MLA, but of the current prevailing political winds in rural Alberta.
Piquette is the former president of the Boyle District Chamber of Commerce and director with the Boyle and District Agricultural Society. He worked as a university instructor and an insurance agent representing the Cooperators in Athabasca and Boyle before his election.
Piquette is the 11th NDP MLA to announce plans not to seek re-election in 2019. A total of 19 MLAs are not seeking re-election.
Kelly Mandryk was nominated as the NDP candidate in Calgary-North on February 4, 2019. Mandryk is a Senior Service Representative with Great West Life and is a former journalist and editor, having worked at the Barrhead Leader and Calgary Herald.
Stephen Drover is seeking the NDP nomination in Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo. Drover is a trustee with the Fort McMurray Public School Board and was the NDP candidate in this district in 2015, earning 30.42 percent of the vote. He is an oil sands operator and member of Unifor Local 707-A. The NDP have scheduled a nomination contest in this district on February 17, 2019.
Gulshan Akter is seeking the NDP nomination in Calgary-West. Akter is the managing director of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Education and President and CEO of the Peerless Training Institute, a government-accredited private career college in Calgary.
The NDP have scheduled candidate in Edmonton-Whitemud on February 7, 2019, and in Calgary-West, Cypress-Medicine Hat, and Edmonton-South West on February 9, 2019. The UCP is holding nomination votes in Calgary-North and Lethbridge-East on February 9, 2019 (I hope to have updates about these two UCP contests posted tomorrow).
Jordan Stein defeated MLA Anam Kazim to secure the NDP nomination in Calgary-Glenmore.
Photo: Jordan Stein (pictured) defeated MLA Anam Kazim to secure the NDP nomination in Calgary-Glenmore. (photo source: @Jordan.Stein.Alberta on Instagram)
We are in the zone. As of February 1, 2019, Albertans are now living in the campaign period where an election can be called any day until May 31, 2019.
The New Democratic Party had a big nomination weekend, selecting candidates in 7 districts across the province. With candidates nominated in 52 districts, the NDP are now 35 candidates away from a full-slate in all 87 districts.
Anam Kazim
In the southwest district of Calgary-Glenmore, Jordan Stein defeated MLA Anam Kazim to win the NDP nomination. Stein is a former coffee shop owner, flight attendant with WestJet and employee engagement consultant with Air North.
Kazim was first elected in 2015 with a 6-vote margin of victory over Progressive Conservative MLA Linda Johnson. Kazim was one of 9 NDP candidates under the age of 30 to be elected in 2015.
This new district north of Calgary includes areas currently part of the Airdrie, Banff-Cochrane, and Chestermere-Rockyview districts.
Calgary-Beddington: Amanda Chapman is a communications consultant and former communications coordinator with AIDS Awareness Calgary.
Calgary-Edgemont:Julia Hayter was a constituency assistant to recently resignedCalgary-Varsity MLA Stephanie McLean. She was seeking the NDP nomination in McLean’s former district until Anne McGrath entered the contest and was chosen as her party’s candidate.
Calgary-Foothills: Sameena Arif is active with the Calgary Immigrant Women’s Association. A teacher who immigrated from Pakistan to Canada with her family in 2004, Arif’s story was highlighted in an article on one of the Government of Alberta’s official websites in 2012.
Calgary-Hays: Tory Tomblin is a primary care paramedic with Alberta Health Services and was a candidate for the Calgary Board of Education in Wards 12 & 14 in the 2017 election.
Julia Hayter
Camrose: Morgan Bamford is the Acting Supervisor of Indigenous Relations with the City of Edmonton and is the co-founder of Bamford & Henbest Research and Consulting Partners Ltd. He is vice-president of the board of directors of Volunteer Alberta.
The NDP have scheduled candidate selection meetings in Calgary-North on February 4, 2019, in Edmonton-Whitemud on February 7, 2019, and in Calgary-West, Cypress-Medicine Hat, and Edmonton-South West on February 9, 2019.
The contested NDP nomination race between Melissa Byers and Todd Russell in Grande Prairie was initially scheduled to take place on February 3, 2019 but has been rescheduled to February 19, 2019.
Alberta Advantage Party
The Wildrose Party-offshoot Alberta Advantage Party has nominated former Wolf Creek School Division trustee Paula Lamoureux as its candidate in Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre. This is considered one of the most conservative voting areas in Alberta and is currently represented by UCP MLA Jason Nixon.
Marilyn Burns, the leader of the small right-wing party, will be holding a series of town hall meetings in Pincher Creek, Brooks, and Calgary in February 2019.
Freedom Conservative Party
Rick Northey
RickNorthey has been nominated as the Freedom Conservative Party candidate in Airdrie-East. Northey is the former president of the Airdrie UCP and Wildrose Party associations. Heresigned from that UCP board in June 2018, saying he was unhappy with what he maintained was a secretive cash transfer of $16,000 from the local Wildrose Party association to the Alberta Fund political action committee in late 2017. Nothey accused UCP MLA Angela Pitt of “outright intimidation” in trying to get him to stop asking questions about it. He will now face Pitt in the provincial election.
Valerie Keefe has withdrawn plans to seek the FCP nomination in Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood.
The FCP has opened nomination contests in Airdrie-Cochrane, Calgary-North West, Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville, and Leduc-Beaumont.
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!
Today’s big nomination news is the announcements by two New Democratic Party MLAs, Strathcona-Sherwood Park MLA Estefania Cortes-Vargas and Calgary-North West MLA Sandra Jansen, that they will not seek re-election when the next general election is called.
Cortes-Vargas was first elected in 2015 and is one of the three first openly LGBTQ MLAs in the Alberta history. Cortes-Vargas is the current NDP caucus whip and announced on Facebook post an endorsement of crown prosecutor Moira Vane as the NDP candidate in the next election.
