Premier Danielle Smith at the United Conservative Party's leader's dinner in Edmonton (source: Danielle Smith / Facebook)
A special weekend episode of the Daveberta Podcast
It’s rare that I send out a newsletter on the weekend but I thought subscribers would enjoy listening to a new episode of the Daveberta Podcast we recorded this week.
We cover a lot of ground in this episode of the Daveberta Podcast, including:
Premier Danielle Smith’s recent packed leader’s dinner fundraisers in Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer and Bonnyville.
how the Alberta NDP leadership candidates are leaning into digital advertising on the Meta platform and what this might say about their campaigns.
how federal boundary changes are impacting the electoral map in south east Edmonton (I’m calling it the Mill Woods Shuffle) and former Progressive Conservative MLA Naresh Bhardwaj’s campaign for the Conservative nomination in the new Edmonton-Southeast riding (I’ve updated the list).
how electoral boundary commissions work in Alberta (one of my favourite topics).
NDP leader Jagmeet Singh makes a health care announcement outside the East Edmonton Health Centre
NDP leader Jagmeet Singh spent today campaigning in Edmonton-Griesbach with local candidate Blake Desjarlais, who the party believes is in a position to defeat Conservative candidate Kerry Diotte.
Jagmeet Singh speaks to Alberta nurses and health care workers.
Singh started the day with a health care announcement outside the East Edmonton Health Centre with Desjarlais, Edmonton-Strathcona MP Heather McPherson and a group of nurses and health care workers.
During his announcement Singh criticized the Liberals for not doing enough to improve affordability of long-term care and hold the corporations that run long-term care centres to account after outbreaks during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“He voted against getting rid of profit from long-term care, making it clear he would rather protect the interests of the for-profit, billion-dollar corporations that profit off the backs of seniors, rather than putting seniors first,” Singh said.
Blake Desjarlais
This puts Justin Trudeau, who made his own seniors care announcement in Victoria today, in a difficult position of not wanting to engage in an important but largely provincial issue that could sour relations with other provincial governments, like Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia.
As noted in my previous post, unlike the last federal election campaign, Alberta NDP MLAs are campaigning alongside some federal NDP candidates in this election.
Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood MLA Janis Irwin, Edmonton-Glenora MLA Sarah Hoffman, and Edmonton-South MLA Thomas Dang were at an afternoon rally outside the Bellevue Community Hall where a crowd of NDP supporters gathered to cheer on Singh, Desjarlais and other areas candidates, including Edmonton-Centre candidate and former public school board trustee Heather Mackenzie.
This is a significant shift in federal-provincial NDP relations, which were much frostier during the 2019 federal election when the dominant issues were the carbon tax and pipelines.
Jason Kenney (source: Facebook)
In another sign of changing times, Singh used his visit to Alberta to leverage the declining popularity of Premier Jason Kenney, especially on his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and his decision to attack frontline nurses, doctors, and health care workers.
Kenney has been conspicuously missing from the campaign trail, scheduling a vacation instead (when he returns he will be without a Principal Secretary, as Larry Kaumeyer is leaving the Premier’s Office to become the new head of Ducks Unlimited).
While Kenney will likely pop up campaigning for a candidate somewhere, it is a considerable difference from 2019 when the Alberta Premier spent an entire week campaigning for Conservative Party candidates in Ontario and Manitoba.
In 2019, Kenney was seen as an asset for Andrew Scheer. In 2021, he might be a liability for Erin O’Toole.
Trudeau touches down in Calgary-Skyview
Justin Trudeau and George Chahal (source: Twitter)
Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau’s plane touched down in Calgary tonight to make a quick campaign stop in support of Calgary-Skyview candidate and City Councillor George Chahal.
“With the right representation, we can build prosperous communities. We need to diversify our economy, invest in infrastructure like we did with Airport Trail and the Green Line and we must continue to do so with public infrastructure such as the expansion of the Blue Line, Arts Common, and the development of the multi-sport fieldhouse at the Foothills Athletic Park,” said Chahal in a press release following the event.
Voters in the district, in which the Calgary International Airport is located, elected former Liberal MLA Darshan Kang in 2015 and Conservative Jag Sahota in 2019.
Banff gets a new kind of tourist
Supported by former Conservative MPs Rob Anders and Eric Lowther, Ontario MP Derek Sloan announced his plans to run as an Independent candidate in Banff-Airdrie.
The first-term former Conservative from southeast Ontario has been travelling around Alberta for the past month speaking at rallies of anti-vaxxer and COVID-19 conspiracy theorists.
The political tourist claims he wants to “Make Alberta Great Again.”
Sloan will challenge Conservative MP Blake Richards, who was re-elected in 2019 with 71.09 per cent of the vote.
