Tag: Greg Springate

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Alberta Politics

Liberals nominate six more candidates in Alberta, Greens nominate parks defender Natalie Odd in Calgary-Confederation

Recently nominated Liberal Party candidates Randy Boissonnault, Habiba Mohamud, Tariq Chaudary, and Greg Springate
Recently nominated Liberal Party candidates Randy Boissonnault, Habiba Mohamud, Tariq Chaudary, and Greg Springate

With an election call expected in the coming weeks or months, the Liberal Party of Canada continues to nominate candidates in Alberta.

Randy Boissonnault has been acclaimed as the Liberal Party candidate in Edmonton-Centre. Boissonnault represented the central Edmonton district in Ottawa from 2015 to 2019.

Following weeks of rumours that he was being pressured by Prime Minster Justin Trudeau to run, Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson declined the chance to run as the Liberal Party candidate in Edmonton-Centre, clearing the way for Boissonnault’s nomination.

The Liberals have also recently nominated the following candidates:

  • Getahun Shawile in Bow River.
  • Habiba Mohamud in Edmonton-Griesbach. Mohamud was the party’s candidate in the 2019 election, where she placed third with 17.2 per cent of the vote.
  • Tariq Chaudary in Edmonton-Riverbend. Chaudary was the party’s candidate in the 2015 and 2019 election. In 2019, he placed second with 22.9 per cent of the vote.
  • Adam Brown in Edmonton-West
  • Greg Springate in St. Albert-Edmonton. Springate was the party’s candidate in the 2019 election, where he placed second with 19.1 per cent of the vote.
Jason Kenney and Tunde Obasan in 2018.

The Conservative Party has not released any official statement but it appears as though Tunde Obasan has been acclaimed as the party’s candidate in Edmonton-Strathcona following Rick Peterson’s disqualification earlier this month.

Obasan defeated City Councillor Mike Nickel to win the United Conservative Party nomination in Edmonton-South in 2018. He was later defeated by NDP MLA Thomas Dang in the 2019 election.

The Green Party has nominated Natalie Odd in Calgary-Confederation and Evelyn Tanaka in Calgary-Shepard.

Odd is the Executive Director of the Alberta Environmental Network, one of the groups that spearheaded the incredibly successful “Defend Alberta Parks” campaign against the UCP government’s plans to close or privatize more than 170 provincial parks.  This is her third time running as the Green Party candidate in this district.

The right-wing People’s Party has nominated Bailey Bedard in Calgary-Heritage, Thomas Matty in Edmonton-Centre and Paul McCormack in Edmonton-Mill Woods. And the separatist Maverick Party has chosen Matt Magolan in Calgary-Midnapore.

Dr. Sunil Sookram running for Senate

A fourth candidate has put their name forward to run in Alberta’s Senate Nominee election, which will take place on the same day as the province’s municipal elections on October 18, 2021.

University of Alberta Hospital emergency medicine physician and former AHS EMS Medical Director Dr. Sunil Sookram has filed his papers to run as an Independent candidate.

Already running are Progress Alberta executive Director Duncan Kinney, lobbyist and former UCP President Erika Barootes, and conservative activist Pamela Davidson.

I am building a list of candidates seeking party nominations to run as candidates in Alberta in the next federal election. If you have any additions to the list, please email me at david.cournoyer@gmail.com. Thank you.

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Alberta Politics

Trudeau coming to Edmonton on the first day of the federal election

Amarjeet Sohi Justin Trudeau in Edmonton Mill Woods

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.

The Liberal Party could be hoping to make gains in this riding with the retirement of long-time New Democratic Party MLA Linda Duncan, but, while it is certainly “in play,” it is more likely Liberal resources will be focused on re-electing the party’s two local MPs – Randy Boissonnault in Edmonton-Centre and Amarjeet Sohi in Edmonton-Mill Woods.

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!

