Tag: Edmonton City Council

Categories
Alberta Politics

Moe Banga wins Edmonton’s Ward 12 by-election

What Edmonton City Hall is expected to look like on Feb. 22, 2016.
Edmonton City Hall in the depths of winter.

How many votes does it take to win a 32-candidate by-election?

2,359 out of 13,279.

Moe Banga Edmonton City Council
Moe Banga

Edmonton Police Detective and community volunteer Moe Banga was elected to Edmonton City Council with 18 percent of the vote in today’s Ward 12 by-election to replace Amarjeet Sohi. The race attracted 32 candidates, a record number in Edmonton city council electoral history.

Despite the 32-way split, Mr. Banga finished more than one thousand votes ahead of his five main competitors, Laura Thibert, Arundeep Sandhu, Irfan Chaudhry, Nav Kaur and Danisha Bhaloo.

This is not the first time Mr. Banga attempted to seek political office. In June 2014, he was disqualified from the federal Conservative Party nomination contest in the Edmonton-Wetaskiwin riding. It was never made completely clear why he was removed from the contest.

Mr. Banga will now serve on city council until the next general election in October 2017.

Here is a full list of the unofficial results from the February 22, 2016 Ward 12 by-election:

1 AHMAD Shani 20
2 BALE Jason 37
3 BANGA Moe 2,359
4 BHALOO Danisha 843
5 BUJOR Victor Viorel 37
6 BUTLER Mike 371
7 CHAMCHUK Nick 222
8 CHAUDHRY Irfan 950
9 GILL Jag 169
10 GORMAN Andrew 40
11 HENDERSON Brian 541
12 HO Lincoln 146
13 JHAJJ Sam 612
14 JOHNSTONE Dan 436
15 KADLA Kelly A. 33
16 KAUR Nav 888
17 KOOPMANS R. Joey 5
18 KOZIAK Don 260
19 MANHAS Balraj Singh 466
20 MCKINNON Terry J. 49
21 PATEL Rakesh 542
22 PIETERSE Field 315
23 SANDHU Arundeep Singh 1,106
24 SEKHON Nirpal 29
25 SHARMA Yash 334
26 SHEORAN Jagat Singh 122
27 STEVENS Jeri 90
28 SZYMANOWKA Nicole 193
29 THIBERT Laura 1,283
30 TOOR Preet 665
31 TOOR Steve ‘CP’ 93
32 WUTZKE Stephen 23
Email
Categories
Alberta Politics

Let’s end the myth of partisan-free city council elections

Edmonton City Councillor Michael Oshry
Edmonton City Councillor Michael Oshry

We need to keep politics out of elections: That sums up recent comments made by Edmonton City Councillor Michael Oshry. The west Edmonton councillor has waded into the 32-candidate by-election race in southeast Edmonton’s Ward 12, questioning the decision of some MLAs to endorse candidates in the municipal contest.

Mr. Oshry’s comments have sparked a resurgence of the popular and misinformed myth that “there is no partisan politics in municipal elections.”

It is natural for politically engaged people to be involved in elections for different levels of government. In fact, the most successful campaigns I have been involved in at a municipal level have attracted organizers and volunteers from a variety of partisan loyalties. It is also not uncommon for municipal politicians to have party connections or the support of politicians from other levels of government. Despite this, no one is proposing to bring political parties back to city council, as existed in Edmonton until the late 1980s.

Like all municipal elections in Edmonton, a number of candidates running in the Ward 12 by-election have party affiliations or are being supported by individuals involved in party politics at the provincial and federal levels.

If partisan affiliations in provincial and federal elections or endorsements from provincial or federal politicians precluded citizens from running for political office, then a number of current city councillors, including Mr. Oshry, would be ineligible to serve.

  • Mr. Oshry was endorsed by St. Albert PC MLA Stephen Khan during the 2013 municipal election.
  • Councillor Tony Caterina ran as a PC candidate in the 2015 election and ran as an Alberta Alliance candidate in the 2004 provincial election.
  • Councillor Bev Esslinger was a PC candidate in 2012 election.
  • Councillor Ed Gibbons was a Liberal MLA from 1997 to 2001. In 2015, he donated $375.00 to the Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville PC Association and in 2007 and 2011 he donated $850 and $1,100 to the PC Party.
  • Mayor Don Iveson donated $250 to Linda Duncan’s election campaign in 2008, while he was city councillor.
  • Councillor Dave Loken campaigned for NDP candidate Janis Irwin in the 2015 federal election and donated more than $2,000 to the Alberta NDP between 2011 and 2014.
  • Councillor Mike Nickel is a former PC Party constituency director. In 2014, he donated $318.25 to the Leduc-Beaumont Wildrose Association and in 2005 he donated $600 to the PC Party.
  • Councillor Michael Walters was an Alberta Party candidate in the 2012 election and endorsed a PC candidate in the 2015 election. He also ran for an NDP nomination in 2000.

Here is a look back at some municipal politicians from the recent past who have had partisan affiliations:

  • Former mayor Stephen Mandel was a PC MLA from 2014 to 2015. He donated $3,000 to the PC Party between 2010 and 2012, while he was Mayor of Edmonton.
  • Former councillor Kim Krushell was a local PC Party constituency association president before being elected as a city councillor. In 2008, she donated $425 to the PC Party. She now serves as a regional director for the PC Party.
  • Former councillor Karen Leibovici was a Liberal MLA from 1993 to 2001 and a federal Liberal candidate in 2015. During her mayoral bid in 2013, she was endorsed by a handful of PC MLAs, including then-deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk and PC MLA David Xiao.
  • Former councillor Linda Sloan was a Liberal MLA from 1997 to 2001. She ran for the Liberal Party leadership in 1998.
  • Former councillor Jane Batty donated $425 to the PC Party in 2010.
  • Former councillor Wendy Kinsella ran as a PC candidate in the 2001 election, while she was still a sitting city councillor.
  • Former councillor Brian Mason was elected as an NDP MLA in a 2000 by-election. He is now Minister of Infrastructure and Transportation.
  • Perhaps the strangest example of partisan involvement in municipal politics was in 2007, when the Wildrose Party donated $250 to Kerry Diotte‘s city council campaign. This is the only example I have found of a political party actually donating money to a municipal election candidate.

These lists demonstrate that after more than four decades of PC governments in Alberta, support for the governing party became engrained in all levels of politics to the point where support for the PCs from municipal politicians was not seen as partisanship, just the way the business of politics was done.

Email
Categories
Alberta Politics

Twenty-one candidates now running in Edmonton’s Ward 12 by-election

What Edmonton City Hall is expected to look like on Feb. 22, 2016.
Edmonton City Hall in the depths of winter.

There are now 21 candidates who have registered their intentions to run in Edmonton City Council’s Ward 12 by-election, which is scheduled to be held on Feb. 22, 2016. I am told with certainty that there are at least two or three additional candidates who expect to announce their plans to enter the by-election race in the coming weeks.

I have created a list of candidates with website and social media links that I will keep updated. Please email me at david.cournoyer [at] gmail.com if you have updates to the list.

Email
Categories
Alberta Politics

Seventeen candidates now running in Edmonton’s Ward 12 by-election

What Edmonton City Hall is expected to look like on Feb. 22, 2016.
Edmonton City Hall in the depths of winter.

With two months left until the official nomination date, 17 candidates have registered their intentions to run in a by-election to fill the Ward 12 vacancy on Edmonton City Council. Triggered by the resignation of Amarjeet Sohi, who was elected as the Liberal Member of Parliament for Edmonton-Mill Woods, the by-election will be held on Feb. 22, 2016.

Some new additions to the list include transit instructor Preet Toor, Catholic School trustee Laura Thibert, past Wildrose Party candidate Kyle McLeod, and Edmonton & District Labour Council past president Brian Henderson.

For updates, visit my updated list of the Ward 12 candidates and their social media links.

Email
Categories
Alberta Politics

Seven candidates announced running in Ward 12 by-election, now set for Feb. 22, 2016

What Edmonton City Hall is expected to look like on Feb. 22, 2016.
Edmonton City Hall in the depths of winter.

Edmonton City Council confirmed today that the Ward 12 by-election to replace former councillor Amarjeet Sohi will be held on Feb. 22, 2016.

Candidates must submit their nomination papers in the Heritage Room at City Hall on Monday, January 25, 2016 between 9:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. More information can be found on the City of Edmonton’s Elections webpage.

Since my last update, there are now at least seven candidates who have publicly declared their intentions to run in the Ward 12 by-election:

For updates, visit my updated list of the Ward 12 candidates and their social media links.

Email
Categories
Alberta Politics

The Uber versus Taxi fight goes provincial in Alberta

The debate over alternative car services gripping city hall in Edmonton may spill over into the Alberta Legislature. According to Lobbyist Registry reports, both Uber and a union representing taxi drivers have acquired the services of well-known lobbyists to help the corporation navigate the halls of the provincial government.

