Ron Wiebe (source: Northwestern Polytechnic website)
The board of directors of the United Conservative Party association in Grande Prairie-Wapiti have passed a motion in support of Ron Wiebe being appointed as the party’s candidate in the riding. The motion was passed unanimously at a meeting on March 27.
The motion passed was passed with 20 board members in favour and none opposed. Here’s the motion:
“The Grande Prairie Wapiti Constituency Association Board supports Ron Wiebe as the appointed candidate for our constituency and appreciates the opportunity to present our input. We believe that it is vital to have strong local representation in our area. Ron Wiebe lives here, understands the community, has a strong business background and is an excellent communicator. He is strongly supported by our board.”
Wiebe is a local business owner who helped found Wiebe Transport and previously served as an elected councillor in the MD of Mackenzie. He is the President of the federal Conservative Party association in Grande Prairie-Mackenzie and a member of the board of directors of Northwestern Polytechnic.
Support for Wiebe’s appointment comes a week after UCP MLA and Finance Minister Travis Toews confirmed that he would not seek re-election in the provincial election, which is scheduled for May 29, 2023. Toews was first elected in 2019 and placed second in the 2022 UCP leadership race.
Wiebe’s appointment still needs to be confirmed by UCP leader Danielle Smith. Following last week’s retirement announcements from Toews and Environment Minister Sonya Savage, the UCP announced that candidates would be appointed by the party in Grande Prairie-Wapiti and Calgary-North West.
Raj Sherman (right) accepts the Alberta Liberal Party leadership in 2011. To the left: Leadership chairperson Josipa Petrunic, MLA Laurie Blakeman, MLA Hugh MacDonald and candidate Bruce Payne.
Despite being rejected as a candidate for the United Conservative Party leadership last year, former Liberal Party leader Dr. Raj Sherman is running for the UCP nomination in Edmonton-Whitemud.
Running on a leadership platform to fix the health care system, Sherman requested an exemption to run in the race for not being a party member for 6 months.
The party has opened up nominations in Edmonton-Whitemud but has not signalled if they plan to let Sherman actually enter the race.
Sherman served as MLA for Edmonton-Meadowlark as a Progressive Conservative from 2008 to 2010, as an Independent MLA from 2010 to 2011 and as a Liberal from 2011 to 2015. He led the Alberta Liberal Party from 2011 to 2015.
Edmonton-Whitemud has been represented by Alberta NDP MLA Rakhi Pancholi since 2019, when she was elected with 49.18 per cent of the vote.
AUPE’s Heisted running for NDP nomination in Innisfail-Sylvan Lake
Jason Heistad (source: AUPE)
Innisfail Town Councillor and AUPE Executive Secretary-Treasurer Jason Heistad is running for the NDP nomination in the central Alberta riding of Innisfail-Sylvan Lake.
Heistad was first elected to town council in 2010 and was re-elected in 2021 with the most votes of any councillor candidate. He was elected to his fifth term as AUPE’s Executive Secretary-Treasurer in 2021.
A nomination vote is scheduled for February 6.
The riding is currently represented by UCP MLA and cabinet minister Devin Dreeshen.
UCP MLA Pat Rehn not running for re-election
Pat Rehn and then-UCP leader Jason Kenney during the 2019 election.
The one-term MLA was ejected from the UCP Caucus in January 2021 after taking a trip to Mexico in defiance of his own government’s COVID-19 travel recommendations.
Martine Carifelle and Scott Sinclair are seeking the UCP nomination. The NDP have nominated registered nurse Danielle Larivee, who represented the riding from 2015 to 2019 and served as a cabinet minister in Rachel Notley‘s first government.
Calgary-Klein: Mattie McMillan, Angela McIntyre and Lizette Tejada are running for the NDP nomination in Calgary-Klein on February 15.
Drumheller-Stettler: Stettler pharmacist Juliet Franklin is running for the NDP nomination in this sprawling east central Alberta riding. A nomination meeting is scheduled for February 13, 2023.
Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre: Fisheries biologist Vance Buchwald is running for the NDP nomination in this sprawling west central Alberta riding. A nomination meeting scheduled for February 15, 2023. In 2021, Buchwald urged Clearwater County Council to take a stand against coal mining development near Nordegg.