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Alberta Politics

Former AUPE president Dan MacLennan now an Alberta Liberal VP

from left to right VP Fundraising John Roggeveen, Secretary Alyssa Moore,Treasurer Greg Springate, President Karen Sevcik, Leader David Swann, Executive Vice-President Dave Khan, VP Policy David Gamble, and VP Constituencies Dan MacLennan.
The 2016-17 Alberta Liberal Party executive: from left to right VP Fundraising John Roggeveen, Secretary Alyssa Moore,Treasurer Greg Springate, President Karen Sevcik, Leader David Swann, Executive Vice-President Dave Khan, VP Policy David Gamble, and VP Constituencies Dan MacLennan. (Photo from the Alberta Liberal Party Facebook Page).

The Alberta Liberal Party held its annual general meeting in Red Deer this weekend where the party elected its executive officers, including a name that will be familiar to government-watchers in Alberta.

While many union leaders have lined up to support the governing New Democratic Party, according to the Liberal Party’s Facebook page former President of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees Dan MacLennan has been elected as the party’s new Vice-President Constituencies.

Known as ‘Buff‘ by those in the labour movement, the former jail guard served as president of Alberta’s largest union from 1997 to 2006. He led AUPE’s recovery from the brutal public sector job cuts of the mid-1990s and doubled the union’s membership over the course of his nine years as president.

Popular with members and the media and infamous for his friendly relationship with premier Ralph Klein, Mr. MacLennan’s time as president was not without controversy. Raids against other unions led to AUPE’s suspension from the National Union of Public and General Employees in March 2001. The union formally split from the mainstream labour movement in 2006 when it disaffiliated with NUPGE and by association the Canadian Labour Congress and the Alberta Federation of Labour.

In 2009, Mr. MacLennan was one of the eight members of the Progressive Conservative government’s advisory committee on health care policy and, in 2011, it was speculated on David Climenhaga‘s excellent AlbertaPolitics.ca blog that he might be a possible candidate for the Alberta Liberal leadership (he did not run in that year’s race).

Also elected to the Liberal Party executive board were Karen Sevcik as President, David Khan as Executive Vice-President, John Roggeveen as Vice-President Fundraising, Alyssa Moore as Secretary, Greg Springate as Treasurer, and David Gamble as Vice-President Policy.

The Liberals will choose a new leader in 2017 to replace interim leader David Swann, who is currently the party’s only MLA. Province-wide support for the Liberals plummeted to 4.1 percent in the 2015 Alberta election but a strong showing in the Calgary-Greenway by-election and the 2015 federal election has given party loyalists some hope for the future.

Firefighters join the AFL
In other Alberta labour movement related news, the International Association of Fire Fighters and five of its Alberta locals voted last week to join the Alberta Federation of Labour.

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Alberta Politics

Sources say Karen Leibovici to run for federal Liberals in Edmonton-West

Karen Leibovici
Karen Leibovici

Numerous sources report that former Edmonton city councillor Karen Leibovici is preparing a jump into federal politics by seeking the federal Liberal Party nomination in the new Edmonton-West riding.

Kelly McCauley Edmonton-West Conservative
Kelly McCauley

Ms. Leibovici is a long-time local politician who was first elected as a Liberal MLA for Edmonton-Meadowlark in 1993 and served on city council from 2001 to 2013. From 2012 to 2013, she was President of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. She ran for mayor in 2013, placing a distant second behind Don Iveson.

Speaking at a fundraiser during the mayoral election campaign, Ms. Leibovici is reported to have said that Edmonton “would grind to a halt” if voters did not choose her as mayor. Her mayoral bid was managed by prominent Progressive Conservative insiders Hal Danchilla and Catherine Keill.

At least one other candidate, Greg Springate, is seeking the Liberal nomination in Edmonton-West. Dan Bildhauer had been seeking the nomination but instead ran for the provincial Liberals in Edmonton-Meadowlark in the recent provincial election.

Amarjeet Sohi Edmonton
Amarjeet Sohi

Hotelier Kelly McCauley was acclaimed as the Conservative candidate in Edmonton-West, but not without controversy. During the nomination race, Edmonton-McClung PC MLA David Xiao was disqualified from the contest by the Conservative Party National Council (Mr. Xiao was defeated in this month’s provincial election).