“Our government has a strong record, I am proud to have worked alongside Premier Rachel Notley, someone I consider to have been an incredible mentor to me. It was her encouragement that brought me into politics, then saw me become one of the first of three openly LGBTQ+ MLAs, first of three Latin-American Canadians and the youngest government whip in Alberta’s history. I am appreciative of the work our government has done to continue to break the glass ceiling. It has always been my hope that it paves the way for more diverse voices to enter our political landscape.” – Estefania Cortes-Vargas, MLA for Strathcona-Sherwood Park
Cortes-Vargas and Jansen are the seventeenth and eighteenth Alberta MLAs to announce they will not seek re-election in 2019. As I have noted in the past, the number of MLA retirements during this election cycle is fairly average, with 19 MLAs not seeking re-election in 2015, 23 MLAs choosing to not run for re-election in 2012, and 20 MLAs not seeking re-election in 2008.
I am planning to provide more frequent updates in the few months left before the next election is called in order to avoid these novel-length articles. So without further ado, here is the long-list of nomination updates:
Bonnyville-Cold Lake-St. Paul – Kari Whan is seeking the NDP nomination. Whan is a Grade 2 teacher at Cold Lake Elementary School.
Calgary-Acadia – Liberal Lorissa Good was nominated as the Liberal Party candidate on January 21, 2019. She is the Salon Coordinator with Swish Salon.
Calgary-Beddington – Heather Erlen will challenge Amanda Chapman for the NDP nomination in this north Calgary district.Erlen is the Alberta regional representative for the Canadian Labour Congress and is the former Team Lead for the Calgary Dream Centre Women’s Initiative. A candidate selection meeting is scheduled to take place on February 3, 2019.
Calgary-Cross – Ricardo Miranda was nominated as the NDP candidate. Miranda was first elected in 2015 and has served as Alberta’s Minister of Culture and Tourism since February 2016. Naser Al-Kukhun was nominated as the Liberal Party candidate on January 21, 2019.
Calgary-Foothills – Sameena Arif is seeking the NDP nomination. Arif is active with the Calgary Immigrant Women’s Association.
Calgary-Glenmore – Jordan Stein is seeking the NDP nomination in this southwest Calgary district. Glenmore is currently represented by NDP Anam Kazim. A candidate selection meeting is scheduled to take place on February 3, 2019.
Calgary-Hays – Tory Tomblin is seeking the NDP nomination. Tomblin is a primary care paramedic with Alberta Health Services and was a candidate for the Calgary Board of Education in Wards 12 & 14 in the 2017 election. A candidate selection meeting is scheduled to take place on February 2, 2019.
Calgary-North – Salima Haq was nominated as the Liberal Party candidate on January 7, 2019. Gary Arora was nominated as the Alberta Party candidate on January 13, 2019. Arora replaces previously nominated Alberta Party candidate Melanie Wen, who withdrew her candidacy in late 2018.
Calgary-Peigan – Joe Pimlott has been nominated as the NDP candidate in this east Calgary district. Pimlott is a community liaison with Metis Calgary Family Services and the former executive director of the Aboriginal Friendship Centre of Calgary and provincial vice-president of the Metis Nation of Alberta.
Ron Reinhold has been nominated as the Alberta Party candidate. Reinhold was the Liberal Party candidate in Calgary-Cross in the 2008 provincial election, where he earned 22.2 percent of the vote. He endorsed Dave Taylor in the Liberal Party’s 2008 leadership contest.
Calgary-Shaw – John Daly was nominated as the Green Party candidate in this district on January 21, 2019.
Calgary-West – Frank Penkala has been nominated as the Alberta Party candidate. Penkala previously sought the party’s nomination in the neighbouring Calgary-Bow district but was defeated by Paul Goddard in the nomination contest.
Drayton Valley-Devon – Ronald Brochu was nominated as the Liberal Party candidate on January 18, 2019. Brochu was the Liberal Party candidate in Edmonton-Gold Bar in the 2015 election, earning 3.1 percent of the vote.
Edmonton-Ellerlsie – Faton Bislimi is seeking the United Conservative Party nomination in this southeast Edmonton district. Bislimi is an Albanian activist and author from present-day Kosovo. According to his entry on Wikipedia, in 2007 he ran for mayor of Gnjilane, a city of 54,239 in southeast Kosovo.He is currently completing his PhD in Political Science at the University of Alberta. He received a master’s degree in public administration and international development from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government in 2007 and he worked as a lecturer of public policy and governance at the American University in Kosovo.
Chuck McKenna has withdrawn from the Alberta Party nomination in this southeast Edmonton district. Richard Corbin and former Liberal Party candidate Todd Ross will contest the nomination set for January 26, 2019. A candidate selection meeting has been scheduled for January 26, 2019.
Edmonton-Meadows – Chand Gul and MLA Denise Woollard are seeking the NDP nomination in this redrawn and renamed district in southeast Edmonton. Woollard was first elected in 2015 in the Edmonton-Mill Creek district.
Gul is the president of the Alberta Pashtoon Association and previously worked for the Edmonton Mennonite Centre for Newcomers through the organization’s Community Connector Immigrant Women’s Integration network. She is the former chair of the women’s wing of the Pakistan-Canada Association of Edmonton. She was previously the South Edmonton Regional director for the Alberta Liberal Party and a member of the federal Liberal Party’s board of directors in Edmonton-Mill Woods, but she appears to have recently joined the NDP and attended the party’s convention in October 2018.
Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville – Jessica Littlewood was nominated as the NDP candidate in this district on January 20, 2019. Littlewood was first elected in 2015, earning 45 percent of the vote and unseating one-term Progressive Conservative MLA Jacquie Fenske. She has served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Economic Development and Trade since October 2017 and was recently voted Up and Coming MLA to Watch in 2019 in the Daveberta Best of Alberta Politics 2018 Survey.
Leduc-Beaumont – Robb Connelly was acclaimed as the Alberta Party candidate in this district following the withdrawal of Jan Becker and the party not accepting the candidacies of Tauras Pawluk and Coreina Hubert. Connelly previously sought the Alberta Party nomination in the neighbouring Strathcona-Sherwood Park district.
Gil Poitras is the first candidate nominated by the Alberta Advantage Party in this election cycle. Poitras served as interim leader of new right-wing party in 2017, and previously served as Chief Financial Officer for the Alberta Party in 2013 and 2014, and as the president of the Alberta Party association in Leduc-Beaumont in 2015. He served on Beaumont town council from 2001 to 2004 and ran for mayor in in 2013 and 2017.