Green Party of Alberta
The Green Party has nominated Regan Boychuk in Banff-Kananaskis, Ahmad Hassan in Calgary-Falconridge, Kenneth Drysdale in Calgary-Klein, and Cheri Hawley in Edmonton-Whitemud.
Heather Morigeau has withdrawn her candidacy in Calgary-Buffalo, as has Jonathan Parks in Calgary-Currie.
Alberta Party
The Alberta Party has opened up nominations in Calgary-Varsity. Nominations closed on January 15. If more than one candidate entered the race a nomination vote will be held on January 29, 2023.
The cowboy hat wearing former Finance Minister from Beaverlodge, Travis Toews, launched his campaign last week with endorsements from 23 UCP MLAs, including Energy Minister Sonya Savage and Justice Minister Tyler Shandro.
Savage and Grande Prairie-Mackenzie MP Chris Warkentin are co-chairing his campaign.
Toews is seen as the establishment favourite, which isn’t always a blessing.
Former Transportation Minister Rajan Sawhney launched her campaign yesterday with a whistle-stop tour down the QEII, starting with media events in Edmonton, Penhold and Airdrie before ending at a +700-person rally in north east Calgary.
It was a strong kick-off.
Sawhney’s campaign is being run by well-known political strategist and conservative thinker Ken Boessenkool, who worked as an advisor to former Prime Minister Stephen Harper and former BC Premier Christy Clark.
Her former chief of staff (and former Daveberta Podcast co-host) Ryan Hastman is her deputy campaign manager.
Angela Pitt (source: Facebook)
Airdrie-East MLA Angela Pitt is Sawhney’s campaign chair.
It’s an odd fit for a leadership candidate who appears to be trying to position herself as a political moderate (no word if South Tyrol-like autonomy for Alberta will be in her platform).
Pitt endorsed Brian Jean for the UCP leadership 2017, and even have him credit for her entry into politics.
This time she’s backing Sawhney.
Jean is launching his campaign at a hotel in west Edmonton tomorrow.
Autonomy for Albertans is Jean’s slogan, not Anatomy for Albertans, as this writer first thought he read.
The former Wildrose Party leader launched his second political comeback in last year’s Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche by-election with the singular purpose of defeating Kenney in the leadership review and run to replace him.
He’s met half his goal so far.
Another former Wildrose leader, Danielle Smith is also trying for her second political comeback after a short and disastrous stint on the Calgary Board of Education in the late 1990s and as Wildrose Party leader from 2009 until she infamously abandoned her party to join Jim Prentice’s Progressive Conservatives in 2014.
For many conservatives, especially those of the Wildrose-variety, it is a betrayal that will live in infamy.
The leadership is only one-half of Smith’s comeback attempt.
She’s also challenging MLA Roger Reid for the UCP nomination in Livingstone-Macleod, which appears far from a safe-bet.
Rebecca Schulz (source: Facebook)
First-term south Calgary MLA Rebecca Schulz stepped down as Children’s Services Minister to jump into the race.
Schulz wants to take on what she describes as “the boys club.”
She has the backing of Calgary City Councillor Dan McLean, Health Minister Jason Copping, UCP MLAs Michaela Frey and Jeremy Nixon, MPs Laila Goodridge and Stephanie Kusie, former federal Conservative interim leader Rona Ambrose and former Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall.
The Wall endorsement might seem odd, but he endorsed Schulz in her bid to win the hotly contested Calgary-Shaw UCP nomination race back in 2018.
The Saskatchewan native was a spokesperson in Wall’s government before moving to Alberta in the mid-2010s, and her husband, Cole Schulz, was a ministerial chief of staff in Regina (he’s now the Vice President, Communications for the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers in Calgary).
UCP MLA Leela Aheer, who was ousted from cabinet for calling on Kenney to resign, is in and wants to “defeat the machines.”
“I think Albertans will defeat the machines. They understand what the machine is. They’re frustrated with the machine,” she told reporters.
Northern Alberta UCP MLA-in-exile Todd Loewen also jumped into the race, as did Village of Amisk Mayor Bill Rock, another former Wildrose Party candidate.
But one of the big potential contenders, Calgary Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner, is playing coy.
Maybe she’ll run. Maybe she won’t.
Her text message reply to Press Gallery Dean Don Braid was “hahahaha!”
Raj Sherman
And the hot gossip in political circles today is that erratic former Liberal Party leader Raj Sherman is thinking about joining the fray.