Candidates say the dumbest things
We have not entered the “airing of dumb things candidates have said on social media” phase of the federal election campaign. The Conservative Party released a statement from Calgary-Nose Hill candidate Michelle Rempel Garner attacking Liberal candidate Jessica Dale-Walker for a March 2020 tweet that said “Fit in or fuck off. We Alberta need to start fitting in. Because quite frankly, we are not as superior as our government touts.”
Dale-Walker responded, in a tweet: My tweet last summer was thoughtless and wrong. Thats certainly not how i feel today. I want to be absolutely clear I am double vaccinated and I believe all Canadians, who can, should be. If my brash comments caused anyone to think otherwise, I apologize.”
New candidates
Hugo Charles has been nominated as the NDP candidate in Edmonton-Wetaskiwin.
Kelly Green has been nominated as the Green Party candidate in Edmonton-Strathcona.
The Libertarian Party has nominated Morgan Watson in Edmonton-Griesbach and MalcolmStinson in Edmonton-Strathcona.
The People’s Party has nominated Jacob Cohen in Calgary-Centre, Dwayne Holub in Calgary-Forest Lawn, Ron Vaillant in Calgary-Shepard, Nicholas Debrey in Calgary-Signal Hill, Brock Crocker in Edmonton-Centre, Martin Halvorson in Edmonton-Manning, Jennifer Peace in Edmonton-Riverbend, Wesley Janke in Edmonton-Strathcona, Daniel Hunter in Foothills, Shawn McLean in Grande Prairie-Mackenzie, Ann McCormack in Lakeland, Mardon Day in Red Deer-Lacombe, Kelly Lorencz in Red Deer-MountainView, John Wetterstrand in Sherwood Park-Fort Saskatchewan, and Michael Manchen in Yellowhead,
Edmonton City Councillor Ben Henderson is running for the Liberal Party in Edmonton-Mill Woods
City Councillor Ben Henderson has been acclaimed as the Liberal Party candidate in Edmonton-Mill Woods.
This nomination notice was posted on the Liberal Party of Canada website this evening.
Henderson currently serves as Councillor for Ward 8 and was first elected to City Council in 2007.
“Edmonton Mill Woods deserves strong and effective representation in government, that is why I’m thrilled and honoured to run for the job of serving the community of Mill Woods and the Meadows in Parliament, “ Henderson said in a press statement released on August 10.
“The results of this upcoming coming election are critical to ensuring we recover successfully from COVID-19 and make progress in building a truly prosperous community for ourselves and future generations,” Henderson said.
Before his election to council, Henderson was a Mediator and Negotiator, and before that was a theatre director, working as founding Artistic Director of Nexus Theatre and the Artistic Director of Theatre Network.
Henderson’s municipal ward does not overlap with the south east Edmonton federal riding, which is likely a recognition by the Liberals that their chances of unseating New Democratic Party MP Heather McPherson in Edmonton-Strathcona, which includes all of Henderson’s Ward 8, are slim to none.
Recruiting a four-term city councillor to run in the federal election is a coup for the federal Liberals in Edmonton. Henderson will bring many years of campaign experience and, likely, a dedicated team and resources to his campaign.
Nathalie Batres, who works as Mayor Don Iveson‘s Senior Media and Communications Advisor, is listed as the media contact in Henderson’s press release.
Tim Uppal
Henderson’s candidacy will also likely mean that Conservative Party MP Tim Uppal will be forced to spend more time campaigning inside his riding than if he faced a lesser known Liberal candidate.
Edmonton-Mill Woods was represented by Liberal MP and former city Councillor Amarjeet Sohi from 2015 until his defeat to Uppal in 2019. Sohi is now running for Mayor of Edmonton.
The area was previously represented by Conservative MP Mike Lake from 2006 to 2015 (Lake now represents the neighbouring Edmonton-Wetaskiwin) and Progressive Conservative-turned-Liberal MP David Kilgour from 1979 to 2006.
Also nominated by the Liberal Party today is Shahnaz Jabeen in Calgary-Rocky Ridge.
NDP leader Jagmeet Singh with Edmonton-Griesbach candidate Blake Desjarlais and Edmonton-Strathcona MP Heather McPherson on the picket line supporting Local 146 Boilermakers who have been locked out by CESSCO since last summer.
The countdown to Canada’s next federal election is on as cabinet ministers and party leaders drop into Alberta to raise their banners and support their local candidates.
Transport Minister Omar Alghabra with Calgary Liberal candidates George Chahal and Sabrina Grover. (Source: Twitter)
Transport Minister Omar Alghabra was touring through Calgary and made time to attend a rally in support of Calgary-Centre Liberal candidate Sabrina Grover and Calgary-Skyview candidate George Chahal.