Lethbridge-West – Patricia Chizek was nominated as the Liberal Party candidate on January 7, 2019.
Morinville-St. Albert – Neil Korotash defeated Wayne Rufiange to secure the Alberta Party nomination on January 19, 2019. Korotash teaches Biology and Urban Agriculture at Morinville Community High School and he sought the PC Party nomination in Spruce Grove-St. Albert ahead of the 2015 election. In 2001, Korotash became the youngest city councillor in St. Albert history when he was elected at age 21 in that year’s municipal elections.
Olds-Didsbury-ThreeHills – Chase Brown has been nominated as the Alberta Party candidate in this central Alberta district. Brown studied business economics at the University of Alberta and has coached special Olympians in softball, curling, and floor hockey programs.
West Yellowhead – Zack Seizmagraff is seeking the Liberal Party nomination, which is scheduled to take place on January 25, 2019. Seizmagraff was the federal Liberal Party candidate in Yellowhead in the 2011 election, earning 2.87 percent of the vote. A candidate selection meeting has been scheduled for January 26, 2019.
The NDP have scheduled nomination meetings to be held in Calgary-West on February 6, 2019, Calgary-East on February 16, 2019, and in Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche and Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo on February 17, 2019. The UCP have scheduled a nomination meeting in Lethbridge-East for February 9, 2019.
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!
Calgary-Currie – Joshua Codd is seeking the Liberal Party nomination. Codd is currently a Constituency Assistant for Calgary-Mountain View Liberal MLA David Swann. A candidate selection meeting has been scheduled for Jan. 23, 2019.
Calgary-Hays – Chris Nowell has been nominated as the Alberta Party candidate in this southeast Calgary district. The district is currently represented by UCP MLA Ric McIver, who was acclaimed as his party’s candidate on June 7, 2018.
Calgary-Peigan – Joseph Pimlott is seeking the NDP nomination in this south east Calgary district. Pimlott is a community liaison with Metis Calgary Family Services and the former executive director of the Aboriginal Friendship Centre of Calgary and provincial vice-president of the Metis Nation of Alberta. A candidate selection meeting is scheduled for January 19, 2019.
Highwood – Erik Overland is running for the NDP nomination in this district south of Calgary. Overland lives in Okotoks, is a Policy Studies student at Mount Royal University and a Governor of the Students’ Association of Mount Royal University. A nomination meeting is scheduled to take place on January 26, 2019.
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!
Update: Controversy with NDP nomination in Calgary-North East
NDP members in the Calgary-North East district are calling for an investigation into alleged voter fraud at a nomination vote held in December 2018. Gurbachan Brar defeated Roop Rai to win the NDP nomination and now a member of Rai’s campaign says complaints about people from outside the riding voting fraudulently were not taken seriously by the party.
According to a report by the CBC, the complaints allege people voted using false addresses and documents, both ahead of the vote and on the day itself.
Peter Mueller, Kelly Mandryk, Jessica Littlewood, and Colin Piquette
Photo: Peter Mueller, Kelly Mandryk, Jessica Littlewood, and Colin Piquette
With candidates nominated in 34 districts and less than two months until the official fixed-election period begins, the New Democratic Partyhas now scheduled nomination meetings in 23 additional districts between now and February 7, 2019. It is expected that more candidate selection meetings will be announced shortly.
The latest meetings to be announced will be held in Calgary-Foothills, Calgary-North and Grande Prairie on February 3, 2019 and Edmonton-Whitemud on February 7, 2019.
Kelly Mandryk is seeking the NDP nomination in Calgary-North. Mandryk is a Senior Service Representative with Great West Life and is a former journalist and editor, having worked at the Barrhead Leader and Calgary Herald. A candidate selection meeting is scheduled for February 3, 2019.
MLA Jessica Littlewood has announced she will seek the NDP nomination for re-election in Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville. Littlewood was first elected in 2015, earning 45 percent of the vote and unseating one-term Progressive Conservative MLA Jacquie Fenske. She has served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Economic Development and Trade since October 2017 and was recently voted Up and Coming MLA to Watch in 2019 in the Daveberta Best of Alberta Politics 2018 Survey. A candidate selection meeting has been scheduled for February 2, 2019.
NDP MLA Colin Piquette will seek his party’s nomination in the newly redrawn Athabasca-Barrhead-Westlock district. Piquette was first elected in 2015 in the Athabasca-Sturgeon-Redwater, earning 40 percent of the vote. He is the son of former NDP MLA Leo Piquette, who represented Athabasca-Lac La Biche from 1986 to 1989.
If nominated, Piquette will face current Barrhead-Morinville-WestlockUnited Conservative Party MLA Glenn van Dijken in the next election. This will be the third race in which two incumbent MLAs are challenging each other in a newly redrawn electoral district. The other races are Central Peace-Notley, where NDP MLA Marg McCuaig-Boyd and UCP MLA Todd Loewen are running, and in Chestermere-Strathmore, where UCP MLA Leela Aheer and Freedom Conservative Party MLA Derek Fildebrandt are running.
Retired teacher Peter Mueller will seek the NDP nomination in Cypress-Medicine Hat. Mueller is a columnist in the pages of the Medicine Hat News where he has been a vocal and persistent critic of local UCP MLA Drew Barnes, who he plans to challenge in the next election. A nomination meeting has been scheduled for February 9, 2019.
Amanda Chapman is seeking the NDP nomination in Calgary-Beddington, which is scheduled to take place on February 3, 2019.
The Alberta Party has announced that Jason James will run for the party in Grande Prairie-Wapiti and Ivan Boles will run in Spruce Grove-Stony Plain. Boles was president of the PC Party association in Spruce Grove-St. Albert and Spruce Grove-Sturgeon-St. Albert from 2010 to 2017 and endorsed Richard Starke in the 2017 PC Party leadership contest.
Putting an end to the rumours, Red Deer Mayor Tara Veer announced that she will not seek the UCP nomination in Red Deer-South. The UCP announced in early December that the party was would delaying the selection meeting until 2019 in order to give time for a “high profile individual” run join the contest. Four candidates are already contesting the nomination. It remains unclear who the mystery star candidate will be.
Here is a list of upcoming candidate selection meetings:
January 8, 2019: Bruce Hinkley was acclaimed as the NDP candidate in Maskwacis-Wetaskiwin. As I wrote in my previous update, Hinkley was first elected in 2015.
January 10, 2019: Shawna Gawreluck is seeking the NDP nomination in Morinville-St. Albert. Gawreluck is a lab technologist and a resident of Sturgeon County. She was the federal NDP candidate in the 2017 by-election in the Sturgeon River-Parkland district where she earned 7.7 percent of the vote.
January 10, 2019: MLA Annie McKitrick has officially filed her intention to seek the NDP nomination for re-election in Sherwood Park. McKitrick was first elected in 2015 with 52 percent of the vote and has served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Education since 2017.
January 10, 2019: MLA Erin Babcock is seeking the NDP nomination in the new Spruce Grove-Stony Plain district west of Edmonton. Babcock was first elected as MLA for Stony Plain in 2015, earning 38 percent of the vote and unseating PC MLA Ken Lemke.
January 17, 2019: MLA Ricardo Miranda is seeking the NDP nomination for re-election in Calgary-Cross. He was first elected in 2015 and has served as Alberta’s Minister of Culture and Tourism since February 2016.
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!
– Wetaskiwin-Camrose MLA Bruce Hinkley is seeking the New Democratic Party nomination in the new Maskwacis-Wetaskiwin district. A retired teacher, Hinkley was first elected in 2015 and is a veteran NDP candidate, having run for the party in Wetaskiwin-Leduc in 1989, and his current district in 1993, 2012 and 2015, and for the party leadership in 1994. He was a candidate for the short-lived Forum Party of Alberta in Wetaskiwin-Camrose in the 1997 election.
Hinkley was elected in 2015 with 43.7 percent of the vote, defeating two-term Progressive Conservative MLA and Minister of Agriculture Verlyn Olson by 1,578 votes. A nomination meeting has been scheduled in Maskwacis-Wetaskiwin for January 8, 2018.
Morgan Bamford is seeking the NDP nomination in the new Camrose district, which includes the eastern portions of the Wetaskiwin-Camrose district. A nomination meeting in this district is scheduled to take place on February 2, 2019.
Pincott served on Calgary City Council from 2007 to 2017 and was nominated as a the NDP candidate in this district on October 25, 2018 and was seen as a star candidate to replace outgoing NDP MLA Brandy Payne.
– Former St. Albert city councillor Neil Korotash is seeking the Alberta Party nomination in the new Moriville-St. Albert district. Korotash teaches Biology and Urban Agriculture at Morinville Community High School and he sought the PC Party nomination in Spruce Grove-St. Albert ahead of the 2015 election. In 2001, Korotash became the youngest city councillor in St. Albert history when he was elected at age 21 in that year’s municipal elections.
The Alberta Party has scheduled a nomination meeting in Morinville-St. Albert for January 19, 2019.
– Tariq Chaudhry has withdrawn from the United Conservative Party nomination contest in Edmonton-Mill Woods and is claiming in an affidavit that Jason Kenney and the UCP cost him more than $25,000. Chaudhry claims Kenney encouraged him to run and asked him to sign up and pay for the $10-membership fee for 1,200 new members. Chaudhry claims he spent $6,000 on memberships and that Kenney’s campaign asked him to organize Eid Mubarak events in 2017 and 2018, on which he spent $20,000, “so Mr. Kenney could be seen speaking to the Edmonton Muslim Community.” Chaudhry is the owner of the Maharaja Banquet Hall.
– Chris Alders has been nominated as the Green Party candidate in Edmonton-City Centre. Alders is a long-time Green Party organizer and ran for the Nova Scotia Green Party in the 2006 and 2009 provincial elections in that province.
– Will Carnegie is seeking the Green Party nomination in Calgary-East. Carnegie is the president of the Forest Lawn Community Association.
– The NDP have now scheduled 20 nomination meetings in January and February, in what is expected to be a flurry of candidacy selection activity ahead of the next election. Along with the 15 meetings mentioned in my previous update, meetings will be held in Bonnyville-Cold Lake-St. Paul, Calgary-Edgemont and Calgary-Hays on February 2, 2019, and in Calgary-Beddington and Calgary-Glenmore on Feb. 3, 2019.
– The UCP have nominated candidates in 79 of Alberta’s 87 electoral districts. The eight remaining nomination contests to be held for the UCP will take place in Calgary-North, Edmonton-Ellerslie, Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood, Edmonton-Meadows, Edmonton-Mill Woods, Edmonton-Strathcona, Lethridge-East, and Red Deer-South. Dates for these nomination meetings have not yet been scheduled.
McLean resigns as MLA
Stephanie McLean
Former cabinet minister Stephanie McLean has resigned as the NDP MLA for Calgary-Varsity. McLean resignation takes place less than two months before Alberta’s fixed election period begins on March 1, 2019. McLean was appointed to cabinet as Minister of Service Alberta in February 2016 and removed from cabinet in June 2018 following her announcement that she did would not run for re-election in 2019.
McLean’s resignation comes as no surprise as it has been rumoured for months that she was unhappy about her current status in the NDP caucus and looking for leave politics before the next election. McLean did not attend the session of the Legislative Assembly in fall 2018.
McLean was first elected in 2015, securing 43.9 percent of the vote. Long-time NDP stalwart Anne McGrath has been nominated to run for the in this district when the next election is called.
Photo: Premier Rachel Notley, Janet Hinkley, and Wetaskiwin-Camrose MLA Bruce Hinkley (source: Facebook)
United Conservative Party candidates Rajan Sawhney, Mickey Amery, Jasraj Singh Hallan, and Elisabeth Hughes
Photo: United Conservative Party candidates Rajan Sawhney, Mickey Amery, Jasraj Singh Hallan, and Elisabeth Hughes.
Good evening, here is the latest update of nomination races and candidates preparing to run in Alberta’s next provincial election. As of this evening, the United Conservative Party has nominated candidates in 58 of 87 districts, the Alberta Party has nominated 42 candidates, the New Democratic Party has nominated 24 candidates, the Liberal Party has nominated 5 candidates, and the Green Party has nominated 3 candidates.