Sherman was first elected as a PC MLA in 2008 but was driven out of that party and scooped up the Liberal leadership in 2011. He left politics in 2015 and returned to being full-time ER doctor.
He also donated $4,000 to the Alberta Party last year.
So it’s a scramble. It’s a dog’s breakfast.
And there could be more.
We’ll know soon enough.
July 20 is the deadline for candidates to pay up if they want to stay in the race.
The high-entry fee will quickly weed out candidates who can’t raise enough money.
August 12 is the deadline to buy a membership.
No time for the two-minute Tories who wreaked havoc against the establishment candidates in the old PC Party leadership races.
The party is also organizing debates and attendance by all candidates is mandatory.
Stragglers will risk be fined or disqualified, or both.
It’s no Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth, but it’s bound to be entertaining to watch.
Liberal Party seeks new leader
The Alberta Liberal Party also announced that it will be holding their own leadership vote and choosing a new leader on September 25, 2022.
Former party leader David Khanstepped down in November 2020 after failing to win a seat in the 2019 election, marking the first time since before 1986 that the provincial Liberals not represented in the Legislature.
The race has no candidates as of yet. The second place finisher from the 2017 leadership race, Kerry Cundal, is running for the Alberta Party in Calgary-Elbow.
The filing deadlines have passed and it appears as though Elections Canada has released the final list of candidates who will be listed on the ballot in the September 20, 2021 federal election.
As of tonight, the Conservatives, Liberals and New Democratic Party are the only parties to have nominated a full slate of 34 candidates in Alberta. The People’s Party, which previously announced a full-slate, fell one candidate short with no nominee in Calgary-Centre.
Total nominated federal election candidates in Alberta
Conservative Party: 34/34
Liberal Party: 34/34
New Democratic Party: 34/34
People’s Party: 33/34
Green Party: 22/34
Maverick Party: 19/34
Marxist-Leninist: 7/34
Libertarian Party: 6/34
Christian Heritage: 5/34
Rhinoceros Party: 4/34
Veterans Coalition Party: 4/34
Communist Party: 3/34
National Citizens Alliance: 2/34
Centrist Party: 1/34
The NDP has nominated Sarah Zagoda in Banff-Airdrie, CRPNA President Tonya Ratushniak in Battle River-Crowfoot, Michael MacLean in Bow River, Kiera Gunn in Calgary-Forest Lawn, Kathleen Johnson in Calgary-Heritage, Jena Diane Kieren in Calgary-Rocky Ridge, Raj Jessel in Calgary-Shepard, Michelle Traxel in Foothills, Garnett Robinson in Fort McMurray-Cold Lake, Jennifer Villebrun in Grande Prairie-Mackenzie, Elaine Perez in Lethbridge, Jocelyn Stenger in Medicine Hat-Cardston-Warner, Guillaume Roy in Yellowhead.
The Green Party nominated Brett Rogers in Foothills, Kira Brunner in Lakeland, Diandra Bruised Head in Medicine Hat-Cardston-Warner, Jordan MacDougall in Peace River-Westlock, Heather Lau in Edmonton-Griesbach, Malka Labell in Calgary-Heritage, and Keiran Corrigall in Calgary-Signal Hill.
The Maverick Party nominated John Wetterstrand in Sherwood Park-Fort Saskatchewan to replace previously named candidate John Kuhn, who dropped out last month.
Independent candidate Caroline O’Driscoll is running in Banff-Airdrie.
The Veterans Coalition Party has named candidates John Irwin in Battle River-Crowfoot, and Hughie Shane Whitmore in Fort McMurray-Cold Lake.
Blake Desjarlais, Jagmeet Singh, and Heather McPherson at Kind Ice Cream in Highlands in July 2021. (photo credit: Heather McPherson on Twitter)
New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh will be the first party leader to visit Alberta in this election campaign when he stops in Edmonton on August 19.
Singh will be spending his whole day in Edmonton-Griesbach starting with a 9:30am health care announcement outside the East Edmonton Health Centre and a 1:15pm “whistle stop event” at the Bellevue Community Hall at in support of local candidate Blake Desjarlais and other candidates in the capital city.
Desjarlais is Director of Public Affairs & National Operations for the Metis Settlements General Council and the former Co-Chair of Alberta’s Indigenous Climate Leadership Summit. The NDP are pouring some resources into the riding, including support from Edmonton-Strathcona NDP MP Heather McPherson, in hopes that Desjarlais can unseat second-term Conservative MP Kerry Diotte.