Impact Consulting principal Elan MacDonald is registered as a lobbyist for Uber, with listed activities including lobbying the departments of Transportation, Treasury Board and Finance, and Municipal Affairs with respect to ride sharing, licensing and insurance policy directives. Also working for Impact, though not mentioned in the lobbyist listing, is Brookes Merritt, a former communications director for the Alberta NDP Caucus.

Teamsters Union Local 987 has hired Alberta Counsel Ltd., which readers of this blog may recognize as the company headed by former Wildrose MLAs Shayne Saskiw and Guy Boutilier and former NDP MLA Leo Piquette (father of current NDP MLA Colin Piquette). The company recently hired former NDP Caucus outreach director Pascal Ryffel as a Senior Associate. According to their listing, the company will help the Teamsters lobby the government on many of the same issues as Uber’s lobbyists.

In May 2015, Uber Inc. registered some of its own senior employees as lobbyists in Alberta, including public policy lead Chris Schafer, who was executive director of the Calgary-based Canadian Constitutional Foundation from 2010-2014. Mr. Schafer’s successor at the CCF has taken a hard-line in favour of Uber in the pages of the National Post.

The May 2015 listing declares the company lobbying activities would focus on the Insurance Act, Traffic Safety Act, and a provincial regulatory framework for ride sharing in Alberta.

A strictly regulated taxi authority in Edmonton has posed difficulties for Uber expansion into the capital city. Edmonton City Councillors are expected to discuss a draft by-law about this issue on Wednesday, September 16, 2015.

Although the NDP government has not taken a public position on the expansion Uber in Alberta, Transportation Minister Brian Mason has expressed concern about whether the company’s drivers carry proper commercial insurance coverage.

Email
Categories
Alberta Politics

Pressure builds for Alberta to ban corporate and union donations in municipal elections

On June 22, 2015, Alberta’s new NDP Government passed Bill 1: An Act to Renew Democracy in Alberta, imposing a retroactive ban on corporate and union donations to provincial political parties starting on June 15.

Don Iveson Edmonton Mayor Election
Don Iveson

Since that law passed, pressure has been building for the provincial government to extend that ban to municipal elections. The level of spending by some candidates in the last municipal election was described as “insane” by Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi, after some Calgary city council candidates raised more than $270,000 largely through corporate donations.

During the debate about the provincial law, Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson called for the ban to be extended to municipal elections. Last week, Edmonton City Council voted in favour of a motion introduced by Councillor Andrew Knack to ask the provincial government to ban corporate and union donations in municipal elections.

Edmonton Public School Board trustees endorsed a similar motion introduced by trustee Michael Janz on June 23, 2015.

Andrew Knack Edmonton Ward 1
Andrew Knack

A special select Ethics and Accountability Committee chaired by Edmonton-Mill Woods MLA Christina Gray is set to review the Election Act, the Election Finances and Contributions Disclosure Act, the Conflicts of Interest Act, and the Public Interest Disclosure (Whistleblower Protection) Act.

While the committee is not specifically reviewing the Local Authorities Elections Act, the law that governs municipal elections, the MLAs on that committee should be encouraged to ask Municipal Affairs Minister Deron Bilous to extend the changes municipal elections before the 2017 municipal elections.

Christine Gray MLA Edmonton Mill Woods
Christina Gray

Any move to ban on corporate and union donations in municipal elections must also include resources to enforce the law, which has been lacking under the current legislation. Some municipalities have even refused to enforce the existing legislation.

Here is the motion approved by Edmonton City Council:

That the Mayor write a letter and/or advocate to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Premier:

1. Requesting that the city be given be the ability to independently establish campaign finance and disclosure rules in advance of the 2017 Municipal Election, either via the City Charter or other means.

2. Notwithstanding desiring the autonomy for municipalities to set the other campaign finance and disclosure rules, Edmonton calls for amendments to the Local Authorities Elections Act to eliminate corporate and union donations for all local election candidates.

3. Requesting that should the legislature move to limit corporate and union contributions for all local elections, that the province level the playing field by introducing tax credit eligibility for local election donations.

4. That restrictions on contributions and related disclosure requirements be the same for third party advocacy groups/individuals as they are for municipal candidates.

Email
Categories
Alberta Politics

Big Money in Edmonton Municipal Election

Don Iveson Karen Leibovici Kerry Diotte Edmonton Election 2013
Edmonton’s 2013 mayoral candidates Don Iveson, Karen Leibovici and Kerry Diotte.

$4.35, $19.75, and $5.45 are how much Don Iveson, Karen Leibovici and Kerry Diotte‘s campaigns spent for each vote received in Edmonton’s October 21, 2013  mayoral election.  With the most efficient dollar-to-vote ratio is Mr. Iveson, who won the election with a landslide 132,162 votes (62% of the total votes cast).

With a less efficient dollar-to-vote ratio was Ms. Leibovici, who earned 41,182 votes (19% of the total vote) while outspending Mr. Iveson by more than $237,500 and declaring a steep $142,415.27 campaign deficit.

Released last week, the financial disclosures for Edmonton’s 2013 Mayoral and City Council elections  detail how much each mayoral and councillor candidate raised and expensed during the campaign. Below is the breakdown for the top three mayoral candidates.

Edmonton Mayoral Election 2013, Financial Disclosure
Candidate Total Revenue Total Expenses Surplus/(Deficit)
Iveson $618,501.63 $576,059.79 $42,441.84
Leibovici $671,171.34 $813,586.61 ($142,415.27)
Diotte $179.912.11 $179,852.76 $59.35

Mayoral candidates Josh Semotiuk and Gordon Ward self-financed their campaigns and did not declare any donations. Candidate Kristine Acielo did not file a financial disclosure.

Here are the financial breakdowns submitted from elected city council candidates competing in Edmonton’s 12 wards.

Edmonton City Council Election 2013, Financial Disclosure
Candidate Total Revenue Total Expenses Surplus/(Deficit)
Andrew Knack $43,143.06 $43,143.06 $0
Bev Esslinger $34,044.28 $33,220.88 $823.40
Dave Loken $97,054.50 $96,906.55 $147.95
Ed Gibbons $93,461.44 $93,254.44 $207.00
Michael Oshry $82,587.85 $82,929.85 $295.00
Scott McKeen $105,862.81 $103,585.54 $2,277.27
Tony Caterina $87,950.00 $87,603.00 $347.00
Ben Henderson $59,335.06 $31,640.26 $27,714.80
Bryan Anderson $68,836.47 $43,783.69 $25,052.78
Michael Walters $107,198.85 $106,744.60 $454.25
Mike Nickel $65,199.00 $64,793.81 $405.19
Amarjeet Sohi $130,840.99 $85,105.30 $45,735.69

According to the Local Authorities Elections Act, donations to municipal election candidates are limited to a maximum of $5,000 for individuals, corporations and trade unions during an election year.

Email
Categories
Alberta Politics

New poll shows Albertans love their Big City Mayors

Don-Iveson-Doug-Horner-Alison-Redford-LRT-Edmonton
Mayor Don Iveson, surrounded by Edmonton city councillors and PC MLAs, responds to the  provincial government’s new committed funds for the LRT (photo by mastermaq, creative commons licensed)

The same poll that showed former Premier Alison Redford with a 75% disapproval rating also showed urban Albertans have huge confidence in the leadership of their big city mayors.

Previously unpublished questions from the same poll conducted by Marc Henry‘s ThinkHQ and provided to daveberta.ca showed Edmonton mayor Don Iveson and Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi with 70% and 71% approval ratings.

Naheed Nenshi Calgary Mayor Awesome
Naheed Nenshi

With Ms. Redford’s resignation sparking a leadership vacuum at the provincial level, Albertans in Edmonton and Calgary have confidence in the leadership of their mayors and  councils.  The poll also showed 58% percent approved or strongly approved of Edmonton City Council and, in Calgary, 60% approved or strongly approved of their City Council.

Elected on a wave of change and optimism in October 2013, Mr. Iveson recently navigated choppy provincial waters to squeeze a major LRT commitment from a provincial government that seemed to leave its capital city in the lurch.

Leading Calgary through the largest flood in recent memory, Mr. Nenshi has helped redefine what it means to be a big city mayor. And he is no slouch. He has remained focused on creating a balanced approach to dealing with the city’s growth challenges while taking on wealthy suburban developers, who declared war on him before his landslide re-election.

The two mayors have many common interests and their cities are facing many of the same growth challenges, but Calgary, Edmonton and Alberta’s other cities are very different political environments. Urban Alberta is not a monolith.

As the Progressive Conservatives scramble to choose a new leader, Mr. Iveson and Mr. Nenshi are well-positioned to drive an urban agenda for Alberta. Their political strength and high approval ratings will make it difficult for the next PC leader and whoever becomes the premier after the next election to ignore the concerns of urban Albertans.

The survey was conducted from March 10 to 16 though ThinkHQ’s Voice of Alberta and Vision Critical online research panel. The sample size included 534 Calgarians and 405 Edmontonians with a margin of error of +/- 4.2% and 4.9%.

Email