Federal Election 2015 Nomination Contests – daveberta.ca

NDP catching up in Alberta – Sunday morning federal nomination update

Initially slow to nominate federal candidates, the New Democratic Party is now catching up to the other three main parties with nominated candidates in Alberta. As of this morning, the NDP have chosen candidates in 22 of Alberta’s 34 ridings, just shy of the 26 nominated Liberals and 24 nominated Green candidates. The Conservative Party filled their slate of 34 candidates last week.

Here is a quick review of the latest nomination races in Alberta:

– In Calgary-Centre, Dr. Jillian Ratti was acclaimed as the NDP candidate in a race already dominated by Conservative incumbent Joan Crockatt and former Liberal MLA Kent Hehr.

– Former journalist Kirk Heuser won the NDP nomination in a race against four other candidates in Calgary-Confederation. The Greens have nominated Natalie Odd as their candidate. Ms. Odd is a project manager with the Alberta EcoTrust and was a Green Party candidate in the 2006 election in Calgary-Centre.

– Thousands of NDP members voted at a large nomination meeting in the northeast Calgary-Skyview riding and Sahajvir Randhawa was chosen over challengers Abdulla Rafique and Mohammad Tayyab. Mr. Randhawa will face Conservative incumbent Devinder Shory and former Liberal MLA Darshan Kang in the election.

– Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan defeated community activist Reakash Walters and university professor Mark Crawford to win the NDP nomination in Edmonton-Centre.

– Former Progressive Conservative MLA Matt Jeneroux was chosen as the Conservative candidate in a race against relator Sandy Pon and past Wildrose candidate Ian Crawford. University of Alberta mechanical engineering professor Brian Fleck won the Edmonton-Riverbend NDP nomination in a three-way contest against Meheret Worku and Registered Nurse Ruth Alexander.

– The Liberals acclaimed Tanya MacPherson as their candidate in the Foothills riding. Ms. McPherson recently ran in her party’s nomination contest in Calgary-Midnapore. The NDP are expected to acclaim engineer Alison Thompson at a nomination meeting on August 18, 2015.

– Melody Lepine, a government and industry relations manager for the Mikisew Cree First Nation, has been acclaimed as the NDP candidate in the Fort McMurray-Cold Lake riding.

– Former Assembly of First Nations regional chief Cameron Alexis was acclaimed as the NDP candidate in Peace River-Westlock riding. Mr. Alexis is also a retired RCMP officer, and former Chief of Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation and Grand Chief of Treaty Six. Some local NDP members expressed concern over Mr. Alexis’ acclamation, as two other candidates had planned to seek the nomination. But when contacted, one of the other potential nominee, former Peace River town councillor Wanda Laurin described Mr. Alexis as “a very stellar candidate” and someone who could “champion the NDP in this region.”

– Red Deer City Councillor Paul Harris will face school trustee Dianne Macauley and former Green candidate Evan Bedford in the NDP nomination contest in Red Deer-Mountain View. Update: Mr. Bedford has withdrawn from the contest and endorsed Mr. Harris.

– Joanne Cave defeated Adam Comartin, Kevin Fichtner and Bretton Reid to win the NDP nomination in Sherwood Park-Fort Saskatchewan. Two-time candidate James Ford will once again be on the ballot as an Independent. In 2008 and 2011, Mr. Ford earned 32% and 29% of the vote against Conservative MP Tim Uppal in the now defunct Edmonton-Sherwood Park riding (Mr. Uppal is now running in the new Edmonton-Mill Woods riding).

– Transit driver Darlene Malayko defeated First Nations activist Aretha Greatrix in the St. Albert-Edmonton NDP nomination contest. One attendee at the meeting noted the strange sight of seeing conservative city councillor Cam Mackay endorse Ms. Malayko’s candidacy from the floor.

– Ron Rauhut and Ken Kuzminski are seeking the NDP nomination in the Yellowhead riding. Past candidate Eric Rosendahl, who earned 9.5% of the vote in a 2014 by-election, was elected as the NDP MLA for West Yellowhead in May 2015. Mr. Kuzminski previously ran for the NDP in this riding in the 2008 election.

Please email david.cournoyer [at] gmail.com if there are any further additions to the list. Thank you.

Thursday Morning Candidate Nomination Updates from Alberta

With reports that the Conservatives may call the next federal election as soon as next week, resulting in an potential eleven week election campaign, parties are still nominating candidates in Alberta. The Conservatives and Liberals are close to nominating a full-slate of candidates, with 33 and 25 candidates nominated in the province’s 34 ridings. The New Democratic Party is quickly choosing candidates after pausing nominations earlier this year to focus on the provincial election (which appears to have paid off for the NDP, as they won the provincial election).

Here is the latest list of federal nomination updates from Alberta:

– Haley Brown defeated Harbaksh Sekhon and Tanya MacPherson to become the Liberal candidate in Calgary-Midnapore.

– Teacher Bruce Kaufman has announced plans to seek the NDP nomination in the Calgary-Nose Hill riding. The nomination meeting is tentatively scheduled for August 25, 2015.

– Teacher and lawyer Kerry Cundal was acclaimed as the Liberal candidate in Calgary-Signal Hill. She is an adjudicator with the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. Mrs. Cundal replaces Katherine Kowalchuk, who withdrew as the Liberal candidate to focus on her legal business.

– Lucas Cleveland, Jasvir Deol and Colin Stubbs are seeking the NDP nomination in Edmonton-Mill Woods scheduled for August 26, 2015.

– Geoffrey Capp announced plans to run for the far-right Christian Heritage Party in Lethbridge. Mr. Capp previously ran in this riding in the 2011 and 2008 elections. He was the Christian Heritage candidate in Yukon in the 1993, 1997, 2001 and 2004 federal elections.

– Erin Weir, a registered nurse, has been acclaimed as the NDP candidate in southern Alberta’s Medicine Hat-Cardston-Warner riding.

These updates have been added to the list of nominees and nomination candidates planning to run in Canada’s 2015 general election in Alberta. Please email david.cournoyer [at] gmail.com if there are additions to the list. Thank you.