Unlike the last election, a few Alberta NDP MLAs are campaigning alongside the federal NDP. Popular Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood MLA Janis Irwin has lent her support and her extensive social media reach to Desjarlais (she ran against Diotte in 2015), as has Edmonton-Rutherford MLA Richard Feehan, who served as Minister of Indigenous Relations from 2016 to 2019.
Meanwhile, as Graham Thomson writes in ipolitics today, unlike the last federal election campaign, Premier Jason Kenney is now seen as a liability for his federal Conservative brethren. The Premier’s Office has said that Kenney is currently on vacation.
Ontario MP Derek Sloan running in Banff-Airdrie?
Derek Sloan speaking to a crowd in Calgary. (source: Facebook)
Independent Ontario MP Derek Sloan has spent the past month travelling around Alberta speaking to increasingly large crowds of anti-vaxxer and COVID-19 conspiracy theorists. Videos on his social media accounts show he has recently spoken at evangelical-style events in Airdrie, Calgary, Camrose, Claresholm, Cochrane, Red Deer and St. Albert.
The first-term MP from Hastings-Lennox and Addington was kicked out of the Conservative caucus in January 2021 after making numerous controversial statements about abortion and LGBTQ issues, and accepting a donation from a neo-Nazi.
Sloan apparently sees Alberta as his new political home, because in an email to his supporters today he pledged to never leave and “Make Alberta Great Again!” as he plans to make an important announcement in the town of Cochrane tomorrow. Rumours has it that the life-long Ontarian plans to run as an Independent candidate in Banff-Airdrie, where incumbent Conservative MP Blake Richards is seeking re-election.
Federal Conservatives endorse Senate Nominee candidates
The federal Conservative Party has endorsed three candidates in the upcoming Senate Nominee election to select two nominees to submit to the Prime Minster of appointment tot he upper chamber.
Lobbyist and former United Conservative Party president Erika Barootes, right-wing activist and former municipal election candidate Pam Davidson and Canadian Ukrainian Free Trade Agreement Association president Mykhailo Martyniouk will have the endorsement of the federal party in the October elections.
Newly nominated federal election candidates
The Liberal Party has nominated Leah McLeod in Battle River-Crowfoot, Jessica Dale-Walker in Calgary-Nose Hill, Dan Campbell in Grande Prairie-Mackenzie, and Hannah Wilson in Medicine Hat-Cardston-Warner.
The Communist Party of Canada has nominated candidates Jonathan Trautman in Calgary-Forest Lawn,Alex Boykowich in Edmonton-Griesbach and Naomi Rankin in Edmonton-Mill Woods.
The Green Party has nominated Daniel Brisbin in Battle River-Crowfoot.
The Maverick Party has replaced Doug Karwandy with Jeff Golka in Battle River-Crowfoot.
The Christian Heritage Party has nominated former Wildrose candidate Jeff Willerton in Sturgeon River-Parkland and Derek Vanspronsen in Calgary-Heritage. Previously announced Calgary-Heritage candidate Larry Heather is now running in Calgary-Nose Hill.
The only exception to the wave of unchallenged nominations is in Edmonton Strathcona, where Tunde Obasan and Rick Peterson are seeking the Conservative nomination to challenge New Democratic Party MP Heather McPherson, who was also acclaimed, in the next federal election. This is the only district in Alberta not currently represented by a Conservative MP.
Meanwhile, there is a surprise east of Edmonton. Two candidates have announced their plans to seek the Liberal Party nomination in the Sherwood Park-Fort Saskatchewan district east of Edmonton. Tanya Reeb Holm and Ron Thiering are seeking the nomination at a meeting scheduled for June 22, 2021. Thiering was acclaimed as the party’s candidate in this riding in 2019 and finished in third place with 9.9 per cent in that year’s federal election.
Incumbent Member of Parliament Garnett Genuis has been acclaimed as the Conservative Party candidate.
John Kuhn has been nominated as the separatist Maverick Party candidate. Kuhn was elected as mayor of the southern Alberta town of Bassano in 2007 but resigned four months later.
Banff-Airdrie: MP Blake Richards has been acclaimed as the Conservative Party candidate. Richards was first elected in 2008. Tariq Elnaga has been nominated as the Maverick Party candidate. Elnaga is Vice President of the Cochrane Roping Club and the Chute Experience Director with the Airdrie Pro Rodeo.