The UCP held five candidate selection meetings over the past week.
Mickey Amery defeated Roshan Chumber, Sherrisa Celis and Emile Gabriel to secure the UCP nomination in Calgary-Cross. Amery is the son of former Progressive Conservative MLA Moe Amery, who represented Calgary-East from 1993 to 2015 and ran in east Calgary in every provincial election between 1986 and 2015.
Jasraj Singh Hallan defeated Amarjit Banwait, Usman Mahmood, and Jangbahadur Sidhu to win the UCP nomination in Calgary-McCall. McCall is currently represented by New Democratic Party MLA and cabinet minister Irfan Sabir and was represented by Liberal MLA Darshan Kang from 2008 to 2015.
There are three scheduled nomination meetings being held this week:
November 5, 2018 – 2015 Wildrose Party candidate Terry Devries, Amoriza Gunnink, Nicholas Milliken, past federal Conservative nomination candidate Dan Morrison, and Bettina Pierre-Gilles are seeking the UCP nomination in Calgary-Currie. Anthony Parker’s candidacy was not accepted by the UCP. Gunnink has been endorsed by Airdrie-East MLA Angela Pitt and Pierre-Gilles has been endorsed by Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre MLA Jason Nixon.
November 6 & 7, 2018 – Former Morinville town councillor and 2015 Wildrose Party candidate Joe Gosselin, Legal town councillor Trina Jones, Dale Nally, and former Sturgeon County mayor and 2015 Wildrose nomination candidate Don Rigney are seeking the UCP nomination in Morinville-St. Albert.Gibbons town councillor Amber Harris withdrew her candidacy for the nomination on November 2, 2018. Rigney’s endorsements page on his website appears to have been reused from his 2013 mayoral re-election campaign, including a testimonial from now deceased former Social Credit MLA Keith Everitt.
November 8, 2018 – NDP MLA Barb Miller is expected to be acclaimed for her party’s nomination in Red Deer-South. Miller was elected in 2015 with 35.9 percent of the vote in a three-way race.
Calgary-Falconridge – Raman Gill is seeking the UCP nomination. Happy Mann’s candidacy appears to have been rejected by the UCP. Mann was alleged to have been involved in a incident where a local reporter was assaulted. Mann was the Wildrose Party candidate in Calgary-McCall in the 2015 election and Calgary-Cross in the 2012 election.
Calgary-Mountain View – Long-time radio journalist Angela Kokott has been nominated as the Alberta Party candidate. Many Calgarians will know Kokott as the host of Calgary Today on NewsTalk 770. She is the third 770 host to jump into provincial politics in recent history, following Dave Taylor, who served as the MLA for Calgary-Currie from 2004 to 2008 (as a Liberal, then an Independent and Alberta Party MLA), and Mike Blanchard, who ran for the Wildrose Party in Calgary-Buffalo in 2012.
Calgary-North – Melanie Wen has withdrawn her candidacy for the Alberta Party in this district. She had been nominated on October 4, 2018.
Edmonton-Manning – Keli Tamaklo is seeking the Alberta Party nomination.
Edmonton-North West– Emerson Mayers is seeking the Alberta Party nomination. Mayers was recently a candidate for City Council in Ward 4. He ran for the Progressive Conservative Party in Edmonton-Strathcona in the 2012 election and previously sought the Liberal Party nomination in Edmonton-Manning in 1997, the PC nomination in Edmonton-Manning in 2008, the PC nomination in Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood in 2012, and the PC nomination in Edmonton-Beverly-Clareview in 2015.
Richard Feehan
Edmonton-Rutherford – Richard Feehan is seeking the NDP nomination for re-election in 2019. Feehan was first elected in 2015, earning 63.9 percent of the vote. He now serves as Minister of Indigenous Relations and Deputy Government House Leader.
Edmonton-Strathcona – It was never in doubt, but Premier Rachel Notley has officially announced her plans to seek re-election in the district she has represented since 2008. Notley was re-elected with 82.4 percent of the vote in 2015. With the exception of one-term from 1993 to 1997, this district has been represented by the NDP since 1986.
Grande Prairie – Grant Bergis seeking the Alberta Party nomination. Berg is the owner of Grant Berg Gallery and the former general manager of Big Country FM and 2Day Fm.
Red Deer-South – Haley Wile has withdrawn from the UCP nomination contest after it was revealed she accepted an illegal campaign contribution from the Red Deer Motors car dealership. Corporate donations to political candidates were prohibited in 2015.
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!
Photo: Joe Anglin, speaking on the steps of the Alberta Legislature in his heyday as the Wildrose Party MLA for Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre (Photo credit: David Climenhaga)
Former Wildrose Party MLA Joe Anglin announced plans to seek the Freedom Conservative Party nomination to run in Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre in the next provincial election. Anglin represented the district from 2012 to 2015, first as a Wildrose Party MLA and then as an Independent MLA.
Derek Fildebrandt
Known for his taste for a political fight, Anglin is one of the more fascinating and colourful characters to have entered Alberta politics over the past decade.
He burst on to the political stage in the mid-2000s by leading a landowners revolt against the construction of giant electrical transmission lines through rural central Alberta and soon after took over the leadership of the Alberta Greens. He earned the best result ever for a provincial Green Party candidate in Alberta in 2008, when he garnered 22 percent of the vote in Lacombe-Ponoka. He left the Greens soon after the election and the party dissolved. He was known to float in numerous political circles over the next few years before joining the Wildrose Party and being elected MLA for Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre in 2012.
Anglin lost the Wildrose Party nomination in 2014 and left the Wildrose Caucus shortly afterward. He attempted to mount a campaign for the Progressive Conservative Party nomination in Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre in early 2015 but was denied entry into the race. He then ran as an Independent and earned 11.3 percent of the vote in the 2015 election.
Rick Strankman
Since 2015, Anglin has been on a legal crusade as he pursues a civil lawsuit against Alberta’s Chief Electoral Officer and others, alleging abuse of process. As reported on David Climenhaga’s AlbertaPolitics.ca, Anglin’s statement of claim alleges Elections Alberta “carried out unfounded investigations of Mr. Anglin’s activities in the election and prosecuted him improperly for violations of election laws, in the process damaging his reputation and destroying his chances of election, causing loss of future employment.”