And candidate nominations continue ahead of the expected election call. Here are some of the latest federal candidate nominations from across Alberta:
Ron Thiering has been nominated as the Liberal Party candidate in Edmonton-Wetaskiwin. Thiering was the party’s 2019 candidate in the neighbouring Sherwood Park-Fort Saskatchewan and recently lost a contested nomination in that district to Tanya Holm.
Juan Estevez is expected to be nominated as the NDP candidate in Calgary-Centre on August 5.
Sandra Hunter is expected to be nominated as the NDP candidate in Edmonton-West on August 5.
Desiree Bissonnettte is seeking the NDP nomination in Lakeland and is expected to be nominated on August 5.
Gulshan Akter is seeking the NDP nomination in Calgary-Confederation. A nomination meeting is scheduled for August 11. Akter is the managing director of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Education and President and CEO of the Peerless Training Institute, a government-accredited private career college in Calgary. She was the NDP candidate in Calgary-West in the 2019 provincial election, where she placed second with 25.4 per cent of the vote behind United Conservative Party MLA Mike Ellis.
Carey Rutherford is the Green Party candidate in Calgary-Forest Lawn.
Melanie Hoffman is the Green Party candidate in Edmonton-Riverbend.
The New Democratic Party and the Liberal Party now appear to have full slates of 34 candidates in Alberta. The two parties have scrambled to nominate candidates in Calgary and parts of rural Alberta, with both parties dropping parachute candidates into many rural ridings in the province.
The dominance of the Conservative Party in rural areas, as well as the palpable hostility toward Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the federal NDP over the issue of oil pipelines (even though the Trudeau Government purchased and saved the Trans Mountain Pipeline project) is likely the biggest reason why the two parties have had such a difficult time fielding local candidates.
Battle River-Crowfoot: Dianne Clarke has been nominated as the Liberal Party candidate.
Bow River: Margaret Rhemtulla has been nominated as the Liberal Party candidate. Rhemtulla is the Policy Chair for the Alberta-wing of the Liberal Party of Canada.
Calgary-Midnapore: Brian Aalto has been nominated as the Liberal Party candidate.
Calgary-Skyview: Rafih Bari has been nominated as the Libertarian Party candidate.
Edmonton-Centre: Donovan Eckstrom is the Rhinoceros Party candidate. Eckstrom ran for the Rhino Party in Edmonton-Strathcona in the 2015 federal election. Perennial candidate Adil Pirbhai is running as an Independent.
Edmonton-Griesbach: Andrzej Gudanowski is running as an Independent candidate. Gudanowski recently ran as an Independent candidate in Edmonton-Beverly-Clareview in the 2019 provincial election and in Edmonton’s 2017 municipal election in Ward 7.
Edmonton—Wetaskiwin: Emily Drzymala is the Green Party candidate. Drzymala is a social worker and the former president of the Alberta College of Social Workers. She was the NDP candidate in Calgary-North Hill in the 1989 provincial election.
Foothills: Cheryl Moller has been nominated as the Liberal Party candidate. Moller is a retired teacher and president of the Liberal Party association in Calgary-Rocky Ridge. She was a volunteer for Kara Levis’ campaign for the leadership of the Alberta Party in 2018.
Grande Prairie-Mackenzie: Ken Munro has been nominated as the Liberal Party candidate. Munro is a professor emeritus of history at the University of Alberta. He is a longtime Liberal Party supporter in Edmonton, having served as president of the Liberal Party’s Alberta-wing and candidate in Edmonton-South in the 1984 election.
Lakeland: Mark Watson has been nominated as the Liberal Party candidate. Watson is a former Smoky Lake town councillor and director with the Smoky Lake & District Agricultural Society. He is also president of the Liberal Party association in this riding.
University of Alberta political science student Jeffrey Swanson has been nominated as the NDP candidate. Swanson is Vice President of the U of A Campus New Democrat club.
Kira Brunner has replaced Elke Crosson as the Green Party candidate.
Medicine Hat-Cardston-Warner: Harris Kirshenbaum has been nominated as the Liberal Party candidate. Kirshenbaum was campaign manager for former Liberal MLA David Swann in Calgary Mountain-View.
Red Deer-Lacombe: Tiffany Rose has been nominated as the Liberal Party candidate. Rose is a PTSD Yoga educator and facilitator and owner of LacOMbe Yoga. Sarah Palmer has replaced Desmond Bull as the Green Party candidate.
Red Deer-Mountain View: Gary Tremblay has been nominated as the Liberal Party candidate. Tremblay is the Chair of the Liberal Party association in Calgary-Shepard.
St. Albert-Edmonton: Jason J. Brodeur is the Rhinoceros Party candidate.
Sturgeon River-Parkland: Heather Wood is the Rhinoceros Party candidate.
Please contact me at david.cournoyer@gmail.com for additions or updates related to candidate nominations in Alberta and I will add them to the list. Thank you!