Battle River-Crowfoot – Doug Karwandy has been nominated as the Maverick Party candidate.
Calgary-Centre: Sabrina Grover is seeking the Liberal Party nomination in this central Calgary district. Grover is a Senior Policy and Advocacy Officer Nutrition International and Principal of Provoke Public Relations. She was active in the Progressive Conservative Party in the mid-2010s. The district was represented by Liberal MP Kent Hehr from 2015 to 2019. Michael Pewtress is running as an Independent candidate in this district.
Calgary Forest Lawn: MP Jasraj Singh Hallan has been acclaimed as the Conservative Party candidate. Hallan was first elected in 2019.
Calgary Heritage – MP Bob Benzen has been acclaimed as the Conservative Party candidate. Benzen was first elected in the 2017 by-election held to replace former Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Calgary Nose Hill: Jessica Dale-Walker is seeking the Liberal Party nomination.
Calgary Rocky Ridge: Dave Robinson has been nominated as the Maverick Party candidate.
Calgary Skyview: Harry Dhillon has been nominated as the People’s Party candidate.
Calgary Signal Hill: Ajay Coop has been nominated as the Maverick Party candidate.
Edmonton Centre: MP James Cumming has been acclaimed as the Conservative Party candidate. Cumming was first elected in 2019 when he defeated Liberal MP Randy Boissonnault.
Edmonton Griesbach: MP Kerry Diotte has been acclaimed as the Conservative Party candidate. Diotte served one-term on city council before he was elected to the House of Commons in 2015.
Edmonton Riverbend: MP Matt Jeneroux has been acclaimed as the Conservative Party candidate. Jeneroux was first elected as MP in 2015 and previously served as the Progressive Conservative MLA for Edmonton-South West from 2012 to 2015. Shawn Gray is seeking the NDP nomination, which is scheduled to take place on June 15.
Edmonton West: MP Kelly McCauley has been acclaimed as the Conservative Party candidate. McCauley was first elected in 2015.
Edmonton Wetaskiwin: Tyler Beauchamp has been nominated as the People’s Party candidate. Travis Calliou no longer running as a Veterans Coalition Party candidate.
Foothills: MP John Barlow has been acclaimed as the Conservative Party candidate. Barlow was first elected in 2015.
Grande Prairie-Mackenzie: Benita Pedersen has been nominated as the People’s Party candidate.
Lethbridge: Kimberley Dawn Hovan has been nominated as the People’s Party candidate.
Medicine Hat-Cardston-Warner: Brodie Heidinger has been nominated as the People’s Party candidate.
Peace River-Westlock: MP Arnold Viersen has been acclaimed as the Conservative Party candidate. Gail Ungstad has been nominated as the NDP candidate. Colin Krieger is the Maverick Party candidate.
Red Deer-Lacombe: MP Blaine Calkins has been acclaimed as the Conservative Party candidate. Calkins was first elected in 2006.
Red Deer-Mountain View: Jared Pilon no longer running as Independent. He’s a Libertarian candidate. Mark Wilcox has been nominated as the Maverick Party candidate.
Sturgeon River-Parkland: Dane Lloyd has been acclaimed as the Conservative Party candidate. Lloyd was first elected in a 2017 by-election to replace former Conservative interim leader Rona Ambrose.
Yellowhead: MP Gerald Soroka has been acclaimed as the Conservative Party candidate. He was first elected in 2019.
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
Elizabeth May with Green Party candidates in Calgary and southern Alberta on September 20, 2019 (photo from @EvTanaka on Twitter)
Photo: Elizabeth May with Green Party candidates in Calgary and southern Alberta on September 20, 2019 (photo from @EvTanaka on Twitter)
We are now 11 days into Canada’s federal election and almost all the main political parties have filled or are close to filling an entire slate of candidates in Alberta’s 34 electoral districts. By my count, the Conservative Party and People’s Party now have candidates in every Alberta riding, the New Democratic Party and Green Party have nominated candidates in 33 ridings while the governing Liberal Party still only has candidates named in 25 ridings in Alberta.
Candidates have until October 2, 2019 to submit their names to Elections Canada in order to appear on the ballot on October 21, 2019.
