Tag: Chinwe Okelu

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Alberta Politics

alberta election candidate update: january 2012.

The list of candidates nominated to stand in the next provincial general election continues to grow.

Nominated Alberta Election Candidates by Region January 3 2012
Nominated Alberta Election Candidates by Region (January 3, 2012)

Here are some of the updates that I have recently made to the list:

Banff-Cochrane: Nominated Wildrose Party candidate Trudy Heuser has stepped down as her party’s candidate, citing personal reasons. The former school trustee was criticized after her nominated by local Wildrose members who called the process unfair. Canmore businessman John Fitzsimmons and Cochrane Mayor Truper McBride have entered the Progressive Conservative nomination contest to replace retiring MLA Janis Tarchuk. The nomination meeting is scheduled for January 28, 2012.

Lloyd Bertschi Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock PC nomination candidate
Morinville Mayor Lloyd Bertschi

Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock: Tim Schultz, Maureen Kubinec, Lloyd Bertschi, and Bert Seatter are the second, third, and fourth candidates to enter the PC nomination contest to replace retiring ten term MLA Ken Kowalski. Mr. Shultz is the former executive assistant to Deputy Premier Doug Horner. Ms. Kubinec is Deputy Reeve of Westlock County and the former President of the Alberta School Boards Association. Mr. Bertschi is the Mayor of Morinville and the former President of the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association. Mr. Seatter is a member of Westlock County Council. The first candidate to enter the contest was Westlock Town Councillor David Truckey. The nomination meeting is scheduled for January 28, 2012.

Bonnyville-Cold Lake: Past federal Liberal candidate Rob Fox has expressed interest in the Liberal Party nomination in this northeast Alberta constituency. Mr. Fox placed third with 6.1% of the vote in the May 2011 federal vote.

Calgary-East: Liberal Party activist Michelle Robinson is seeking her party’s nomination.

Calgary-Hawkwood: Local radio personality Kumar Sharma is seeking the PC nomination.

Ken Hughes Alberta Calgary-West
Former AHS Chairman Ken Hughes

Calgary-West: Recently resigned Alberta Health Services chairman Ken Hughes is seeking the PC nomination, which is being vacated by current Finance Minister Ron Liepert. Mr. Hughes served as Chairman of AHS since 2008 and was a PC Member of Parliament from 1988 until 1993. Also seeking the nomination is Calgary Police Service Sergeant Mike Ellis.

Edmonton-Beverly-Clareview: Prolific tweeter Don Martin has been acclaimed as the Wildrose Party candidate.

Edmonton-Calder: Alex Bosse is seeking the Liberal Party nomination in this north west Edmonton constituency. Mr. Bosse was previously seeking the nomination in St. Albert, but told this blogger that he was convinced by the party to run in Calder instead.

Edmonton-Ellerslie: Past City Council candidate Chinwe Okelu was acclaimed as the Alberta Party candidate in this southeast Edmonton constituency.

Edmonton-Gold Bar: Past City Council candidate Lori Jeffery-Heaney is challenging past Mayoral candidate David Dorward for the PC nomination. The nomination meeting is scheduled for January 25, 2012.

Fort McMurray Conklin: Catholic School Trustee Keith McGrath is considering seeking the Wildrose nomination. UPDATE: Mr. McGrath has withdrawn his name from the Wildrose contest.

Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo: Public School Board Trustee Jeff Thompson is seeking the PC nomination. The constituency is currently represented by Wildrose MLA Guy Boutilier. The nomination meeting is scheduled for January 28, 2012.

Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville: Chris Fulmer is the nominated NDP candidate.

Grande Prairie-Smoky: Todd Loewen was nominated as the Wildrose canddiate, defeating Duane Stevenson and Bret McNally.

Lac La Biche-St. Paul-Two Hills: Lac La Biche County Councillor John Nowak was nominated as the Liberal candidate.

Rob Renner MLA is retiring
MLA Rob Renner is retiring.

Medicine Hat: After 18 years as a PC MLA and cabinet minister, Rob Renner has announced that he will not seek re-election. Mr. Renner was first elected in 1993, defeating Liberal candidate and future Mayor Garth Vallely by 151 votes. He was re-elected in 2008 by a margin of 1,763 votes.

Sherwood Park: Strathcona PC President Sue Timanson is seeking the PC nomination in the neighbouring Sherwood Park constituency. Also seeking the nomination are PC Party activist Matthew Bissett, former Strathcona County Mayor Cathy Olesen, and current County Councillor Brian Botterill.

St. Albert: Morinville Vice-Principal Sleight Anstruther is the fifth candidate to join the PC nomination contest in this constituency. The nomination meeting is scheduled for January 31, 2012.

With a General Election expected to be held in the next few months, the PCs have scheduled nomination meetings in Airdrie, Calgary-Currie, Calgary-Fish Creek, Calgary-Glenmore, Calgary-Mackay-Nose Hill, Calgary-Mountain View, Calgary-McCall, Calgary-Varsity, Edmonton-Meadowlark, Edmonton-Riverview, Edmonton-South West, Highwood, Lethbridge-East, and Vermilion-Lloydminster.

I will post updates from these constituencies when I receive them. Please email david.cournoyer@gmail.com if you have updates that you would like to share.

 

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Alberta Politics

alberta candidate nomination update – september 2011 (part 2)

I have updated the list of declared and nominated candidates standing in the next provincial election.

Athabasca-Sturgeon-Redwater: At a nomination meeting scheduled for September 21, former Liberal caucus staffer turned NDP activist Mandy Melnyk will face Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 3550 President Trudy Grebenstein for the NDP nomination.

Calgary-Bow: Former Alderman and mayoral candidate Joe Connelly has joined the Wildrose nomination contest. Also contesting the nomination are Tim Dyck and John Hilton-O’Brien.

Calgary-Buffalo: Mount Royal University Professor Lee Easton has withdrawn his name as the Alberta Party candidate in this constituency. Mr. Easton was a candidate for the Alberta Party leadership earlier this year.

Calgary-Currie: Businessman Norval Horner is seeking the Liberal nomination. Mr. Horner is a distant cousin to Progressive Conservative leadership candidate Doug Horner. The Liberals held this constituency until 2010, when two-term MLA Dave Taylor left to sit as an Independent. He later joined the Alberta Party and recently announced he would not be seeking re-election.

Calgary-East: Robin Luff was nominated as the NDP candidate at a joint-nomination meeting on September 5.

Calgary-Fort: Kirk Oates was nominated as the NDP candidate at a joint-nomination meeting on September 5. Mr. Oates was the federal NDP candidate in Calgary-Southeast in the 2011 federal election.

Calgary-Greenway: Al Brown was nominated as the NDP candidate at a joint-nomination meeting on September 5. Mr. Brown has run for the NDP on numerous occasions, including as their candidate in Calgary-East in the recent federal election.

Calgary-McCall: Collette Singh was nominated as the NDP candidate at a joint-nomination meeting on September 5. Ms. Singh was her party’s candidate in Calgary-Northeast in the recent federal election.

Calgary-Varsity: Cynthia Caldwell was nominated as the NDP candidate at a joint-nomination meeting on September 5.

Cardston-Taber-Warner: On September 17, businessman Doug Cooper and Village of Sterling Deputy Mayor Gary Bikman will contest the Wildrose nomination. Former nomination candidate David Wright withdrew his name from the contest and endorsed Mr. Bikman. The constituency was represented by Wildrose MLA Paul Hinman from 2004 until 2008 (Mr. Hinman now represents Calgary-Glenmore).

Drumheller-Stettler – What was originally shaping up to be a five person Wildrose nomination contest has dwindled down to a two person race. Still left in the contest are Rick Strankman and Doug Wade. The three other candidates, Dave France, Chris Warwick, and Patrick Turnbull, dropped out of the race when they did not meet the necessary qualifications required by their party.

Edmonton-Beverly-Clareview: Businessman Don Martin is seeking the Wildrose nomination.

Edmonton-Decore: Real Estate agent Ed Ammar is the nominated Liberal candidate in the constituency named for former Liberal Party leader Laurence Decore. Liberal MLAs Mr. Decore, Bill Bonner, and Bill Bonko represented the area from 1989 until 2008, when former School Board Trustee Janice Sarich captured it for the PCs.

Edmonton-Ellerslie: Community activist Chinwe Okelu is seeking the Alberta Party nomination. founder of Young and Associates, an Edmonton-based company that facilitates mediation and negotiations. He has run for City Council numerous times and his connections as a former Liberal Party supporter will create an interesting dynamic in this contest, in which former MLA Bharat Agnihotri is also running.

Edmonton-Glenora: Former NDP MLA Ray Martin is seeking his party’s nomination in this constituency. He was his party’s leader from 1984 until 1994, Mr. Martin was the MLA for Edmonton-Norwood from 1982 until 1993 and Edmonton-Beverly-Clareview from 2004 until 2008. He has also ran for federal office in 1997, 2000, 2008, and 2011.

Edmonton-Mill Creek: Mike Butler is seeking the Liberal nomination. Mr. Butler ran for the federal Liberals in Edmonton-Mill Woods-Beaumont in the 2011 election and for the NDP in the same federal riding in the 2008 election. He also ran for the NDP in Edmonton-Rutherford in the 2008 provincial election.

Lethbridge-West: Activist and writer Shannon Phillips defeated James Moore to capture the NDP nomination on September 11. Ms. Phillips has received high-profile endorsements from Stephen Lewis and Naomi Klein.

St. Albert: Local businessman Tim Osborne was acclaimed as the Alberta Party candidate.

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Edmonton Politics

edmonton election 2010: election night races to watch!

After a month of driving by signs on the boulevards, volunteered knocking on your door, and receiving literature in the mail, Municipal Election Day in Alberta has arrived! As you sit down to enjoy a night of watching the results, tune into the live coverage at theEdmontonian.com, which is sure to be entertaining and educational (edutainment for all your political needs) and watch the results roll in online at ShareEdmonton. As a last send-off before the voting stations close at 8pm and the results roll in shortly afterward, here are some of the contests to watch:

Mayor
 How much of the protest over the phased closure of the City Centre Airport will translate into the vote results. Most political watchers expect Mayor Stephen Mandel to be re-elected with a healthy margin with David Dorward to place a respectable second place and Daryl Bonar in third.

Ward 2
 Hard-working incumbent Councillor Kim Krushell is facing a well-funded opponent in perennial candidate Don Koziak. The closure of the City Centre Airport is Mr. Koziak’s main issue, so it will be interesting to see if it has resonated with voters at the polls. This could be a close race.

Ward 3
 WIth the retirement of long-time Councillor Ron Hayter, there is no incumbent standing in this Ward. Dave Loken is trying for his third time and is facing off against Councillor Hayter’s Executive Assistant Terry Demers and former Liberal candidate Kim Cassady. I expect Mr. Loken to take it, but this could also be a close race.

Ward 4
 Councillor Ed Gibbons is being challenged by former MLA Dan Backs. Mr. Back’s campaign has campaigned hard on the City Centre Airport closure, so this will be another interesting race to watch. I give the edge to Councillor Gibbons, but it could be close.

Ward 7
 First-term Councillor Tony Caterina is facing a challenge from on-leave Edmonton Journal columnist Scott McKeen and local activist Brendan Van Alstine. Councillor Caterina is a solid campaigner, but does not have a great reputation for working together with fellow Councillors. The incumbent probably has the edge in this race, but with three strong candidates it could be interesting.

Ward 11
 The retirement of long-time Councillor Dave Thiele has left this seat as an open contest. My gut tells me that former Edmonton Sun columnist Kerry Diotte may skweek out a win in the end, but he faces three strong opponents in Chinwe Okelu, Shane Bergdahl, and Vishal Luthra.

For Public School Board, watch the races in Ward F between Michael Janz and Bev Sawyer and in Ward G between Sarah Hoffman and George Rice.

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Edmonton Politics

edmonton election 2010: surveys say.

Having been involved in a few election campaigns, I am fully aware of the influx of surveys and questionnaires that end up landing in a candidate’s email inbox over the course of the campaign. They can sometimes be annoyingly time consuming to respond to, but they are sometime an easy way to distill where candidate’s stand on specific issues. Sometimes they also reveal some gems. A question asked in the Edmonton Public Library’s questionnaire posed one of these gem questions to candidates standing in Edmonton’s municipal election:

What character from fiction do you most relate to/is most like you?

Jamie Post – Ward 1: Hard to say, at the moment I’d have to go with Dr. Watson.
Scott Robb – Ward 4: I generally don’t read fiction, but I usually relate to the conflicted hero type.
Thomas Roberts – Ward 6: Can not think of any that is close to me– would love being a combination of Captain Jack Sparrow and Sherlock Holmes, and avoid Dorian Grey(what little I know of the charactor)/Falstaff.
Scott McKeen – Ward 7: OK, that’s tough. I’ll pick Frodo from the Lord of the Rings. A reluctant hero who faces his constant fear to reach journey’s end.
Grant Pullishy – Ward 7: Stephen King- I love thrillers.
Lori Jeffery-Heaney – Ward 8: Hmm, hard to answer – I am more of a non-fiction reader.
Hana Razga – Ward 8: Margaret Laurence Stone Angel’s Hagar Shipley – in about 30 years.
Councillor Don Iveson – Ward 10: James T. Kirk
Al Slemko – Ward 10: Marko Ramius – Red October movie
Shane Bergdahl – Ward 11: That is difficult to say. Frodo from the Hobit and Lord of the Rings comes to mind. A normal person (of sorts) tasked with doing great things.
Roberto Maglalang – Ward 11: Tom Sawyer.
Chinwe Okelu – Ward 11: None.
Brent Schaffrick – Ward 11: Some days, Dilbert, most days I seem to walk a different path then characters in books.
Daryl Bonar – Mayor: I think Rocky Balboa. He perservered with brute force and ignorance as well as a never say quit attitude. He didn’t have all the natural talent and had to overcome many obstacles but his work ethic carried him. I try my best to emulate these traits.
Dan Dromarsky – Mayor: My favorite fictional character is James Bond but how we relate or are alike is also fiction.
Dave Dowling – Mayor: Frodo.
Stephen Mandel – Mayor: I don’t know that he’s like me but the Gene Hackman character as the coach in Hoosiers.

You can also read questionnaire responses from the Professional Arts Coalition of Edmonton, the Canadian Cancer Society, Cycle Edmonton, and the Realtors Association of Edmonton. If you have links to any other surveys and questionnaires, feel free to post a link in the comment section below.

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Edmonton Politics

edmonton election 2010: nomination day at city hall.

It was Christmas morning for political watchers this morning as candidates poured into City Hall to file their nomination papers. I have been to a lot of different political events in my time, but nothing has so far matched the euphoria of Nomination Day at City Hall.

Starting at 9am, bright eyed and well-intentioned candidates began to line up to submit their papers. As they moved down the line, candidates were peppered with questions and camera flashes by the media. For most candidates running in this election, this will be the closest they get to walking the red carpet.

After filing their nomination papers, candidates were scrummed and pressed by the media about who they were, where they were running, and what their positions were on pressing issues. Most of the media questions had to do with the decision to redevelop the City Centre Airport lands, but candidates also brought up their pet issues. Some candidates, like Councillor Jane Batty, came and left quickly. Others, like Ward 11 candidate Kerry Diotte, lingered to get as much media coverage as possible. Different styles for different candidates I suppose.

I was able to live-tweet this morning and you can see those tweets at @davecournoyer and others at #yegvote.

You might think that 30 days is a short time to reasonably campaign for election, and you would be right, but there were many candidates who came out of the woodwork to launch their campaign today. Most candidates came prepared and some, like Ward 11 candidate Vishal Luthra, came with campaign t-shirt toting entourages.

Almost Mayoral candidate Cheryl Ullah

One unfortunate Mayoral aspirant, Cheryl Ullah, came with her nomination papers signed, but forgot to bring her $500 deposit with her. In a bizarre scene, she started collecting donations from reporters and other candidates only 10 minutes before the nomination deadline. Although she was able to raise $90 in about 8 minutes (with a generous $60 donation from Ward A Public School Board Trustee Cheryl Johner), she was unable to make up the extra $410 and dropped out of the race. Don Koziak has now lost the record for shortest Mayoral candidacy.

Luckily for Edmontonians, Mayor Stephen Mandel and challengers Daryl Bonar, David Dorward, Dave Dowling, Dan Dromarsky, Bob Ligertwood, and Andrew Lineker remembered their $500 deposits.

Councillors Don Iveson and Bryan Anderson

Out of 114 candidates who submitted their nomination papers today, only two were acclaimed. Incumbent Public School Board Trustees Dave Colburn (Ward D) and Catherine Ripley (Ward H) will not face any challengers on October 18. There had been rumours that some City Councillors may also be acclaimed, but in the end a few last-minute candidates filed papers to run against Councillor Don Iveson (Ward 10) and Councillor Karen Leibovici (Ward 5).

There are new candidates and competitive races across the City, but there are three City Council Wards that at this point stick out in my mind as the hot races to watch. Curiously, they are in Wards with prime numbers.

Councillor Karen Leibovici is seeking re-election in Ward 5.

In the incumbentless Ward 3, Former Liberal candidate Kim Cassady filed his papers to run for City Council in Ward 3, taking on challengers Dave Loken and Terry Demers. This is Mr. Loken’s third time running for City Council and Ms. Demers second. As retiring Councillor Ron Hayter‘s Executive Assistant, Ms. Demers will have a special insight into the issues in this Ward. New entries into the Ward 3 contest are Shawn Philip Fairbridge, Hatem Naboulsi, John Oplanich, Greg Siver, Louis Sobolewski, and Michael Suess.

In Ward 7, former Edmonton Journal columnist Scott McKeen put his name forward last week to run against Councillor Tony Caterina. Challenger Brendan Van Alstine has been pounding the pavement for over a year to unseat Councillor Caterina, so Mr. McKeen’s entry had added some extreme unpredictability to the race in this north east central Ward. Other candidates entering the contest in Ward 7 today are Terry Rolls and Grant David Pullishy.

Candidate Chinwe Okelu is standing for election in Ward 11.

In south east central Edmonton, the vacant Ward 11 has drawn four main challengers in Community League organizer Shane Bergdahl, many-time candidate Chinwe Okelu, former Edmonton Sun columnist Mr. Diotte, and the well-organized Mr. Luthra. There has been an intense sign and door-knocking war happening in this Ward since earlier this year, which leads me to believe that it could be any one’s race. New candidates entering the race this morning are Roberto Maglalang and Brent Schaffrick

It also appears that some of the most competitive contests in this year’s election might be at the School Board level. In south central Ward F, long-time Public School Board Trustee Don Fleming is not seeking re-election, leaving a three-way race between Michael Janz, Bev Sawyer, and Joanna Rozmus. In Ward G, incumbent Trustee George Rice is facing some serious competition from Sarah Hoffman.

Attending Nomination Day at City Hall was an interesting and worthwhile experience. At no other time during the next 30 days are all of the candidates going to be in the same room at the same time. This morning have me the opportunity to put the names (and websites, Facebook groups, and twitter accounts) to the faces and actually talk with some of the candidates. I hope that all the readers of this blog take the time to read up and try to meet with the candidates standing for election in your area. As the campaign begins in full (and the full list of candidates are released this afternoon), I will be taking a closer look at each Ward contest, the Mayoral election, and the races at the School Board level.

UPDATE: The full list of candidates has been released (h/t to TheEdmontonian.com)

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