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Alberta Politics

Monday morning federal candidate nomination update in Alberta

Preparation for the 2015 federal election continues as parties nominate their candidates in Alberta’s 34 ridings. The Conservatives and Liberals have most of their candidates in place, with the New Democratic Party now holding a flurry of nomination meetings across the province.

Here are the latest candidate nominations in Alberta:

Calgary-Centre: Dr. Jillian Ratti is seeking the NDP nomination. Dr. Ratti is listed as a physician at the Central Family Medicine Teaching Centre at the Sheldon Chumir Health Centre in downtown Calgary.

Calgary-Confederation: University of Calgary PhD Arti Modgill, consultant Marc Power, and former journalist Kirk Heuser are seeking the NDP nomination. Mr. Power has received the endorsements of Calgary-Currie MLA Brian Malkinson and Calgary-Hawkwood MLA Michael Connolly.

Calgary-Forest LawnMyra D’Souza and Abdou Souraya is seeking the NDP nomination. Mr. Souraya is the Executive Assistant to the Director of Calgary Transit.

Calgary-Rocky Ridge: Policy analyst Stephanie Kot is seeking the NDP nomination.

Calgary-Skyview: Mohammad Tayyab is seeking the NDP nomination.

Calgary-Signal Hill: Lawyer Katherine Kowalchuk has withdrawn as the Liberal candidate in this west Calgary riding to focus on her legal business.

Edmonton-Centre: Athabasca University professor Mark Crawford has entered the NDP nomination contest. He will face community activist Reakash Walters and labour federation president Gil McGowan at a August 23, 2015 nomination meeting.

Edmonton-Griesbach: University of Alberta instructor Brian Gold has replaced Daniol Coles as the Liberal candidate. NDP candidate Janis Irwin launched her campaign this month in the company of many supporters, including local NDP MLAs Sarah Hoffman, David Eggen, Deron Bilous, Chris Nielson and Heather Sweet.

Edmonton-Riverbend: Two-time Wildrose Party candidate Ian Crawford is challenging former Progressive Conservative MLA Matt Jeneroux for the Conservative Party nomination. Mr. Crawford ran in Edmonton-Whitemud in 2012 and Edmonton-Riverbend in 2015.

Edmonton-Wetaskiwin: Nadine Bailey and Fritz Kathryn Bitz are seeking the NDP nomination scheduled for August 17, 2015 in Leduc. Ms. Bailey was the NDP candidate in Edmonton-Mill Woods-Beaumont in the 2011 federal election and Edmonton-Centre in the 2012 provincial election.

Medicine Hat-Cardston-Warner: Fort Macleod nurse Erin Weir is seeking the NDP nomination.

Red Deer-Mountain View: Red Deer public school board trustee Dianne Macaulay is seeking the NDP nomination. Ms. Macaulay was first elected as a trustee in 2004.

St. Albert-Edmonton: Transit Operator Darlene Malayko is seeking the NDP nomination.

Categories
Alberta Politics

Bizarre MP Peter Goldring admits to wearing a secret video camera pen to work

Edmonton-East Member of Parliament Peter Goldring has spent much of his Ottawa career in pursuit of odd-ball political issues.

A holdover from the loony days of the Reform Party of Canada, Mr. Goldring has already announced his plans to retire when the next election is called. But even in his final year as an MP, he remains a firm member of the bozo wing of the Conservative Party of Canada.

Peter Goldring Marriage
Marriage advice from MP Peter Goldring (click for larger image).

The latest news from Mr. Goldring is the strange revelation that he wears a pocket pen with a hidden video camera inside it while at work on Parliament Hill, and especially while driving (referring to a charge he faced in 2011 for refusing a breathalyzer test when he was pulled over by police in Edmonton).

This is not the first time Mr. Goldring has brought up the topic of body cameras. He suggested in November 2014 that his fellow MPs should wear body cameras to guard against allegations of sexual misconduct and “prevent besmirchment when encounters run awry.” He was quickly forced by the Prime Minister’s Office to retract his statement.

As a constituent in Edmonton-East, I am always anxious to discover what strange topic Mr. Goldring decides to focus on in his mail newsletter or column in the community newspaper. In one of his latest columns in my community league newspaper, Mr. Goldring offered advice on marriage and disputed “the myth of high divorce rates.” About 90 per cent of the column was an excerpt from a speech made by a Saskatchewan MP Maurice Vellacott.

“If people were to realize these facts and that most marriages do make it, they would be less skittish about tying the knot,” Mr. Vellacott’s proclaimed in the speech.

Peter Goldring MP Edmonton Body Camera
Artists rendering of Peter Goldring wearing a body camera (image by @mike_kendrick)

Previous columns and newsletters from Mr. Goldring have defended “in all thy sons command” as a grammatically superior phrase in the national anthem and protested an obscure private members’ bill in the Quebec National Assembly. And in November 2014, his constituency office mailed out what can only be described as a ‘Peter Goldring-themed’ 2015 calendar, with each month outlining an achievement in his 17 year political career.

Mr. Goldring is perhaps most well known across Canada for his advocacy to bring the British Caribbean islands of Turks and Caicos into Canadian Confederation. This is an idea that might feel appealing when the temperature is close to -30C in Edmonton, but comes with some obvious geographic and practically difficulties. For starters, in 2009, the United Kingdom suspended the local government and took direct control of the overseas territory because of corruption allegations.

Louis_Riel
Louis Riel

On the historical front, Mr. Goldring has been a fierce critic of Métis hero Louis Riel, who the MP describes as a “villain.” Mr. Riel was executed by the Canadian government in 1885, roughly 59 years before Mr. Goldring was born. It is unclear if the MP considers any other historical figures to be his arch-enemies.

On the issue of homelessness, Mr. Goldring considers himself an expert. In October 2014, he suggested that the methodology used to count the homeless population in Edmonton is wrong. He used himself as an example, saying that he considers himself to be without a home in Ottawa.

In the field of international diplomacy, Mr. Goldring has demanded that Canada declare war on the Nuclear-armed Russian Federation over the latter country’s military action against Ukraine and described last year’s Scottish Independence Referendum as “a sham.”

First elected in 1997, Mr. Goldring has served as member of the Reform Party, Canadian Alliance and Conservative Party, excluding a brief time as an Independent MP while fighting a drunken driving charge. He has been re-elected five times.

His success truly speaks as a testament to the strength of the Reform, Canadian Alliance and Conservative Party brands in Alberta.


With Mr. Goldring’s retirement, New Democrat Janis Irwin, Liberal Daniol Coles, Green Heather Workman, and Conservative Kerry Diotte will face each other in the next federal election in the new federal riding of Edmonton-Griesbach.

Categories
Alberta Politics

Photos: Justin Trudeau rally in Edmonton

Justin Trudeau Liberal Edmonton
Justin Trudeau speaks to the crowd at his party’s “Team Trudeau” rally at Louise McKinney Park in Edmonton.
Edmonton Liberal candidates Randy Boissonnault (Edmonton-Centre), Daniol Coles (Edmonton-Griesbach), Sukhdev Aujla (Edmonton-Manning) and Eleanor Olszewski (Edmonton-Strathcona).
Edmonton Liberal candidates Randy Boissonnault (Edmonton-Centre), Daniol Coles (Edmonton-Griesbach), Sukhdev Aujla (Edmonton-Manning) and Eleanor Olszewski (Edmonton-Strathcona).
Justin Trudeau Edmonton Liberal
Justin Trudeau with Liberal candidates and MPs on stage at the “Team Trudeau” rally at Louise McKinney Park in Edmonton.
Justin Trudeau Edmonton Liberal
Justin Trudeau in the crowd of supporters at his “Team Trudeau” rally in Edmonton’s Louise McKinney Park.

See more photos of the “Team Trudeau” rally on Flickr.

Categories
Alberta Politics

Federal Liberal Summer Caucus in Edmonton

Justin Trudeau Edmoton Alberta
Federal Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau surrounded by supporters at an Edmonton rally on January 23, 2014.

Twenty-one years ago, in a federal election that reshaped the Canadian political landscape, the Liberals swept Edmonton, electing Members of Parliament in four of the city’s six federal ridings. That year was a high-water mark for the federal party, which last elected an MP in Edmonton in 2004 and has not come close to electing a candidate since.

Randy-Boissonnault Edmonton Centre Liberals
Randy Boissonnault

For the next week, the federal Liberals will be holding their annual “Summer Caucus” in Edmonton and the party’s 37 Members of Parliament be criss-crossing the Canadian West, hosting events, promoting local candidates and knocking on doors.

Perhaps not coincidentally, the federal Liberals nominated a handful of candidates in Edmonton ridings over the past week who will be on the receiving end of this help – Daniol Coles in Edmonton-GriesbachEleanor Olszewski in Edmonton-Strathcona, Sukhdev Aujla in Edmonton-Manning and Randy Boissonnault in Edmonton-Centre.

In case you want to catch up with any Liberal MPs while they are in our province, here are a listing of public events that some of them will be attending with candidates in Edmonton and Calgary:

Monday, August 18
Westmount-Ville Marie MP Marc Garneau will host a Pints & Politics event at Chop Steakhouse & Bar (17635 Stony Plain Rd NW) in west Edmonton at 8:00 p.m. 

Tuesday, August 19
Liberal leader Justin Trudeau will speak to a rally of supporters in Louise McKinney Riverfront Park overlooking the North Saskatchewan River in Edmonton. The rally begins at 6:00 p.m.

Wednesday, August 20
Halifax-West MP Geoff Regan will be canvassing the Highlands neighbourhood with candidate Daniol Coles in the new Edmonton-Griesbach riding. Afterward, at 8:00 p.m., the Liberals will host a Pints & Politics night at Creole Envie (6509-112 Avenue).

The Edmonton-Strathcona Liberals will host Toronto-Centre Liberal MP Chrystia Freeland, who will speak at an event at University of Alberta Faculty Club starting at 7:30 p.m.

In Calgary, Kings-Hants MP Scott Brison will spend an evening door knocking with Calgary-Confederation candidate Matt Grant. Mr. Garneau and Kingston and the Islands MP Ted Hsu will host a free evening event at the Falconridge/Castleridge Community Association (95 Falshire Drive NE) in northeast Calgary starting at 6:00 p.m.

Later that evening in Calgary, Mr. Grant, Mr. Brison and St. Leonard – St. Michel MP Massimo Pacetti will host a pub night at Sam’s Bar & Grill (1167 Kensington Road NW) starting at 8:00 p.m.

Bourassa MP Emmanuel Dubourg and Edmonton-Centre candidate Randy Boissonnault will co-host a roundtable discussion with Edmonton’s Francophone community. Mr. Dubourg will speak at a fundraiser for the Edmonton-Centre Liberals at Normand’s Bistro (10177-99 Street) starting at 7:00 p.m.

August 21, 2014
Ms. Freeland, Mr. Dubourg, Mr. Regan will join Mr. Boissonnault and his campaign volunteers for an evening of door-to-door canvassing in Edmonton-Centre’s Queen Mary Park.

The federal New Democratic Party caucus will also be holding their Summer Caucus in Edmonton in September 2014.