Banff-Airdrie: Anne Wilson is the New Democratic Party candidate. Wilson ran as a provincial NDP candidate in 2008 in Banff-Cochrane and 2015 in Calgary-Foothills (against Progressive Conservative leader Jim Prentice). In July 2015 she ran for the NDP nomination for the Calgary-Foothills by-election but was defeated by former alderman Bob Hawkesworth. Until recently she was first vice-president of the Alberta NDP.
Battle River-Crowfoot: Natasha Fryzuk is the NDP candidate. Fryzukis the communications coordinator for the Quarters Arts Society in Edmonton.
Bow River: Lynn MacWilliam has been acclaimed as the NDP candidate. MacWilliam serves on Bassano Town Council and ran for the provincial NDP in Strathmore-Brooks in 2015, for the federal NDP in Bow River in 2015, and again provincially in Brooks-Medicine Hat in 2019, earning 18 per cent of the vote. She previously worked in Ottawa for former Burnaby-Douglas MP Bill Siksay.
Calgary-Centre: Jessica Buresi has been nominated as the NDP candidate.
Calgary-Confederation: Gurcharan Sidhu has been nominated as the NDP candidate.
Calgary-Forest Lawn: Brent Nichols is registered as an Independent candidate.
Calgary-Midnapore: Taylor Stasila is the Green Party candidate. Stasila was the Green Party candidate in Calgary-Fish Creek in the 2019 provincial election.
Calgary-Rocky Ridge: Nathan Fortin is the NDP candidate. Fortin is an activist with UFCW 401 in Calgary. Shaoli Wang is an Independent candidate in this riding.
Calgary-Shepard: David Smith is the NDP candidate. Smith is a Workers Advocate with UFCW 401 in Calgary.
Calgary-Signal Hill: Khalis Ahmed is the NDP candidate. Ahmed was the NDP candidate in the 2017 by-election in Calgary-Heritage, and in Calgary-Signal Hill in 2015. Marco Reid is the Green Party candidate. Reid is president of the provincial Green Party and was briefly a candidate in the 2018 Innisfail-Sylvan Lake by-election before dropping out and endorsing the Liberal Party candidate. He ran for the leadership of the provincial Greens in 2017.
Edmonton-Griesbach: Safi Khan has been nominated as the Green Party candidate.
Edmonton-Manning: Vancouver-based real estate associate Laura-Leah Shaw appears to have replaced Chris Vallee as the the Green Party candidate. Shaw was the Green Party candidate in Steveston-Richmond East in the 2015 federal election.
Edmonton-West: Jackie Pearce has replaced Jeff Culihull as the Green Party candidate in this riding.
Foothills: Calgary-based writer and director Mickail Hendi is the NDP candidate.
Fort McMurray-Cold Lake: Matthew Gilks is the NDP candidate. Gilks is a vice-president with UFCW 401. Brian Deheer is the Green Party candidate. Deheer was the federal Green candidate in the 2014 Fort McMurray-Athabasca by-election and in Fort McMurray-Cold Lake during the 2015 federal general election, and most recently in the 2019 provincial election in Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche.
Grande Prairie-Mackenzie: Erin Alyward is the NDP candidate and Shelley Termuende is the Green Party candidate.
Medicine Hat-Cardson-Warner: Liz Thomson is the NDP candidate. Thomson is the community connections coordinator with Saamis Immigration.
Red Deer-Lacombe: Lauren Pezzela is the NDP candidate. She is vice-president and coach of the Central Alberta Quidditch league. Sarah Palmer has replaced Desmond Bull as the Green Party candidate.
Red Deer-Mountain View: Logan Garbanewski has been nominated as the NDP candidate.
Peace River-Westlock: Jennifer Villeburn has been nominated as the NDP candidate. She was the NDP candidate in Peace River in 2006 and Green Party candidate in 2008.
St. Albert-Edmonton: Kathleen Mpulubusi is the NDP candidate. Mpulubusi is a Letter Carrier with Canada Post and an active member of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers. Rob Dunbar is the Green Party candidate.
Sherwood Park-Fort Saskatchewan: Ronald Thiering has been nominated as the Liberal Party candidate.
Sturgeon River-Parkland: Guy Desforges has been nominated as the NDP candidate. Desforges is the president of Unifor Local 445 in Edmonton. He was the NDP candidate in this riding in the 2015 federal election.
Yellowhead: Kristine Bowman has been nominated as the NDP candidate. She is a Letter Carrier with Canada Post.
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!
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:
