Tag: Candidate nominations

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Alberta Politics

Federal candidate nominations slow to start in Alberta ahead of October 2019 election

Canada's Parliament Building on Feb. 23, 2016.

With the October 2019 federal election fast approaching, it is time to turn my attention to federal candidate nominations in Alberta. I have started a list of candidates who are nominated or running for federal party nominations in Alberta, so please feel free to send me any additions to the list.

Here is a quick look at the state of federal nominations in Alberta:

Julia Bareman Edmonton Strathcona Conservative
Julia Bareman

The dominant Conservative Party, which elected Members of Parliament in 29 of Alberta’s 34 seats in the House of Commons, has nominated candidates in all but two electoral districts in the province.

All of the incumbent Conservative MPs in Alberta were acclaimed for their nominations and there are only two open nominations remaining in the province. The nomination contest between in Battle River-Crowfoot was the topic of my previous post and the other outstanding contest is in Edmonton-Strathcona, where Julia Bareman and Sam Lilly are seeking the Conservative nomination.

Edmonton-Strathcona is the only electoral district where the federal New Democratic Party has nominated candidate in Alberta, with Heather McPherson narrowly defeating Paige Gorsak in November 2018. The district has been represented by NDP MP Linda Duncan since 2008 and the party is expected to face a very tough challenge to hold the seat again in 2019.

The NDP have scheduled a nomination contest in Lethbridge, with Shandi Bleiken expected to be acclaimed.

Heather McPherson NDP Edmonton Strathcona
Heather McPherson

Two former federal NDP candidates from the 2015 election were elected as MLAs in the recent provincial election. Newly elected Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood MLA Janis Irwin and Edmonton-Meadows MLA Jasvir Deol were both candidates for the federal NDP in the 2015 election.

It is believed that the federal NDP, as well as the federal Liberals, held off holding nomination contests in Alberta until after the election due to the divided loyalties of their supporters and activists on the provincial level. Many supporters of the federal Liberals in Alberta openly supported Rachel Notley‘s NDP, with others divided between the Alberta Party and the provincial Liberal Party.

At least one former provincial NDP candidate wants to be a federal Liberal candidate in October. Jordan Stein ran for the Alberta NDP in Calgary-Glenmore and is now seeking the federal Liberal nomination in Calgary-Confederation. Stein defeated incumbent MLA Anam Kazim to secure the NDP nomination in the district and earned 32 percent of the vote in the April 2019 election.

Jordan Stein Liberal Calgary Confederation
Jordan Stein

In a note on her Facebook page, Stein lists a number of reasons for her decision to seek the federal Liberal nomination, including climate change. “The climate is indifferent to our partisanship, it’s indifferent to our opinions but it’s effects can be mitigated by the action we take today,” Stein wrote.

The Liberals did not win Calgary-Confederation in the 2015 election, but their candidate in that year’s vote, Matt Grant, earned the most total votes of any Liberal candidate in Alberta. Stein will face Todd Kathol and Larry Ottewell for the nomination in this district.

The Liberals have nominated MP Kent Hehr in Calgary-Centre, MP Randy Boissonnault in Edmonton-Centre, MP Amarjeet Sohi in Edmonton-Mill Woods, and candidates Eleanor Olszewski in Edmonton-Strathcona, Kerrie Johnston in Edmonton-West, and Amy Bronson in Lethbridge.

The Green Party has nominated Austin Mullins in Banff-Airdrie, Grad Murray in Edmonton-Centre, Valerie Kennedy in Edmonton-Riverbend, Thana Boonlert in Calgary-Centre, Natalie Odd in Calgary-Confederation, and Catriona Wright in Calgary-Rocky Ridge.

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Alberta Politics

PC and Wildrose Party candidates running against Rachel Notley in Edmonton-Strathcona

Stephen Harper Senate Conservatives Reform

Rising from the political grave, candidates from Alberta’s two former dominant conservative parties are running against NDP leader Rachel Notley in Edmonton-Strathcona.

Rachel Notley Alberta Premier NDP
Rachel Notley

According to the Elections Alberta website, Gary Horan has been nominated to run as a Progressive Conservative candidate and Dale Doan as a Wildrose Party candidate in the long-time NDP-held district in the heart of Edmonton.

While the two parties are organizationally non-existent, they are controlled by the United Conservative Party and Jason Kenney is technically the leader of all three parties.

In order to avoid de-registration by Elections Alberta, the parties are required to field at least one candidate in the election. It is likely they will be paper candidates, meaning no real campaign will be organized to elect them in this district.

It is believed that the shell of the PC Party still owes a significant amount of debt in the range of $175,000 that was accrued during the party’s disastrous 2015 election campaign, which is why the party still exists on paper. Alberta’s election finance laws bar the UCP or any other party from repaying the debts of the PC Party, even though its leadership controls the party.

It is likely that the UCP continues to keep the Wildrose Party registered in order to avoid another group claiming the party name and running candidates under its banner against the UCP.

The PC Party governed Alberta from 1971 until 2015. The Wildrose Party formed the Official Opposition from 2012 until 2017.

Notley was re-elected in 2015 with 82 per cent of the vote. Voters in Edmonton-Strathcona have elected NDP MLAs in eight of the nine elections since 1986.

There are now 11 candidates running in Edmonton-Strathcona:
Advantage Party: Don Meister
Alberta Party: Prem Pal
Alberta Independence: Ian Smythe
Communist: Naomi Rankin
Green: Stuart Andrews
Independent: Gord McLean
Liberal: Samantha Hees
NDP: Rachel Notley [Facebook, Twitter]
Progressive Conservative: Gary Horan
UCP: Kulshan Gill
Wildrose: Dale Doan

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

Most parties continuing to nominate candidates in first week of Alberta’s election

With the first three days of Alberta’s election campaign already behind us, the political parties are busy filling their slates of candidates in districts across Alberta.

As of tonight, the New Democratic Party is the only party with a full slate of 87 candidates. The Alberta Party has 86 candidates in place, with Lethbridge-East left as the only vacant district. And the United Conservative Party nominated Leila Houle as its candidate in Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood tonight and will hold its two final nomination contests in Edmonton-Ellerslie and Edmonton-Mill Woods this weekend.