PHOTO: MAGALIE L’ABBE, CREATIVE COMMONS
Photo: Campaign central in Edmonton-Centre: Randy Boissonnault’s campaign office (in an old bank) and James Cumming’s campaign office (in an old car dealership) are kitty-corner to each other on Jasper Avenue and 115 Street.
Gwyneth Midgley has been nominated as the Liberal Party candidate in Banff-Airdire. Midgley is the executive director of the Alberta Liberal Party and was that party’s 2019 candidate in Banff-Kananaskis, where she earned 1.08 per cent of the vote. Previously declared nomination candidate Jaro Giesbrecht announced on social media that his candidacy had not passed the Liberal Party’s vetting process.
The NDP has nominated retired Registered Nurse Holly Heffernan in Calgary-Heritage, app developer Patrick King in Calgary-Nose Hill, UFCW Local 401 activist Charmaine St. Germain in Edmonton-Manning, and law student Noah Garver in Edmonton-Wetaskiwin. Hefferman has run for the NDP in numerous past provincial and federal elections, most recently as the provincial NDP candidate in Drumheller-Stettler.
Logan Garbanewski is seeking the NDP nomination in Red Deer-Mountain View and a selection meeting is scheduled to take place on September 20
The Green Party has nominated Jeff Cullihall in Edmonton-West, Brian Deheer in Fort McMurray-Cold Lake, Shannon Hawthore in Medicine Hat-Cardston-Warner, Angelena Satdeo in Yellowhead, Allison Tulick in Calgary-Heritage, Chris Vallee in Edmonton-Manning, and Stephanie Watson in Lethbridge
The Christian Heritage Party has nominated Tom Lipp in Bow River, Esther Sutherland in Calgary-Forest Lawn, Larry Heather in Calgary-Heritage, Joseph Alexander in Calgary-Skyview, Christine Armas in Edmonton-Griesbach, Pamella Phiri in Edmonton-Manning, Don Melanson in Edmonton-Mill Woods, and Marc Singerland in Lethbridge. Slingerland narrowly lost the United Conservative Party nomination in Cardston-Siksika to Joseph Schow ahead of the 2019 provincial election.
The Marxist-Leninist Party has nominated Kevan Hunter in Calgary-Confederation, Peggy Askin in Calgary-Nose Hill, Daniel Blanchard in Calgary-Skyview, Peggy Morton in Edmonton-Centre, Mary Joyce in Edmonton-Griesbach, and Andre Vachon in Edmonton-Manning.
Naomi Rankin is the Communist Party of Canada candidate in Edmonton-Strathcona. Rankin has served as leader of the Communist Party of Alberta since 1992 and has run in every provincial and federal election in Alberta since 1982. Also running for the Communist Party are Jonathan Trautman in Calgary-Forest Lawn and Adam Handy in Calgary-Skyview.
Please contact me at david.cournoyer@gmail.com for additions or updates related to candidate nominations in Alberta and I will add them to the list. Thank you!
Photo: Justin Trudeau at a rally to launch Amarjeet Sohi’s re-election campaign in July 2019.
The federal election is expected to be called tomorrow and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is scheduled to be in Edmonton on September 12 for a rally with candidates and supporters at the Westbury Theatre in the heart of Edmonton-Strathcona.
As Minister of Natural Resources, the congenial and personally popular Sohi has been tasked with the unfortunate role of being one of the public faces of the federal government-owned Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion project. Despite spending considerable political and financial capital saving the project from failure, the Trudeau Liberals have faced growing hostility in traditionally Conservative-dominated Alberta.
The election will be held on October 21, 2019.
Liberals filling out their slate of candidates in Alberta
Phones are buzzing across Alberta tonight as the Liberals, NDP and Greens try to fill their slates of candidates in this province before an expected federal election call tomorrow. With around 40-days left until Election Day, these last minute candidates will have a lot of ground to cover in order to catch up with their opponents, and, in reality, many of them will serve as paper candidates carrying their party’s banner.
The Liberal Party nominated six additional candidates since last Friday:
Calgary-Forest Lawn: Jagdish Anand is an Ophthalmologist and Retina Surgeon with a practice in Sunridge Professional Centre and is also attached with Rockyview General Hospital. He was previously a candidate for the Liberal Party nomination in Calgary-Skyview before Nirmala Naidoo was appointed.
Calgary-Heritage: Scott Forsyth is a photographer and family physician who holds both medical and law degrees from the University of Calgary. He was the Liberal candidate in Calgary-Heritage in the 2017 by-election where he earned 21.7 per cent of the vote.
Calgary-Nose Hill: Josephine Tsang leads the programming and partnership development in the Energy Transitions section of TELUS Spark. She previously taught at Mount Royal University and holds a Ph.D in Physical Organic Chemistry from Queen’s University.
Edmonton-Wetaskiwin: Richard Wong is the vice-chairperson of the Liberal Party association in Edmonton-Riverbend.
St. Albert-Edmonton: Gregory Springate is a assistant professor teaching accounting, auditing, tax, finance and information systems at MacEwan University in Edmonton. Springate is the former treasurer and chief financial officer of the Alberta Liberal Party. He briefly sought the Liberal Party nomination in Edmonton-West ahead of the 2015 federal election.
Yellowhead: Jeremy Hoefsloot is chairperson of the Young Liberals of Canada in Alberta and until recently was a student of political science and philosophy at the University of Alberta.
The NDP have a number of nomination meetings scheduled for this week, including in Calgary-Nose Hill, where Patrick King is expected to be acclaimed on September 11, 2019. Gurmit Bhachu was nominated as his party’s candidate in Calgary-Midnapore and the NDP were also expected to name a candidate in Calgary-Heritage today.
The Christian Heritage Party nominated Dawid Pawlowski as its candidate in Calgary-Centre. Pawlowski is the brother of controversial street pastor Art Pawlowski. Also running in Calgary-Centre is Animal Party of Canada candidate Eden Gould.
Please contact me at david.cournoyer@gmail.com for additions or updates related to candidate nominations in Alberta and I will add them to the list. Thank you!
Seven-term Calgary-Forest Lawn MP Deepak Ohbrai died on August 2, 2019 after a ‘brief and aggressive’ liver cancer. Obhrai was Alberta’s longest serving MP, having first been elected to the House of Commons in 1997 as a Reform Party candidate and re-elected under the Canadian Alliance banner in 2000, and as a Conservative in the 2004, 2006, 2008, 2011, and 2015 elections.
Before entering federal politics, he was president of the India Canada Association of Calgary, ran for a City Council seat in a 1993 by-election and ran for the PC nomination in Calgary-Montrose in 1996.
Obhrai faced a brief nomination challenge from former Calgary-East PC MLA Moe Amery but he was eventually acclaimed as his party’s candidate in the October 2019 election. Amery’s son, Mickey, is now the UPC MLA for Calgary-Cross.
The Conservatives will need to select a new candidate to succeed Obhrai in the upcoming federal election.
Former Alberta MLA running for the federal Conservatives on Vancouver Island
DeLong served as the Progressive Conservative MLA for Calgary-Bow from 2001 to 2015 and as Parliamentary Assistant for Seniors from 2011 to 2012. She briefly mounted a campaign for the leadership of the PC Party in 2006. She ran as a Liberal Party candidate in Nanaimo-North Cowichan in the 2017 BC election, where she placed second with 28 percent behind NDP MLA Doug Routley.
She travelled to Alberta during the 2019 provincial election to campaign for Calgary-Bow UCP candidate Demetrios Nicolaides.
DeLong is not the first former Alberta politician to try their hand at federal politics west of the Rockies.
George Ernest Hansell
Former provincial treasurer Stockwell Day is perhaps the most recognizable example of former Alberta politician jumping into federal politics in British Columbia, but he is not alone. Former Edmonton mayor Vincent Dantzer served as the MP for Okanagan-North from 1980 to 1988, former Slave Lake mayor Val Meredith served as MP for Surrey-White Rock-South Langley from 1993 to 2004, and Werner Schmidt, who led Alberta’s Social Credit Party from 1973 to 1975, later served as the MP for Okanagan-Centre and Kelowna from 1993 to 2006.
Hansell was handpicked by Alberta Premier Ernest Manning to lead the BC wing of the Social Credit Party, but he did not become Premier of BC. Instead, the Social Credit MLAs elected to the BC Legislature chose W.A.C. Bennett, who would remain premier of that province until 1972. A similar political invasion of Saskatchewan 14 years earlier was unsuccessful.
Todd Kathol was nominated as the Liberal candidate in Calgary-Rocky Ridge. Kathol previously ran for the Liberal nomination in Calgary-Confederation. He is a partner with Field Law.
Jagdish Anand is seeking the Liberal nomination in Calgary-Skyview. Anand is an Ophthalmologist and Retina Surgeon with a practice in Sunridge Professional Centre and is also attached with Rockyview General Hospital. The district is currently represented by Independent MP Darshan Kang, who was elected as a Liberal in 2015 and left the governing caucus in 2017 following allegations of sexual harassment while he was an MLA.
Katherine Swampy was nominated as the NDP candidate in Edmonton-Centre. Swampy is a councillor with the Samson Cree Nation, member of the board of directors for Peace Hills Trust, and previously ran for the NDP in the 2015 provincial and federal elections.
Nigel Logan was nomination as the NDP candidate in Edmonton-Mill Woods. Logan previously ran for Edmonton City Council and has worked as a constituency assistant for Edmonton-Strathcona NDP MP Linda Duncan.
Patrick Steuber has been nominated as the NDP candidate in Edmonton-West.
Lito Velasco is seeking the Liberal nomination in Edmonton-Wetaskiwin. He is the editor of the Alberta Filipino Journal.
Artist and motivational speaker Jesse Lipscombe is seeking the Liberal nomination in St. Albert- Edmonton. Lipscombe is well known for his work with the #MakeItAwkward campaign and is the grandson of Edmonton Eskimos star player Rollie Miles.
Please contact me at david.cournoyer@gmail.com for additions or updates related to candidate nominations in Alberta and I will add them to the list. Thank you!
Most Conservative Party Members of Parliament from Alberta, who represent most of the province’s contingent in Ottawa, were acclaimed as their party’s candidates for the next election, with the exception of Mike Lake, who fended off a nomination challenge in Edmonton-Wetaskiwin.
Former Progressive Conservative MLA Moe Amery briefly launched a challenge against Deepak Obhrai for the federal Conservative nomination in Calgary-Forest Lawn but withdrew from the contest months later. Obhrai was then acclaimed.
Non-incumbent Conservatives acclaimed for their nominations include Jagdeep Sahota in Calgary-Skyview, James Cumming in Edmonton-Centre, and Tim Uppal in Edmonton-Mill Woods. Sam Lilly is seeking the Conservative Party nomination in Edmonton-Strathcona.
If Lilly is nominated in Edmonton-Strathcona, then all eleven Conservative Party candidates in Edmonton and the surrounding area will be men.
Liberal Party MP Randy Boissonnault was acclaimed as his party’s candidate in Edmonton-Centre, making him the governing party’s first nominated candidate in Alberta during this election cycle. Liberal MP Kent Hehr is expected to be nominated as his party’s candidate in Calgary-Centre on October 21, 2018 and Edmonton-Mill Woods Liberal MP Amarjeet Sohi has yet to be nominated. Sohi currently serves as Minister of Natural Resources with special responsibilities related to the expansion of the Trans Mountain Pipeline.
Yellowhead: With Conservative MP Jim Eglinski not seeking re-election, five candidates have stepped up to seek the party nomination in Yellowhead, including Christian private school principal Robert Duiker, former Drayton Valley mayor Glenn McLean, Yellowhead County Planning and Subdivision Officer Kelly Jensen, past Wildrose Party candidate Kathy Rondeau, and Yellohwead County Mayor Gerald Soroka. Two other candidates, Ryan Ouderkirk and Carolyne Mackellar, withdrew from the contest.
Conservative Party members in Yellowhead will be voting to select their candidate in Grande Cache, Hinton, Rocky Mountain House, Drayton Valley, Wabamum and Edson between October 11 and 13, 2018.
I expect to soon be tracking federal nominations in Alberta, so stay tuned. If you know any candidates who have announced their intentions to stand for federal party nomination, please send me an email at david.cournoyer@gmail.com. I will add them to the list. Thank you!
David Shepherd accepts the NDP nomination in Edmonton-City Centre (source: David Shepherd on Twitter)
Photo: David Shepherd accepts the NDP nomination in Edmonton-City Centre (source: David Shepherd on Twitter)
Edmonton-Centre MLA David Shepherd secured the New Democratic Party nomination in the newly redrawn and slightly renamed Edmonton-City Centre district at a packed nomination meeting last night in downtown Edmonton. Shepherd was first elected in 2015 after unseating five-term Liberal MLA Laurie Blakeman, and in 2017 he was voted “MLA to watch in 2018” in the Best of Alberta Politics survey.
Laurie Mozeson
Laurie Mozeson defeated past-Wildrose Party candidate Steve Thompson to win the United Conservative Party nomination in the southwest district of Edmonton-McClung yesterday. Mozeson is a long-time prosecutor with the federal and provincial governments and was appointed as a citizenship judge in 2012 by then federal immigration minister Jason Kenney.
A November 2012 report by the Hill Times noted Mozeson’s daughter, Marlee, had worked in Kenney’s office as an intern and special assistant, and later worked as assistant to Chungsen Leung, Kenney’s parliamentary secretary for multiculturalism. Her son, Jonah, had previously worked as communications director for Public Works Minister Rona Ambrose.
Mozeson will face Alberta Party leader Stephen Mandel in the next election. Mandel is his party’s nominated candidate, lives in the district, and represented it as City Councillor from 2001 to 2004, and then as Mayor of Edmonton from 2004 to 2013. Incumbent NDP MLA Lorne Dach has not yet announced he plans for re-election.
UCP vote in Calgary-Fish Creek today
UCP members living in Calgary-Fish Creek will choose their next candidate today. Incumbent MLA Richard Gotfried is facing a challenge from Cindy Ross. Gotfried was first elected in 2015 as a Progressive Conservative, stealing the seat away from the Wildrose Party. This race has been contentious to say the least.