A separate case that Anglin pursued against Elections Alberta over a $250 penalty imposed by the chief electoral officer related to the small font on his campaign signs during the 2015 election was dismissed by the Alberta Court of Appeal in September 2018.
When nominated, Anglin will face United Conservative Party MLA Jason Nixon, who defeated Anglin for the Wildrose Party nomination in 2014 and then again in the 2015 general election.
Strathmore-Brooks MLA Derek Fildebrandt, who also is a former Wildrose MLA, is expected to be acclaimed as leader of the Freedom Conservative Party at a leadership vote event on October 20, 2018 at the Watchman’s Pub in Calgary. Fildebrandt became the FCP’s first MLA in July 2018 after he was not allowed to rejoin the UCP following a string of embarrassing scandals.
Former City Councillor Brian Pincottannounced last week that he is seeking the New Democratic Party nomination in Calgary-Acadia, which overlaps part of the Ward 11 he represented on City Council from 2007 to 2017.
Before entering municipal politics, Pincott ran as the NDP candidate in Calgary-Southeast in the 2004 federal election and the NDP candidate in Calgary-Centre in 2006 federal election.
A nomination meeting will be held on October 25, 2018.
Dach nominated in McClung: NDP MLA Lorne Dach has been nominated as his party’s candidate in the southwest district of Edmonton-McClung. Dach was elected in 2015 in his fourth time as the NDP candidate in this affluent southwest Edmonton district. He will face Alberta Party leader Stephen Mandel and UCP candidate Laurie Mozeson in the next election.
Barb Miller
Miller goes for re-election in Red Deer: NDP MLA Barb Miller plans to seek her party’s nomination for re-election in Red Deer-South. Miller was elected in 2015 by earning 35.9 percent of the vote in a three-way split with PC Party candidate Darcy Mykytyshyn and Wildrose Party candidate Norman Wiebe. A nomination meeting has been scheduled for November 8, 2018.
Calgary-Currie – Lindsay Luhnau is seeking the Alberta Party nomination. Luhnau currently work as a business strategist with the City of Calgary and previously worked as a constituent assistant in the office of Ward 9 City Councillor Gian-Carlo Carra.
Calgary-North – Melanie Wen has been nominated as the Alberta Party candidate. Wen is a member of the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Board.
Calgary-North West – Andrew Bradley has been nominated as the Alberta Party candidate.
Edmonton-City Centre – Lily Le was acclaimed as the UCP candidate in Edmonton-City Centre after three other candidates withdrew from the contest. Le is the Co-Chair of the Vietnam Pavilion for Edmonton Heritage Festival and President of the Edmonton Viets Association.
Edmonton-Glenora – Glen Tickner has been selected as the Alberta Party candidate.
Edmonton-Riverview – Karamarie Barker is seeking the UCP nomination. Barker is a Crown Prosecutor with the Department of Justice and Solicitor General.
Lacombe-Ponoka – Myles Chykerda is seeking the Alberta Party nomination in this central Alberta district. Chykerda is a resident of the City of Lacombe and is completing his the final stages of a PhD in Classical Archaeology from the University of California in Los Angeles.
Lac Ste. Anne-Parkland – Following Dale Johnson’s removal as a candidate the UCP announced a second nomination vote would be held. Shane Getson is the first candidate to enter the contest. He is a manager of a pipeline construction and maintenance company.
Lesser Slave Lake – Pat Rehn is seeking the UCP nomination. Rehn is the owner of AAA Precision Industries and Precision Crane and Rentals. Meanwhile, Darryl Boisson has withdrawn from the UCP nomination contest in this district. Boisson was the Wildrose Party candidate in Lesser Slave Lake in the 2012 and 2015 elections.
Red Deer-North – Reg Warkentin has withdrawn from the UCP nomination contest. Warkentin is the policy and advocacy manager with the Red Deer and District Chamber of Commerce.
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!
UCP-Soldiers of Odin saga continues
Lance Coulter
Edmonton-West Henday UCP nomination candidate Lance Coultertold Postmedia he thought he would give the Soldiers of Odin “the benefit of the doubt and have a conversation with them” before he took a photo with a member of the anti-immigration, white nationalist organization at a UCP event on October 5, 2018.
Nomination candidates Nicole Williams and Leila Houle, as well as the party leader have denounced the vigilante organization and its members.
Despite being vetted by the UCP’s supposedly “rigorous screening process,” Press Progress reported yesterday that Coulter has a history interacting with white nationalist and alt-right content on social media, including support for a Muslim ban in public schools. Press Progress reported that this activity took place while Coulter was employed as an assistant to Edmonton-Griesbach Member of Parliament Kerry Diotte.
When asked by The Star Edmonton about these allegations, Coulter replied that “I wish I knew I was a white-nationalist, otherwise I would have worn the 1930s Hugo Boss, but it’s utterly ridiculous. I mean, calling somebody a racist, a white-nationalist without any kind of substantial evidence in any way shape or form, it’s defamation of character.”
UCP members in Edmonton-West Henday vote to select their candidate on October 22, 2018. It is not clear whether UCP leader Jason Kenney will allow Coulter’s name to remain on the ballot.
UPDATE: Lance Coulter has been disqualifed as a UCP nomination candidate in Edmonton-West Henday. Here is the letter from UCP executive director Janice Harrington informing Coulter of his disqualification.
Minster of Health and Deputy Premier Sarah Hoffman has been nominated as the New Democratic Party candidate in Edmonton-Glenora for the next election. Hoffman was first elected as MLA for this district in 2015 with 68 percent of the vote, unseating two-term Progressive Conservative MLA Heather Klimchuk. She previously served two terms on Edmonton’s Public School Board including as chair from 2012 to 2015.
Hoffman has managed to navigate her role as Health Minister, a large and challenging department, and continue to serve as Premier Rachel Notley’s chief political lieutenant. As I have written before, she is a contender for strongest member of cabinet, and is on my list of cabinet ministers who I believe are future Premier material.
Dave Hanson
MLA Dave Hanson fended off two challengers to secure the United Conservative Party nomination in the new Bonnyville-Cold Lake-St. Paul district today. City of Cold Lake mayor Craig Copeland, who also ran for the PC Party in Bonnyville-Cold Lake in the 2015 election, and private school administrator Glenn Spiess, were unable to unseat Hanson in this contest.
Schweitzer is endorsed by Chestermere-Rockyview UCP MLA Leela Aheer, former PC MLA and cabinet minister Jim Dinning, and former Calgary mayoral candidate Bill Smith. And Davis is endorsed by retired oil company executive Allan Markin and Kudatah leader George Clark.
Whoever wins this nomination will face Alberta Party MLA Greg Clark, who was first elected as MLA for Calgary-Elbow in 2015.
Toews is being endorsed by Walter Paszkowski (MLA for Smoky River from 1989 to 1993, and MLA for Grande Prairie-Smoky from 1993 to 2001),Everett McDonald (MLA for Grande Prairie-Smoky from 2012 to 2015), and County of Grande Prairie councillor Peter Harris.
Former Liberal Party MLA Mo Elsalhy is expected to be nominated as the Alberta Party candidate in Edmonton-South West on September 15, 2018. Elsalhy was the MLA for Edmonton-McClung from 2004 and 2008 and ran for the party leadership in 2008. He attempted a comeback in 2012 but was unable unseat PC MLA David Xiao. During his time as MLA he served in various critic roles, including as Official Opposition critic for Justice and Public Safety, and Innovation and Science.
CBC reported in May 2018 that Larson has questioned vaccination science and has suggested parents may be harming their children by vaccinating them against disease. Larson is an independent contractor and the step-son of former Reform Party Member of Parliament Deborah Grey.
NDP MLA Danielle Larivee is expected to be nominated as her party’s candidate in Lesser Slave Lake on September 16, 2018. Larivee was first elected in 2015, unseating seven-term PC MLA Pearl Calahasen. Larivee currently serves as Minister of Children’s Services and Minister for the Status of Women.
Marvin Olsen expected to be chosen as the Alberta Party candidate in Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville on September 16, 2018. Olsen is the owner of Grim’s Contracting Ltd. Previously declared nomination candidate Campbell Pomeroy withdrew his name from the contest.
Calgary-Klein – Julie Huston has withdrawn from the UCP nomination contest.
Calgary-Lougheed – Rachel Timmermans has been selected as the Alberta Party candidate in this southwest Calgary district. Timmermans, a Mount Royal University policy studies student, will face UCP leader Jason Kenney in the next election.
Calgary-North – Tommy Low is seeking the UCP nomination.
Calgary-North East – Gurbachan Brar is seeking the NDP nomination in this new north east Calgary district. Brar is a former President of the Punjabi Likhari Sabha and a former broadcaster at RED FM 106.7.
Camrose – Kevin Smook is seeking the Alberta Party nomination. Smook is councillor for Division 1 on Beaver County council, where he was first elected in 2013. He served as Reeve of Beaver County from 2014 to 2017.
Edmonton-Rutherford – Aisha Rauf defeated Arnold D’Souza to secure the Alberta Party nomination. She is an instructor and according to her website biography is waiting for her PhD Linguistics thesis defence. She was interviewed in a September 2017 episode of the Broadcast.
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!
Former NDP leader, school trustee Ray Martin releasing new book
Martin is the former leader of the Alberta NDP and served as leader of the Official Opposition in the Legislative Assembly from 1984 to 1993. He was elected as the MLA for Edmonton-Norwood from 1982 to 1993 and Edmonton-Beverly-Clareview from 2004 to 2008, and ran for the provincial NDP in 9 separate elections between 1975 and 2012. He most recently served as a trustee on the Edmonton Public School Board representing Ward D from 2013 to 2017.
Martin’s decades worth of experiences in Alberta politics will certainly mean he has many interesting stories to tell. I am definitely adding this new book to my Fall 2018 reading list.
In Drayton Valley-Devon, MLA Mark Smith defeated challenger Andrew Boitchenko in a vote held for the United Conservative Party nomination on August 29, 2018. Smith was first elected in 2015, earning 37 percent of the vote and unseating Progressive Conservative cabinet minister and former Drayton Valley mayor Diana McQueen, who earned 30 percent of the vote.
Nasty UPC nomination race allegedly gets physical
Deepak Obhrai
Long-time Calgary Conservative Member of Parliament Deepak Obhraiinserted himself into a contentious UCP nomination race this week. Obhrai held a press conference in his Calgary-Forest Lawn constituency office with local radio and TV host Kumar Sharma, who alleges he was threatened and then physically assaulted by a gang of men after publishing a Facebook post that referenced UCP nomination candidate Happy Mann.
Mann is a two-time Wildrose Party candidate who is now seeking the UCP nomination in the new Calgary-Falconridge district in northeast Calgary. In a statement sent to various media companies, Mann denied any connection to the alleged incident and maintained that the accusations were politically motivated.
Here are some more of the latest updates to the growing list of Alberta election nomination candidates:
Calgary-Foothills – Jennifer Wyness has been nominated as the Alberta Party candidate in this northwest Calgary district. Wyness placed second in the Ward 2 contest in Calgary’s 2017 municipal election, finishing with 36 percent to incumbent councillor Joe Magliocca‘s 49 percent.
Calgary-Lougheed – Mount Royal University policy studies student Rachel Timmermans is seeking the Alberta Party nomination in this southeast Calgary district. If nominatied, Timmermans will face UCP leader Jason Kenney in the 2019 election.
Calgary-Mountain View – Becca Polak is seeking the UCP nomination in this district. Polak is the former Vice-President of Communications for the Wildrose Party and served as a member of the UCP interim board from 2017 to 2018.
Calgary-North – Manpreet Sidhu is the sixth candidate to join the UCP nomination in this new north Calgary district.
Edmonton-Gold Bar – NDP MLA Marlin Schmidt is expected to be confirmed as his party’s candidate at a nomination meeting on September 20, 2018. Schmidt currently serves as Minister of Advanced Education. Schmidt was elected in 2015 with 68.9 percent of the vote and his crushing 11,205 vote margin of victory, the largest in any district in that election, earned him the nickname “Hurricane Marlin.”
Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood – Brian Gratrix seeking the Alberta Party nomination. Also running for the Alberta Party nomination in this district is past city council candidate Tish Prouse.
Edmonton-Manning – Harinder Grewal is the latest candidate to join the UCP nomination contest in this district.
Livingstone-Macleod – Dylin Hauser has been nominated as the Liberal Party candidate, Tim Meech has been nominated as the Alberta Party candidate, and Thomas Schneider has joined the UCP nomination contest. Schnieder is a former Area Sales Representative with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
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!
Photo: Danielle Larivee, Tanya Fir, Lori Sigurdson, and Sonya Savage.
I took a short break from writing about Alberta politics while I was on vacation over the past few weeks, so I am catching up this morning on the latest Alberta nomination candidate news.
Fir defeats former Ontario MP Jeff Watson for UCP nomination in Calgary-Peigan
Jeff Watson
Tanya Fir defeated former Ontario Member of Parliament Jeff Watson and past Wildrose Party candidate Jeevan Mangat to secure the United Conservative Party nomination in Calgary-Peigan. Fir was backed by her campaign chair, Craig Chandler, a controversial conservative activist.
Quebec MP Maxime Bernier became momentarily involved in this nomination race when Fir’s campaign sent an email to their supporters claiming Maxine Bernier had endorsed his candidate. The real Bernier responded with an email disputing the claim and instead appeared to endorse his “good friend” Watson.
Larivee seeks re-election in Lesser Slave Lake
MLA Danielle Larivee is seeking the New Democratic Party nomination in Lesser Slave Lake. Larivee was first elected in 2015 unseating 7-term PC MLA Pearl Calahasen. She currently serves as Minister of Children’s Services and the Status of Women.
Former Liberal MLA runs for Alberta Party nomination
In Edmonton-South West, former Liberal Party MLA Mo Elsalhy is seeking the Alberta Party nomination. Elsalhy was the MLA for Edmonton-McClung from 2004 and 2008 and ran for the party leadership in 2008. He attempted a comeback in 2012 but was unable unseat PC MLA David Xiao. During his time as MLA he served in various critic roles, including as Official Opposition critic for Justice and Public Safety, and Innovation and Science.
Calgary-Beddington – Randy Kerr defeated Josephine Pon to win the UCP nomination. Kerr was recently the focus of media attention when it was discovered he had made several social media postings that cast doubt on the legitimacy of climate change.
Calgary-East – Andre Chabot and Issa Mossa are the latest candidates to enter this UCP nomination contest. Chabot was a Calgary city councillor from 2005 to 2017. He placed a distant third in the October 2017 mayoral election, earning 3.08 percent of the vote. Mossa ran for Calgary city council in Ward 10 in 2017.
Calgary-Falconridge – Christopher Steeves is seeking the UCP nomination. He served as a councillor with the City of Chestermere from 2005 to 2017.
Calgary-Fish Creek – Cyndy Morin has withdrawn from the UCP nomination contest in this south Calgary district and endorsed fellow candidate Cindy Ross over incumbent MLA Richard Gotfried. Morin had already previously withdrawn from the UCP nomination contest in Calgary-North West before the nomination vote was held in that district.
Morin noted on her Facebook page that she intends to “bring a defamation suit against the NDP for blatantly publishing what they refer to as facts.” The NDP issued a press release days ago “asking the Election Commissioner of Alberta to investigate UCP nomination candidate Cyndy Morin, running in Calgary-Fish Creek, for accepting and promoting corporate donations to her campaign.”
Calgary-North – Devin Green is seeking the UCP nomination.
Calgary-North East – Rajan Sawhney is seeking the UCP nomination.
Calgary-North West – Sonya Savage defeated Jennele Giong and Cam Khan to win the UCP nomination. Savage is a pipeline lobbyist and served as the president of the Progressive Conservative Party youth wing in 1992.
Calgary-Peigan – Herjinder Saran is seeking theAlberta Party nomination.
David Shepherd
Edmonton-City Centre – MLA David Shepherd is seeking the NDP nomination, which is scheduled to take place on September 6, 2018. Shepherd was first elected in 2015 and in 2017 was voted “MLA to watch in 2018” in the Best of Alberta Politics survey. Stephen Hammerschmidt is the latest candidate to enter the UCP nomination contest in this district.
Edmonton-Glenora – Marjorie Newman, David Salopek, and former Edmonton-Riverview PC MLA Steve Young are seeking the UCP nomination. A nomination meeting will be held on August 15, 2018.
Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood – Atul Ranade is seeking the UCP nomination. Ranade previously withdrew from UCP nomination contests in Edmonton-Beverly-Clareview and Edmonton-South.
Edmonton-Manning – Dakota Drouillard is seeking the UCP nomination. Jitender Sahni has withdrawn from the Alberta Party nomination contest.
Edmonton-Meadows – Amrit Matharu has been nominated as the Alberta Party candidate.
Edmonton-Mill Woods – James Moore is seeking the Alberta Party nomination.
Edmonton-Riverview – MLA Lori Sigurdson has been nominated as the NDP candidate in this district. She was first elected in 2015 and currently serves as Minister of Seniors and Housing.
Edmonton-South – Inderdeep Sandhu is seeking the UCP nomination.
Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville– Marvin Olsen is seeking the Alberta Party nomination.
Lac Ste. Anne-Parkland: Don McCargar has been nominated as the Alberta Party candidate. McCargar made headlines in 2016 when he put his $7.5 million Parkland County mansion for sale. The palatial home included a sauna, wet bar, six-vehicle garage, and a car wash, as well as herringbone marble tiles covering the floors and hand-painted dome murals adorning the ceilings.
Vermilion-Lloydminster-Wainwright – Blake Prior is seeking the UCP nomination. Prior was the Progressive Conservative candidate in the Battle River-Wainwright district in the 2015 election.
West Yellowhead– Stuart Taylor is seeking the UCP nomination. Taylor was the Wildrose Party candidate in this district in the 2012 and 2015 elections. He is a former Hinton town councillor and was defeated in his bid for mayor in 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!