The Liberal Party has nominated 47 candidates and the Green Party has nominated 24 candidates.

The Freedom Conservative Party has nominated 18 candidates, including actor and oil activist Bernard Hancock in Grande Prairie. The Alberta Advantage Party has nominated 15 candidates, and the Reform Party now has one candidate with the nomination of Lauren Thorsteinson in Innisfail-Sylvan Lake.

The Alberta Independence Party has nominated 51 candidates and will now be officially recognized as a political party on the ballot on April 16, 2019.

I am also told that the Communist Party of Alberta has nominated four candidates to run in the upcoming election.

I plan to have a more comprehensive post with the latest updates to the list of candidates from this week posted in the next few days.

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Alberta Politics

Notley NDP fill their slate of 87 candidates, UCP with 3 nomination contests underway

The Alberta NDP will have a full-slate of candidates in Alberta’s 87 electoral districts by the end of today, with Premier Rachel Notley being nominated at a pre-election rally in Edmonton-Strathcona this afternoon. With a full-slate of candidates, Notley is preparing to call a provincial election with days or weeks.

Rounding up the slate of NDP candidates across the province are Roxie Baez Zamora in Airdrie-East, former Smoky Lake town councillor Theresa Taschuk in Athabasca-Barrhead-Westlock, Heather Eddy in Calgary-South East, Kirby Smith in Cardston-Siksika, past city council candidate Shannon Dunfield in Grande Prairie-Wapiti, Acheson Business Association interim executive director Natalie Birnie in Morinville-St. Albert, Ryan Clarke in Vermilion-Lloydminster-Wainwright, and Paula Cackett in West Yellowhead.

Birnie replaces previously nominated NDP candidate Shawna Gawreluck, who announced on social media yesterday that she was withdrawing her candidacy for family reasons.

Jason Stephan won the United Conservative Party nomination in Red Deer-South, defeating Bruce Buruma, Gary Davidson, Adele Poratto, and Norman Wiebe. Stephan is a lawyer and president of the Red Deer Taxpayers’ Association.

The UCP has three nomination contests still underway:

  • Sherry Adams, Rajesh Arora, Faton Bislimi, and Sanjay Patel are seeking the nomination in Edmonton-Ellerslie scheduled to take place on March 30, 2019.
  • Leila Houle and Atul Ranade are seeking the nomination in Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood scheduled to take place on March 21, 2019. Del Shupenia’s candidacy was not accepted by the party and George Lam and Michael Kalyn have withdrawn from the contest.
  • Sophia Kahn, Nazia Naqvi, Baljit Singh, and Heather Sworin are seeking the UCP nomination in Edmonton-Mill Woods scheduled to take place on March 30, 2019. Previously declared candidates Muhammad Afzal, Tariq Chaudhry and David Fletcher have withdrawn from the contest. Chaudhry withdrew from the contest in December 2018, 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.

It is expected that candidates will be appointed for the three remaining UCP candidacies if an election is called this week.

The Alberta Party has nominated Robert Tremblay in Calgary-Fish Creek and Jason Avramenko in Chestermere-Strathmore.

Two former UCP nomination candidates have been nominated to run for other parties this week. Sandra Kim has been nominated as the Advantage Party candidate in Camrose, and Jerry Semen is the Freedom Conservative Party candidate in Spruce Grove-Stony Plain.

Yash Sharma, who was disqualified as a candidate for the Alberta Party, is now an Advantage Party candidate in Edmonton-Ellerslie.

Faiza Ali Abdi has been nominated as the Liberal Party candidate in Calgary-McCall.

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

Candidate nominations continue with weeks or days left until an election call in Alberta

With an election call expected within the next few weeks, or days, Alberta’s political parties are continuing to nominate candidates to run for the upcoming vote. As of this afternoon, the United Conservative Party has nominated 83 candidates in 87 districts, the New Democratic Party has nominated 80 candidates, the Alberta Party has nominated 73 candidates, the Liberal Party has nominated 35 candidates, the Green Party has nominated 19 candidates, the Freedom Conservative Party has nominated 15 candidates, and the Alberta Advantage Party has nominated 11 candidates.

Here are the latest updates to the list of candidates running in Alberta’s upcoming provincial general election:

The New Democratic Party are expected to nominated Heather Eddy in Calgary-South East and Paula Cackett in West Yellowhead on March 16 and Shannon Dunfield in Grande Prairie-Wapiti on March 17.

Message from Dr. Esther Tailfeathers NDP
Message from Dr. Esther Tailfeathers

Dr. Esther Tailfeathers has withdrawn as the New Democratic Party candidate in Cardston-Siksika. In a post on Facebook, Dr. Tailfeathers described her reason for withdrawing from the race. The NDP have scheduled a new nomination meeting in Cardston-Siksika on March 18, 2019 and a candidate nomination meeting in Vermilion-Lloydminster-Wainwright on March 16, 2019.

Avinash Khangura has been nominated as the Alberta Party candidate in Calgary-McCall. Khangura was the Liberal Party candidate in this district in the 2015 election, where he earned 17.4 per cent of the vote. Khangura is also listed as the Riding Chair for the federal Liberal Party in Calgary-Skyview district, which is currently represented by former Liberal and now Independent Member of Parliament Darshan Kang, who represented Calgary-McCall as a Liberal MLA from 2008 to 2015. The district is currently represented by New Democratic Party MLA Irfan Sabir.

Daniel Ejumabone has withdrawn from the Liberal Party nomination in Calgary-West and is now running in Calgary-Bow, and Ben Midgely is the new candidate in Calgary-West. The Liberals have also nominated John Roggeveen in Calgary-Fish Creek, Prerna Mahtani in Calgary-North West, Michael McGowan in Edmonton-Ellerslie, Inderjeet Randhawa in Edmonton-Riverview, Sharon Howe in Chestermere-Strathmore, Anwar Kamaran in Cypress-Medicine Hat.

Tanya Herbert is running for the Green Party in Edmonton-Gold Bar and past city council candidate Taz Bouchier is running in Edmonton-Highands-Norwood.

The Freedom Conservative Party has nominated Kari Pomerlau in Calgary-Foothills and Matthew Chapin in Red Deer-North. Chapin had previously announced his intentions to seek the UCP nominations in Red Deer-North and Red Deer-South but withdrew from both races. He ran for the PC nomination in Red Deer-North in 2015 and has run for Red Deer City Council numerous times over the past decade.

Shawn Tylke has been nominated as the Alberta Advantage Party candidate in Lacombe-Ponoka. 

Eight additional candidates affiliated with the Alberta Independence Party have registered as Independent candidates in the upcoming election: Timothy Shanks in Edmonton-North West, Roberta McDonald in Calgary-North West, Vincent Loyer in Edmonton-Gold Bar, Dave Bjorkman in Edmonton-West Henday, Don Dubitz in Camrose, Mark Grinder in Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche, Michael Keller in Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo, and Michael Neufeld in Red Deer-North.

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

Brian Jean running for the Alberta Party? Not strangest thing to happen in Alberta politics, but it would be up there.

Brian Jean United Conservative Party Leadership Wildrose

It might not be the strangest thing to happen in Alberta politics, but it’s up there.

Stephen Mandel Edmonton
Stephen Mandel

Just over a year since he resigned as the MLA for Fort McMurray-Conklin, former Wildrose Party leader Brian Jean is said to be making a big announcement later this week – and the rumour mill is churning hard with news that Jean could jump back into Alberta politics as the Alberta Party candidate in the new Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche district in the upcoming election.

A former MLA and MP for northeast Alberta, Jean has remained a vocal critic of United Conservative Party leader Jason Kenney since his departure from the Legislature following his defeat in the 2017 UCP leadership contest. In a recent op-ed in Alberta’s Postmedia newspapers, Jean described Kenney’s economic campaign promises as “fiscal fairy tales.”

And there are all the allegations that Kenney supported a “kamikaze mission“ by Jeff Callaway targeting Jean during the UCP leadership contest in 2017.

His recent proclamations that “Canada is broken” and “Albertans are furious” at the state of Confederation makes Jean sound like he might be more at home at Yellow Vest protest or in Derek Fildebrandt‘s Freedom Conservative Party than in the caucus of the centre-rightish Alberta Party, but the third-place party led by former Edmonton mayor and briefly Progressive Conservative cabinet minister Stephen Mandel has already recruited a few strange bedfellows.

While rumours of Jean joining the Alberta Party are not new, Mandel’s recent change in tone with the new slogan “fiercely Albertan” feels tailor-made to recruit the former Wildrose Party leader.

Laila Goodridge United Conservative Party
Laila Goodridge

The Freedom Conservatives would seems like more natural home for Jean, if it were not for his stormy relationship with Fildebrandt, another former UCP MLA. But as I have already alluded, political can make strange bedfellows.

Running in Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche would mean Jean would be challenging his successor in the legislature, UCP MLA Laila Goodridge, a former political staffer who worked  as an organizer during his 2017 UCP leadership campaign.

While Goodridge’s party is riding high in the polls as she faces a rematch with New Democratic Party candidate Jane Stroud, a Wood Buffalo Municipal Councillor, it is not hard to imagine Jean turning what should have been a locked down district for the UCP into a competitive race. Jean represented the region in the House of Commons from 2006 to 2014 and in the Alberta Legislature from 2015 to 2018.

If Jean actually does make the jump, it would not be the first time a defeated conservative leadership candidate jumped to a new party in hopes of rebooting a political career. Many Albertans will remember when defeated 1992 PC Party leadership candidate Nancy Betkowski returned to the political stage to win the Liberal Party leadership in 1998 as Nancy MacBeth. (Spoiler: it didn’t turn out great).

All this said, let’s remember the last time Brian Jean hyped up political watchers into tuning in to his special announcement. Maybe Jean’s special announcement this week will actually be to tell us all that his newborn baby has slept through the night for the first time? (and if so, congratulations!).

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Daveberta Podcast

Episode 30: The creepy Prab Gill video, the return of Joe Anglin, and Brian Jean’s revenge

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With the Speech from the Throne coming on March 18 and Premier Rachel Notley expected to call an election soon afterward, Dave and Ryan discuss how the parties are trying to frame the upcoming election, Brian Jean’s revenge, the creepy Prab Gill video, Joe Anglin’s candidacy, the SNC-Lavalin scandal and the state of the Liberal Party of Canada in Alberta, and more.

They also delve into the latest developments in the kamikaze mission investigation and answer  questions sent in by listeners.

The Daveberta Podcast is a member of the Alberta Podcast Network powered by ATB Financial.

You can listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you find podcasts online.

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.

Thank you for listening!

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Alberta Politics

Big Day in Beddington: UCP drop Randy Kerr over Callaway donation, Alberta Party MLA Karen McPherson decides not to run for re-election

Jason Kenney Randy Kerr Calgary Beddington UCP
Jason Kenney and Randy Kerr (source: Facebook)

United Conservative Party executive director Janice Harrington released a statement this evening announcing that Randy Kerr has been removed as the party’s candidate in the new Calgary-Beddington district. Here is an excerpt from Harrington’s statement:

Calgary-Beddington Alberta Map
Calgary-Beddington (Click to enlarge)

“Effective immediately, Mr. Randy Kerr has been removed as the UCP’s candidate in the constituency of Calgary-Beddington.

“In the last 48-hours, new information has come to our attention indicating Mr. Kerr was not forthright in responding to the Party’s inquiries regarding his financial contribution to the Jeff Callaway Leadership campaign.”

“To be clear, the Party is not making any allegations against Mr. Kerr regarding the legitimacy of his contribution to the Callaway Leadership, not against Mr. Callaway or his Campaign. This is not the Party’s rule to judge, and the Party does not in any way oversee financial contributions to leadership campaigns.

“However, it is our conclusion that Mr. Kerr was not sufficiently forthcoming with the Party’s earlier inquiries, and for that, he has been removed as a candidate.

“The Party has also proactively provided this new information to the appropriate office – that of the Elections Commissioner. Given that the matter is now with the Commissioner, it is inappropriate for us to comment further.

Josephine Pon United Conservative Party Calgary Beddington
Josephine Pon

According to Elections Alberta financial disclosures, Kerr donated $4,000 to Callaway’s leadership campaign in 2017. The disclosure was released months ago, so it is unclear what Harrington meant when she wrote that “Mr. Kerr was not forthright in responding to the Party’s inquiries regarding his financial contribution to the Jeff Callaway Leadership campaign.”

Kerr’s removal as a candidate comes on the same day it was revealed a lawyer representing the UCP sent a cease and desist letter to Independent MLA Prab Gill, who has been at the forefront of accusations of misconduct and alleged illegal activities that took place during the UCP leadership contest in 2017.

Earlier this week, UCP staffer posted a creepy video online of Gill meeting with an NDP staffer in an apparent attempt to discredit him. Kenney later accused the NDP of “working in secret” and “conspiring” with Gill to attack the UCP.

The Elections Commissioner is said to be investigating allegations that UCP leadership candidate Jeff Callaway was running a “kamikaze mission” backed by Kenney’s campaign in order to damage the chances of former Wildrose Party leader Brian Jean winning the vote.

Harrington also announced that the UCP has appointed Josephine Pon as their candidate in this district. Pon had been defeated by Kerr in the August 2018 nomination contest.

Alberta Party MLAs Greg Clark, Karen McPherson and Rick Fraser.
Alberta Party MLAs Greg Clark, Karen McPherson and Rick Fraser.

Meanwhile, Karen McPherson, one of three Alberta Party MLAs in the Legislative Assembly, announced on social media today that she has decided against running for re-election when the provincial election is called.

McPherson had already been nominated to run as the Alberta Party candidate in Calgary-Beddington, which replaces much of her the Calgary-Mackay-Nose Hill district she currently represents. She was first elected as an New Democratic Party MLA in 2015 in, unseating Progressive Conservative MLA Neil Brown, and left the NDP in 2017 to sit as an Independent and later joined the Alberta Party caucus.

The NDP have nominated Amanda Chapman as its candidate in Calgary-Beddington.

Non-Beddington related news

The Alberta Party has announced two new nominated candidates: Wayne Rufiange in Athabasca-Barrhead-Westlock and Jason Beekman in Taber-Warner. Rufiange recently sought the Alberta Party nomination in Morinville-St. Albert, but was defeated by Neil Korotash. Rufiange is principal of R.F. Staples Secondary School in Westlock.

The Liberals have nominated a handful of new candidates: Robin Macintosh in Calgary-Elbow, Michael Macdonald in Calgary-Klein, and Wilson McCutchan in Calgary-Lougheed. McCutchan was the Liberal Party candidate in Calgary-West in the 2012 election, where he earned 7.4 per cent of the vote. And Shirley Ksienski has replaced previously nominated candidate Rork Hilford in Calgary-Glenmore.

The Green Party has announced Brian Deheer will be that party’s candidate in the new Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche district. Deheer was a candidate for the leadership of the party in 2017 and 2018, and in the 2015 election had the party’s strongest showing in Lac La Biche-St. Paul-Two Hills, where he earned 2.8 percent of the vote. He was the federal Green candidate in the 2014 Fort McMurray-Athabasca by-election and in Fort McMurray-Cold Lake during the 2015 federal general election. He most recently ran in the Fort McMurray-Conklin by-election, where he earned 0.72 percent of the vote.

Four more candidates affiliated with the Alberta Independence Party have filed their papers to run as Independent candidates: John Morton in Edmonton-City Centre, Kenneth Morrice in Calgary-Hays, Todd Wayne in Edmonton-Castle Downs and Ben Maddison in Lethbridge-West.

Currently operating as an unregistered political party, Alberta Independence Party will need 44 candidates approved by Elections Alberta in order to gain official party status in the upcoming election.

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

NDP MLA Eric Rosendahl not running for re-election in West Yellowhead, Judge decides Stephen Mandel allowed to run in Edmonton-McClung

Eric Rosendahl

New Democratic Party MLA Eric Rosendahl announced this week that he will not be running for re-election when the provincial election is called later this spring. Rosendahl was first elected as the MLA for West Yellowhead in 2015 and had previously announced that he would seek his party’s nomination for re-election in 2019.

Robin Campbell Alberta Finance Yellowhead
Robin Campbell

Rosendahl is the former president of the Hinton Fish & Game Association, Hinton Search and Rescue, and the Yellowhead District Labour Council. He surprised many political watchers when he unseated Progressive Conservative Finance Minister Robin Campbell in the last election. Rosendahl’s campaign spent $748, compared to $25,208 spent by Campbell’s campaign.

While Rosendahl was not initially expected to win in 2015, the NDP does have a traditional voting base in the district, with a significant population of unionized workers employed by the provincial and federal governments, and by private employers at the numerous mills and mines in the region (Campbell had been president of United Mine Workers of America Local 1656 before he was elected in 2008 and is currently President of the Coal Association of Canada). Former Edson mayor Jerry Doyle represented West Yellowhead for the NDP from 1989 to 1993.

Rosendahl gained some negative media attention earlier this year when a former member of his constituency office staff alleged he pressured her to do political work on government time.

West Yellowhead will undergo significant changes when the 2019 is called and its boundaries will expand to include the town of Whitecourt.

The NDP have scheduled a nomination meeting for March 9, 2019. Already nominated in this district are United Conservative Party candidate Martin Long, Alberta Party candidate Kirstie Gomuwka, and Liberal Party candidate Zack Seizmagraff.

Here are some of the latest NDP candidate nomination updates:

Kate Andrews NDP Calgary-Acadia Election Alberta 2019
Kate Andrews

– Kate Andrews is the NDP candidate in Calgary-Acadia. Andrews is a lawyer with the Kahane Law Office and has experience in civil and commercial litigation. She is the chair of the Board of Directors for Closer to Home Community Services.

– Lynn MacWilliam is the NDP candidate in the southern Alberta district of Brooks-Medicine Hat. MacWilliam serves on Bassano Town Council and ran for the provincial NDP in Strathmore-Brooks in 2015, earning 15 per cent of the vote, and for the federal NDP in Bow River in 2015, earned 5 per cent of the vote. She previously worked in Ottawa for former Burnaby-Douglas MP Bill Siksay. 

– Hafeez Chishti has been nominated as the NDP candidate in Calgary-North West. Dr. Chishti is a Professional Geologist/Geoscientist and is a member of the Board of Governors of the University of Calgary.

The NDP have also nominated Julia Bietz in Calgary-Lougheed and Rebecca Bounsall in Calgary-Fish Creek. Rosa Evelia Baez Zamora will seek the NDP nomination in Airdrie-East on March 13, 2019, and the NDP will hold nomination meetings in Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills on March 11, 2019, and in Athabasca-Barrhead-Westlock and Grande Prairie-Wapiti on March 17, 2019.

Alberta Party

Stephen Mandel Edmonton
Stephen Mandel

After being banned from running as a candidate in the next election because his campaign missed a deadline to file financial disclosure papers with Elections Alberta, Alberta Party leader Stephen Mandel‘s lawyers convinced a judge to overturn the ban and allow him to run in Edmonton-McClung when the next election is called.

Mandel became leader of the party in 2018 and served as the PC MLA for Edmonton-Whitemud and Health Minister from 2014 to 2015 and mayor of Edmonton from 2004 to 2013.

He was one of 7 Alberta Party candidates hit with this penalty. Six of the candidates, including Mandel, have now had their bans lifted. Edmonton-Meadows candidate Amrit Matharu remains on the banned list.

Jasbir Dhari has been nominated as the Alberta Party candidate in Calgary-Falconridge.

Liberal Party

Michelle Robinson has been nominated as the Liberal Party candidate in Calgary-East. Robinson ran for Calgary City Council in 2017, placing fourth with 6.1 per cent of the vote . She was the first First Nations woman to run for city council in Calgary.

The Liberals have nominated Dan Ejumabone in Calgary-West and Amy Yates in Taber-Warner. Clarie Wilde is seeking the Liberal Party nomination in Edmonton-Rutherford.

Rio Aiello is the nominated Freedom Conservative Party candidate in Calgary-West.

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 Nomination Updates: MLA Debbie Jabbour fends off NDP nomination challenge in Peace River

Photo: Debbie Jabbour (centre) with Premier Rachel Notley (left) at an announcement in the Peace River district in 2016.

Debbie Jabbour has been nominated as the New Democratic Party candidate in the sprawling northwest Alberta district of Peace River. Jabbour, who was first elected in 2015, fended off a nomination challenge from Justin Sharpe.

She was first elected in 2015, earning 39.3 per cent, and previous to that worked as a provisional psychologist. She has served as Deputy Speaker and Chair of Committees in the Legislative Assembly since her election.

Jabbour will face United Conservative Party candidate Daniel Williams, who worked as a political staffer for Jason Kenney in Ottawa before returning to Alberta to seek the UCP nomination, and Alberta Party candidate Dakota House, a Manning-born actor and motivational speaker known for his role on North of 60.

Premier Rachel Notley will officially accept her party’s candidacy at a nomination meeting scheduled to take place on Sunday, March 17, 2019 in her Edmonton-Strathcona district. Notley was re-elected to serve a third-term as the MLA for this district in 2015 with 82 per cent of the vote. The meeting is expected to be more of a rally and campaign kick-off, with the Speech from the Throne taking place on March 18 and an election call expected shortly afterward.

The NDP have also nominated Holly Heffernan in Drumheller-Stettler, Robyn O’Brien in Innisfail-Sylvan Lake, Jeff Ible in Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre, Doug Hart in Lacombe-Ponoka, and Esther Tailfeathers in Cardston-Siksika.

United Conservative Party

The UCP has acclaimed Kulshan Gill as that party’s candidate in Edmonton-Strathcona. Gill ran for the UCP nomination in the northeast district of Edmonton-Manning but was defeated by Harry Grewal. Real estate agent Jovita Mendita withdrew from the UCP contest in that district.

The UCP has scheduled a nomination contest in Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood on March 21, 2019. despite initially having four candidates registered as interested in seeking the nomination, only two candidates remain: Leila Houle and Atul Ranade.

Houle previously ran for the well-known-for-all-the-wrong-reasons UCP nomination in Edmonton-West Henday and was defeated by Nicole Williams. She previously ran as the federal Liberal candidate in the now-defunct Westlock-St. Paul district in 2008, finishing with 9.1 per cent in that vote. Renade registered intention to seek the UCP nomination in August 2018 after previously withdrawing from UCP nomination contests in Edmonton-Beverly-Clareview and Edmonton-South.

Del Shupenia’s candidacy was not accepted by the party and George Lam and Michael Kalyn have withdrawn from the contest.

Arundeep Sandhu broke his silence this week and spoke to CBC’s The Ledge podcast about his disappointment in Jason Kenney’s decision to appoint Len Rhodes as the UCP candidate in Edmonton-Meadows. Sandhu is considering running as an independent candidate or even for a different party. “I’m a conservative, but I don’t believe I can run for the UCP as long as this leadership and this leadership team is in there,” he told CBC.

Alberta Party

Three more Alberta Party candidates have had their 5-year bans on running as candidates waived by the Court of Queen’s Bench. Rachel Timmermans in Calgary-Lougheed, Tim Meech in Livingstone-Macleod, and Ali Haymour in Edmonton-Decore will appear on ballots in their respective districts in the upcoming election.

The court has not yet waived the ban placed on party leader and former Edmonton mayor Stephen Mandel, who had been planning to run in Edmonton-McClung. Elections Alberta ruled in early February that seven Alberta Party candidates were ineligible to run after being late to file financial statements from their nomination contests.

Danielle Klooster is the nominated Alberta Party candidate in Innisfail-Sylvan Lake. Klooster is a former town councillor from Penhold and ran for the Alberta Party in 2012 and 2015, earning 4.8 per cent and 6.1 per cent of the vote in those races.

Hazelyn Williams is the Alberta Party candidate in Edmonton-Ellerslie. Williams in the third candidate to be nominated by the Alberta Party in Ellerslie during this election cycle, replacing previously nominated candidate Yash Sharma, who was removed after appearing at a controversial rally, and Richard Corbin, who withdrew for unexplained reasons.

Green Party

Jenn Roach has been nominated as the Green Party candidate in Leduc-Beamont.

Freedom Conservative Party

The Freedom Conservative Party has nominated Sheyne Espey in Calgary-Peigan, Jeff Rout in Leduc-Beaumont, and Clayton Knutson in Innisfail-Sylvan Lake. Wade Woywitka and Matthew Powell are competing for the FCP nomination in Vermilion-Lloydminster-Wainwright.

Liberal Party

Former Grande Prairie city councillor Kevin McLean has been nominated as the Liberal Party candidate in St. Albert. McLean served on Grande Praire City Council from 2010 to 2017 and ran for the Liberal Party in Grande Prairie-Smoky in the 2012 and 2015 elections, earning 4.8 per cent of the vote in each of those races.

Independent/Alberta Independence Party

Two candidates affiliated with the unregistered Alberta Independence Party have filed papers to run as Independent candidates in the upcoming election: CW Alexander in Calgary-Klein and Monica Friesz in Calgary-Mountain View.

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

Jason Kenney fumbles Len Rhodes’ appointment, and NDP MLA loses nomination in Edmonton-Meadows

Appointed UCP candidate Len Rhodes and UCP leader Jason Kenney.
Appointed UCP candidate Len Rhodes and UCP leader Jason Kenney.

Photo: Appointed UCP candidate Len Rhodes and UCP leader Jason Kenney (source: YouTube).

The fallout from Jason Kenney’s decision to appoint former Edmonton Eskimos President and CEO Len Rhodes as the United Conservative Party candidate in Edmonton-Meadows continues.

As mentioned in the latest episode of the Daveberta Podcast, some members of the local UCP board of directors are up in arms about Kenney’s claim that they were consulted with and asked for Rhodes to be appointed as the candidate. Some of the disgruntled board members are said to be collecting signatures for a letter disputing Kenney’s claims, and that more than a dozen local directors have signed the letter.

Letter from Arundeep Sandhu to UCP supporters Edmonton Meadows
Letter from Arundeep Sandhu to UCP supporters Edmonton Meadows (Click to enlarge)

Rhodes’ surprise appointment last week eliminated three candidates – Arundeep Sandhu, Joel Mullen and Sant Sharma – who had been selling party memberships and door-knocking to compete for the UCP nomination for up to twelve months.

Arundeep Sandhu released a letter on social media today expressing his disappointment in the decision and thanking his supporters. It was a classy letter, but it certainly did not include the “let’s all get behind the appointed candidate” message that Kenney and Rhodes were likely looking for. 

Meanwhile, more than 400 New Democratic Party members voted to choose Jasvir Deol as their candidate in Edmonton-Meadows. Deol defeated Chand Gul and MLA Denise Woollard, who had been elected to represent Edmonton-Mill Creek in 2015. 

Jasvir Deol Alberta NDP Edmonton Meadows
Jasvir Deol

Deol was the NDP candidate in the 2015 federal election in the Edmonton-Mill Woods district, where he earned 12.7 per cent of the vote in the contest against Liberal Amarjeet Sohi and Conservative Tim Uppal. 

Woollard is the third NDP MLA to be challenged and defeated in a nomination contest. MLA Trevor Horne was defeated by MLA Marie Renaud in St. Albert and Jordan Stein defeated MLA Anam Kazim in Calgary-Glenmore. 

Peace River NDP MLA Debbie Jabbour is facing a nomination challenge from Justin Sharpe at a meeting scheduled to take place on February 28, 2019.

The NDP also nominated three other candidates this past weekend:

  • MD of Ranchlands Reeve Cameron Gardner has been nominated as the NDP candidate in Livingstone-Macleod.
  • Former Taber town councillor and past president of the Alberta Library Trustees Association Laura Ross-Giroux has been nominated as the NDP candidate in the southern Alberta district of Taber-Warner.
  • Crown prosecutor Moira Vane is the NDP candidate in Strathcona-Sherwood Park.

An NDP nomination meeting in West Yellowhead that was originally scheduled for this past weekend appears to have been rescheduled to March 9, 2019.

Dr. Esther Tailfeathers is seeking the NDP nomination in Cardston-Siksika. Dr. Tailfeathers is a Physician at the Blood Tribe Clinic at Standoff and a Clinical Lecturer in the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Alberta.

Melissa Langmaid has announced plans to seek the NDP nomination in Chestermere-Strathmore. Langmaid is an Environmental Advisor with AltaLink and a unit coordinator with the United Utility Workers’ Association. 

Holly Heffernan is seeking the NDP nomination in Drumheller-Stettler. Heffernan is a retired Registered Nurse and long-time NDP activist, having run numerous times for the NDP in both provincial and federal elections in Calgary.

UCP set Red Deer-South nomination vote for March 16

Adele Poratto Red Deer South United Conservative Party Alberta
Adele Poratto

The elusive mystery star candidate is nowhere to be seen, but the UCP has moved ahead with the party’s nomination vote in Red Deer-South anyway. Party members will choose from the Bruce Buruma, Gary Davidson, Adele Poratto, Jason Stephan, and Norman Wiebe on March 16, 2019.

Buruma is Director of Community Relations for  Red Deer Public School District and Executive Director of the Foundation for Red Deer Public Schools. Davidson is Chief of Emergency Medicine for Alberta Health Services’ Central Zone. Poratto is a decorator and event planner, and ran for the PC Party nomination in the district ahead of the 2008 election. Stephan is a lawyer and president of the Red Deer Taxpayers’ Association. And Wiebe was the Wildrose Party candidate in this district in the 2015 election, earning 24 percent of the vote behind NDP candidate Barb Miller and PC candidate Darcy Mykytyshyn.

Davidson’s wife, Pamela Davidson, sought the UCP Central Alberta Director election at the party’s 2018 annual general meeting and previously ran against Christine Moore in the Red Deer County Division 6 election in 2017. Moore ran unsuccessfully for the UCP nomination in Innisfail-Sylvan Lake ahead of the 2018 by-election and as the Progressive Conservative candidate in Red Deer-North in the 2015 election. 

The UCP has also opened nomination contests in Edmonton-Ellerslie, Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood, and Edmonton-MIll Woods. 

Rebel Strankman running as Independent

Rick Strankman Alberta United Conservative Drumheller Stettler MLA
Rick Strankman

Former UCP MLA Rick Strankman has announced his plans to run for re-election as an Independent candidate in Drumheller-Stettler. Strankman was elected as a Wildrose MLA in 2012 and 2015 and left the UCP caucus on January 15, 2019 following his loss of the party’s nomination to rancher Nate Horner in October 2018.

“After nearly seven years as an MLA shackled with Party-first priorities, it is clear that Alberta’s party system of government has stripped effective representation and across-the-board best interests from Alberta’s citizens,” wrote Strankman in a media release posted on this website. “Running for election and winning office as an Independent will enable me to restore the priorities of all Drumheller Stettler citizens to the front lines of the Legislature and advance their priorities for resurrecting Alberta’s prosperity.” he said.

Former MLA Ian Donovan is running as an Independent in the new Cardston-Siksika district. Donovan was first elected as a Wildrose MLA in Little Bow in 2012 and crossed the floor to the PC Party in 2014. He was narrowly defeated in the 2015 election, finishing 12 votes behind Wildrose candidate David Schneider.

With Schneider declining to seek re-election, Donovan supported past Christian Heritage candidate Marc Slingerland in the UCP nomination contest against eventual winner Joseph Schow. Donovan later announced he was quitting the UCP, citing a dictatorship-like control of the party by Kenney.

Mandel awaits fate as 2 Alberta Party candidates back on the ballot 

The Court of Queen’s Bench has waived the 5-year ban on Alberta Party candidates Moe Rahall in Edmonton-Castle Downs and Diana Ly in Edmonton-Gold Bar, who will now be allowed to run in the 2019 election. Party leader Stephen Mandel and four other Alberta Party candidates still await their fate as the court has yet to remove their bans. 

Swann staffer runs for the Green Party

Janice Fraser is running for the Green Party in Calgary-McCall. Fraser is currently the office manager for Calgary-Mountain View Liberal MLA David Swann, who is retiring after four-terms in the Legislature. Swann’s other constituency office staffer, Joshua Codd, is the nominated Liberal Party candidate in Calgary-Currie.

Jane Drummond is running for the Green Party in Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre. Drummond is the editor of the Nordegg Squeek and has served as an Alberta Hiking Association member representing Terra Firma Nordegg Hiking.

Meanwhile, Chris Glassford has been nominated as the Alberta Advantage Party candidate in Sherwood Park and Mark Gregor has been nominated in Drayton Valley-Devon.

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 Daveberta Podcast

Episode 29: Alberta is in serious pre-election mode

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We are in pre-election mode in this episode as Dave and Ryan discuss the health care and education curriculum debate between the New Democratic Party and United Conservative Party, the unsurprising recent Trans Mountain Pipeline report from the National Energy Board, and the latest from the SNC-Lavalin/Justin Trudeau/Jody Wilson-Raybould fiasco.

We also delve into the latest nomination news, including the fallout from the Len Rhodes appointment in Edmonton-Meadows, the NDP nomination contest in that district, and Alberta Party leader Stephen Mandel’s candidate ban. We also dive into our mailbag to answer questions sent to us by our listeners.

The Daveberta Podcast is a member of the Alberta Podcast Network powered by ATB Financial.

You can listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you find podcasts online.

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.

Thank you for listening!

Recommended reading/events/listening:

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Alberta Politics

Len Rhodes to be appointed UCP candidate in Edmonton-Meadows. Firefighter captain Todd Russell wins NDP contest in Grande Prairie

Len Rhodes Edmonton-Meadows UCP
Len Rhodes

Photo: Len Rhodes (source: cfl.ca)

The rumour mill is churning at full speed with news that Len Rhodes, outgoing President and CEO of the Edmonton Eskimos, is on the verge of being appointed by Jason Kenney as the United Conservative Party candidate in Edmonton-Meadows.

Arundeep Sandhu Edmonton By-election ward 12
Arundeep Sandhu

Rhodes’ appointment would bump three local nomination candidates, Joel Mullan, Arundeep Sandhu, and Sant Sharma, who have been campaigning for the UCP candidacy in the southeast Edmonton district for nearly a year. In particular, Sandhu, a young Edmontonian of Sikh heritage who mounted an energetic bid for City Council in 2016, has been campaigning hard for the nomination since May 2018.

Rhodes recently completed a term a Chair of the Board of the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce and announced last week that he was stepping away from his senior executive role with the Canadian Football League team as of Feb. 20. It appears we will know soon if this is the reason why.

With seven years as the top corporate executive of the Eskimos on his resume, Rhodes will certainly be described as a “star candidate,” which is something that has so far been absent from the UCP slate in NDP-leaning Edmonton. But his personal connections to the district, his own political views and understanding of local issues remains unclear.

The area included in the Edmonton-Meadows district is currently represented by New Democratic Party MLA Denise Woollard, who was first elected in 2015 in Edmonton-Mill Creek. Woollard is being challenged for her party’s nomination by 2015 federal NDP candidate Jasvir Deol and Alberta Pashtoon Association president Chand Gul. A nomination meeting for the NDP has been scheduled for Feb. 24, 2019.

Firefighter Captain wins NDP nomination in Grande Prairie

Rachel Notley (centre), with Grande Prairie NDP nomination candidates Melissa Byers and Todd Russell.
Rachel Notley (centre), with Grande Prairie NDP nomination candidates Melissa Byers and Todd Russell.

Firefighter Captain Todd Russell defeated non-profit executive director Melissa Byers to secure the NDP nomination Grande Prairie on Feb. 19. The contested nomination meeting was attended by Premier Rachel Notley and Energy Minister Marg McCuaig-Boyd, who is running for re-election in the new neighbouring Central Peace-Notley district.

Russell placed second in the Grande Prairie-Smoky district in the 2015 election, placing 334 votes behind then-Wildrose candidate Todd Loewen. Loewen is seeking re-election in the neighbouring district against McCuaig-Boyd.

The Alberta Firefighters Association has endorsed Notley and been actively campaigning for NDP candidates across the province. AFA President Craig Macdonald gave a rousing speech at the NDP convention in October 2018 praising the Notley government for introducing new workplace health and safety rules to protect firefighters and first responders.

NDP select more 5 candidates and announce new nomination meetings

NDP MLA Chris Nielsen was nominated as the NDP candidate in Edmonton-Decore and MLA Kim Schreiner has been nominated in Red Deer-North.

Jane Stroud NDP Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche
Jane Stroud

Wood Buffalo municipal councillor Jane Stroud has been nominated as the NDP candidate in Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche district and Fort McMurray Public Schools trustee Stephen Drover has been nominated as the NDP candidate in Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo. Cesar Cala has been nominated as the NDP candidate in Calgary-East.

The NDP announced a series of upcoming nomination meetings, with Robyn O’Brien seeking the nomination in Innisfail-Sylvan Lake on February 27, Kate Andrews seeking the nomination in Calgary-Acadia on March 1, Julia Bietz seeking the NDP nomination in Calgary-Lougheed on March 2, Rebecca Bounsall seeking the nomination in Calgary-Fish Creek and Hafeez Chishti is seeking the NDP nomination in Calgary-North West on March 3.

The NDP have also scheduled nomination meetings in Calgary-South East, Drumheller-Stettler, Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre, and Vermilion-Lloydminster-Wainwright on February 28, 2019, and in Brooks-Medicine Hat on March 2, 2019.

Colette Smithers
 has been nominated as the Alberta Party candidate in Cypress-Medicine Hat.

Another Alberta Party candidate banned

It appears as though Tim Meech, the Alberta Party candidate in Livingstone-Macleod, and his CFO Mark Taylor, who is the executive director of the Alberta Party, have been added to Elections Alberta’s now infamous list of people ineligible to serve as candidates or CFOs.

Taylor is also serving as CFO for Red Deer-North candidate Paul Hardy and 4 Alberta Party constituency associations.

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

Mid-Week Alberta Nomination Candidate Updates

Sunset at the Alberta Legislature (source: Dave Cournoyer)

Here are the latest updates to the list of candidates running in Alberta’s next provincial election:

Alberta NDP

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.

– Laura Ross-Giroux will seek the NDP nomination in Taber-Warner at a candidate selection meeting on Feb. 23, 2019. Ross-Giroux was elected as a town councillor in Taber from 2013 to 2017 and served as President of the Alberta Library Trustees Association from 2014 to 2018 and chairperson of the Chinook Arch Regional Library System from 2010 to 2017.

– 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.

United Conservative Party

Muhammad Yaseen defeated Devin Green, Tanis Fiss, Paul Frank, and Jun Lin, to secure the United Conservative Party nomination in Calgary-North. Yaseen if a former president of the Pakistan Canada Association of Calgary and former president of the Calgary-Northern Hills Progressive Conservative association.

Nathan Neudorf defeated Robin James, Bryan Litchfield, Kimberly Lyall and Angela Zuba to win the UCP nomination in Lethbridge-East.

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-Cross Zac 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!

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Alberta Politics

Rakhi Pancholi nominated for NDP in Edmonton-Whitemud, NDP to hold 3 more candidate selection meetings on Feb. 9

Rakhi Pancholi Edmonton-Whitemud NDP

Photo: Rakhi Pancholi (source: Twitter)

With the nomination of Rakhi Pancholi in Edmonton-Whitemud, the Alberta New Democratic Party has selected 53 candidates across the province. Pancholi is a lawyer with McLennan Ross LLP and previously worked as the staff lawyer for the Alberta School Boards Association and as a Solicitor with the Government of Alberta. She is currently the Vice Chair of the Education Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association and sit on the Board of Directors of ParityYEG, an Edmonton-based organization promoting gender parity in politics.

Pancholi is aiming to succeed popular NDP MLA Bob Turner, who announced his plans to retire from politics late last year. She has the endorsements of Edmonton Public School Board trustee Michael Janz and former Edmonton-Strathcona NDP MLAs Raj Pannu and Barrie Chivers.

The NDP have scheduled a series of nomination meetings over the next few weeks and more are expected to be announced as we approach the impending election call later this spring:

John Archer NDP Edmonton South West
John Archer

February 9: Ministerial press secretary and former CBC reporter John Archer is seeking the NDP nomination in Edmonton-South West. Retired teacher and political columnist Peter Mueller is expected to secure the NDP nomination in Cypress-Medicine Hat. And Gulshan Akter is seeking the NDP nomination in Calgary-West.

February 16: Cesar Cala is expected to be nominated as the NDP candidate in Calgary-East and MLA Chris Nielsen is seeking the NDP nomination in Edmonton-Decore.

February 17: Wood Buffalo Municipal Councillor and 2017 Fort McMurray-Conklin by-election candidate Jane Stroud will seek the NDP nomination in the new Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche district. Fort McMurray school board trustee Stephen Drover is seeking the NDP nomination in Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo.

February 19: Melissa Byers and Todd Russell are challenging each other for the NDP nomination in Grande Prairie.

February 20: MLA Kim Schreiner is expected to be nominated as the NDP candidate in Red Deer-North.

February 23: Cameron Gardner is seeking the NDP nomination in Livingstone-Macleod. Gardner is Reeve of the Municipal District of Ranchland.

February 24: Jasvir Deol has joined MLA Denise Woollard and Chand Gul in the NDP nomination contest in Edmonton-Meadows. Crown Prosecutor Moira Vane is seeking the NDP nomination 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!

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