The federal NDP have not yet nominated a candidate but as a result of the May 5 provincial election NDP candidates were elected with large margins in the four constituencies that overlap the federal Edmonton-West riding. Those new NDP MLAs include Jon Carson in Edmonton-Meadowlark, Lorne Dach in Edmonton-McClung, Thomas Dang in Edmonton-South West, and Sarah Hoffman in Edmonton-Glenora.

If Ms. Leibovici does run in Edmonton-West, she will add to a growing trend of municipal politicians running for federal office in the October 2015 federal election. Three-term Edmonton city councillor Amarjeet Sohi is the nominated federal Liberal candidate in Edmonton-Mill Woods, former Edmonton councillor Kerry Diotte is the Conservative candidate in Edmonton-Griesbach, Hinton Town Councillor Ryan Maguhn is running for the Liberals in Yellowhead and City of Brooks Mayor Martin Shields is the Conservative candidate in Bow River.

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Alberta Politics

Sunday night federal candidate nomination updates from Alberta

Stephane McLean, Tariq Chaudary, Nirmala Naidoo, and Annie McKitrick.
Stephane McLean, Tariq Chaudary, Nirmala Naidoo, and Annie McKitrick.

With signs pointing towards a potential spring 2015 federal election, Canada’s opposition parties are picking up pace in nominating candidates. The Liberals, NDP, Greens and Libertarians are far behind the Conservatives in nominating candidates in Alberta, but they are in the process of compiling their slates. A full list of federal nominated candidates in Alberta can be found here.

Here are some of the latest nomination updates since I wrote about this topic last week.

Calgary-Confederation: Stephane McLean is seeking the NDP nomination. Ms. McLean was most recently the NDP candidate in the Calgary-Elbow provincial by-election.

Calgary-Rocky Ridge: Qamar Khan will be challenging former CBC news anchor Nirmala Naidoo for the Liberal Party nomination in this new northwest Calgary constituency. The nomination meeting is scheduled to take place on Dec. 16, 2014.

Calgary-Shepard: Dany Allard is expected to be acclaimed as the NDP candidate at a Dec. 15, 2014 nomination meeting. Mr. Allard will face nominated Conservative candidate Tom Kmiec.

Edmonton-Centre: Blaine Bilocerkowec has been nominated as the Libertarian Party candidate.

Edmonton-Griesbach: Former city councillor Kerry Diotte defeated Omar Tarchichi in this riding’s Conservative Party nomination. Mr. Diotte is a former Edmonton Sun columnist and one-term city councillor who ran in the 2013 mayoral election under the slogan “Diotte or Detroit” (suggesting that the City of Edmonton would go bankrupt unless he was elected mayor). Mr. Diotte earned 15% of the vote in the mayoral election won by Don Iveson.

Edmonton-Riverbend: Tariq Chaudary defeated Tom O’Leary at a November 29, 2014 nomination meeting to become the Liberal candidate in this south west Edmonton constituency.

Edmonton-West: Andrew Mclean has been nominated to run as a Libertarian Party candidate.  Dan Bildhauer and Greg Springate are running in the yet to be scheduled Liberal Party nomination.

Foothills: Artist and businessperson Romy Tittel was nominated as the Green Party candidate.

Lakeland: Past Wildrose Party candidate Shannon Stubbs and former constituency president Terry James are seeking the Conservative nomination in this sprawling rural riding. Ms. Stubbs is married to Lac La Biche-St. Paul-Two Hills Wildrose MLA Shayne Saskiw. She was the Wildrose candidate in Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville in the 2012 election and the Progressive Conservative candidate in Edmonton-Strathcona in the 2004 provincial election.

Red Deer-Lacombe: Jeffery Rock has announced plans to seek the Liberal Party nomination. Mr. Rock is the Minister at Gaetz Memorial United Church in Red Deer.

Sherwood Park-Fort Saskatchewan: Annie McKitrick is seeking the NDP nomination in this riding east of Edmonton. The nomination meeting is scheduled to be held on Feb. 12, 2015.

Yellowhead: Two recent by-elections candidates have announced plans to run in the next general election. Hinton town councillor Ryan Maguhn is seeking the Liberal nomination on Dec. 19, 2014 and Cory Lystang has been nominated as the Libertarian candidate. Mr. Maguhn earned 19.9% of the vote in the recent by-election.

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