The NDP released a screenshot of a Facebook Post showing Ross making derogatory statements against Muslims in regards to the construction of a new Mosque in Fort McMurray. “What a better place to have a mosque. Right in the middle of our greatest asset,” the screenshot showed Ross saying in 2015. “This is a bit of like jailing the bank robber in the bank vault.”
Meanwhile, Gotfried is the kind of MLA who stands on the floor of the Alberta Legislature and attacks the NDP by comparing people leaving Alberta to refugees fleeing Bolshevik Russia and Moaist China. As I wrote in May 2017, it takes a special amount of partisan and ideological gymnastics to draw connections between brutal and tyrannical dictatorships and a freely elected democratic government in Alberta, but Gotfried did it.
So, good luck with this, Calgary-Fish Creek Conservatives.
Wilson wins UCP nod in Maskwacis-Wetaskiwin
Richard Wilson
Richard Wilson defeated business owner Sandra Kim and former Wetaskiwin City Councillor Donna Andres to secure the UCP nomination in the newly redrawn Maskwacis-Wetaskiwin district in central Alberta. Wilson served as a Wetaskiwin County Councillor from 1992 to 2007, a Trustee with the Wetaskiwin Regional Public Schools from 1993 to 1998, and as chairman of Crossroads Regional Health Authority from 1996 to 2003.
UCP members in Leduc-Beaumont will choose from three candidates at a nomination vote being held on Saturday, September 8, 2018. Sharon Smith, Brad Rutherford and Scott Wickland. Smith ran for the Wildrose Party in this district in the 2015 election, placing second with 29 percent of the vote. Rutherford is a former Edmonton police officer and previously ran for the federal Conservative Party nomination in Edmonton-West ahead of the 2015 election. He was president of the Leduc-Beaumont UCP and the federal Edmonton-Wetaskiwin Conservative association.
Incumbent MLA Shaye Anderson was nominated as the NDP candidate in his district on July 18, 2018. Anderson was first elected in 2015 and currently serves as Minister of Municipal Affairs.
If you know any candidates who have announced their intentions to stand for party nominations, please send me an email at david.cournoyer@gmail.com. I will add them to the list. Thank you!
Former UCP Chief of Staff now working for the Alberta Party Caucus
Kevin Weidlich
It appears that Kevin Weidlich is now serving as Chief of Staff to the Alberta Party Caucus. From 2015 to 2017, Weidlich worked as Chief of Staff at the Progressive Conservative Caucus and then the consolidated UCP Caucus.
Weidlich served as campaign manager in Doug Horner‘s bid for the PC Party leadership in 2011. Weidlich is also a Lieutenant Colonel in the Canadian Armed Forced Reserves and served as commander of the Loyal Edmonton Regiment for three years until 2017.
Federal Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer and Calgary-Forest Lawn MP Deepak Obhrai (photo from Facebook)
At least three Conservative Members of Parliament from Alberta are expected to face challenges for their nominations ahead of the expected 2019 federal election (news of two of the nomination challenges was first reported by Ryan Hastman in the latest episode of The Daveberta Podcast).
Amery served as the MLA for Calgary-East from 1993 until he was defeated in the 2015 election by New DemocratRobyn Luff. He ran twice before he was first elected, placing second behind NDP MLA Barry Pashak in 1986 and 1989. Amery defeated Pashak in 1993.
Lake was first elected as the MP for Edmonton-Mill Woods in 2006 and was challenged ahead of the 2015 election by Leduc County Mayor John Whalen and former Edmonton police officer Moe Banga. Banga was disqualified from the nomination and was soon after elected to Edmonton City Council in the Ward 12 by-election called to replace outgoing Councillor Amarjeet Sohi (who was elected as the Liberal MP for Edmonton-Mill Woods).
Francis is on the board of the Leduc-Beaumont United Conservative Party association and was previously involved with the local PC Party Association.
Yellowhead
Jim Eglinski
School principal Robert Duiker is challenging incumbent Jim Eglinski for the Conservative nomination in Yellowhead. Duiker is the principal of Rocky Christian School, an alternative program in the Wild Rose School Division located in Rocky Mountain House. He is the former president of the now-defunct Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre Progressive Conservative Association and is now the president of the UCP association in that district.
Ryan Ouderkirk, who works as an executive assistant to Fort McMurray-Cold Lake MP David Yurdiga, is also challenging Eglinski for the nomination.
Carolyne Mackellar of Edson, a campaign assistant for the Nova Scotia PC Party and a former Emergency Medical Technician in Alberta, is also running for he nomination.
Eglinski is a former RCMP Officer and mayor of Fort St. John, B.C., and was first elected to the House of Commons in a 2014 by-election. Eglinski raised some eyebrows earlier this year when he was featured in a Maclean’s magazine article about his participation in Jasper’s annual Pride Week celebrations.
The Conservative Party quietly opened nominations for the next election early this month and, I am told, also closed sales of new memberships for party nominations shortly afterward.
Two more candidates have joined the list of Edmontonians who have filed their intentions to run in Edmonton’s next municipal election on October 16, 2017. This is an increase of two since I last reported on July 19, 2016 that eleven candidates had filed their papers.
Moe Banga
Mohinder Banga was elected to City Council to represent southeast Edmonton’s Ward 12 in a by-election on February 22, 2016. The by-election was called to choose a successor to Amarjeet Sohi who was elected as the Liberal Member of Parliament for Edmonton-Mill Woods on October 19, 2015. Mr. Banga was briefly a candidate for the federal Conservative nomination in the Edmonton-Wetaskiwin riding in 2014 before his candidacy was rejected by party officials.
Mimi Williams
Local writer and political activist Mimi Williams has run for Edmonton City Council numerous times and most recently in Ward 7 in 2013, where she placed third with 12.3 percent of the vote. Ms. Williams is well-known in New Democratic Party circles and was a candidate for that party’s leadership in 1996. It was reported that she was recruited by the NDP in advance of the party’s recent Calgary convention to identify Kudatah activists who had purchased party memberships with the intention to disrupt the meeting. She is listed on the Elections Alberta website as the President of the NDP association in the Whitecourt-Ste. Anne constituency.
Prospective candidates need to file their intentions to run in order to fundraise for their campaigns but they do not need to identify what position they plan to run for until they submit their papers to the City Clerk on the official nomination day.
How many votes does it take to win a 32-candidate by-election?
2,359 out of 13,279.
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.
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:
Here are a few items to watch out for in Alberta politics this week:
Which of the four Liberal Members of Parliament will be appointed to the federal cabinet on Nov. 4, 2015? Most speculation points toward newly elected Calgary-Centre MP Kent Hehr being given a cabinet spot. Mr. Hehr, along with Calgary-Skyview MP Darshan Kang, were the first federal Liberals to be elected in Calgary since 1968. But will one of the two Liberal MPs from Edmonton – Amarjeet Sohi and Randy Boissonnault – get a cabinet spot? If not, it would mark the first time since before Jim Edwards was appointed as President of the Treasury Board in 1993 that Edmonton has not had representation in the federal cabinet.
Two Conservative MPs from Alberta – Edmonton-Wetaskiwin MP Mike Lake and Sturgeon River-Parkland MP Rona Ambrose – have joined four other Conservative MPs with bids to become the interim leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. That party has only had one permanent leader, Calgary MP Stephen Harper, since the party was formed in 2003 and is expected to choose a new permanent leader next year.
Overshadowing debate about the Alberta NDP’s first provincial budget last week was the Wildrose Party Finance critic Derek Fildebrant‘s war with a Globe & Mail reporter and House leader Nathan Cooper‘s war against a 9:00 a.m. start time for the Legislative sitting. Will the Wildrose Official Opposition be able to move on to actual issues of substance in the second week of the fall session?
It was always expected that uniting the Wildrose and PC parties will be tough. Richard Starke, the PC MLA for Vermilion-Lloydminster, had some choice words for his Wildrose counterparts in the Legislature last week: “…the Official Opposition rather reminds me of the chippy hockey player that hacks and slashes in the corner and then, as soon as something similar happens back to them, goes running to the referee.”
I will be taking a short break from blogging this week. In my absence, check out David Climenhaga‘s informative and entertaining AlbertaPolitics.ca blog.
Known for its vocal anti-abortion position, the Campaign Life Coalition has taken strong positions in recent years against Gay-Straight Alliances in schools (which they describe as “homosexual-activist clubs“) and against Ontario’s new health and physical education curriculum (which they describe as ‘radical sex ed curriculum‘).
The ten Alberta Conservatives are part of a group of 86 Conservative candidates from across Canada who have received endorsements from the organization. Nine of the ten Alberta candidates on the list are men and six are incumbent MPs running for re-election (even Stephen Harper is deemed “not supportable” by this organization).
The four first-time Conservative candidates on the endorsement list are Calgary-Confederation candidate Len Webber, St. Albert-Edmonton candidate Michael Cooper, Sherwood Park-Fort Saskatchewan candidate Garnett Genuis and Lethbridge candidate Rachael Harder.
These four candidates, along with Mr. Hillyer, responded to a questionnaire from the Campaign Life Coalition affirming their opposition to women’s reproductive rights. The other five Conservatives were endorsed based on their voting records and public statements.
According to the organization’s website, Mr. Cooper “has been actively involved in the pro-life movement for many years and is known to CLC leaders.”
Here are the links to the ten Alberta candidates report cards and questionnaire responses:
