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Alberta Politics

19 Alberta ridings I’ll be watching closely on Election Day

There are four days left until Election Day in Alberta.

Readers of the Daveberta will know I’ve been watching this Alberta election pretty closely and, while I’ve actually been watching all 87 ridings throughout the campaign, there are a few handfuls I’ve been keeping a close eye on.

Some of them will be close races and some will be won with landslides.

Here’s my list of 19 ridings I’ll be watching closely on Election Day.

Read the rest on the Daveberta Substack. Sign up for a paid subscription to get access to the Daveberta Podcast and special election extras.

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Alberta Politics

Nomination Updates: Greg Sawchuk eyes UCP candidacy in Bonnyville-Cold Lake-St. Paul, Nicole Goehring wins Edmonton-Castle Downs NDP race

A quick nomination update this Saturday morning:

Bonnyville-Cold Lake-St. Paul: Former Municipal District of Bonnyville Reeve Greg Sawchuk is seeking the United Conservative Party nomination. Sawchuk served as Reeve from 2017 until he was unseated in a rematch against Barry Kalinski in the 2021 election. 

Incumbent MLA David Hanson has announced his plans to run for re-election. Hanson was first elected in 2015 as a Wildrose Party MLA and was re-elected in 2019 under the UCP banner. 

Calgary-Shaw: David Cloutier is expected to be nominated as the NDP candidate at a candidate selection meeting today.

Edmonton-Castle Downs: NDP MLA Nicole Goehring defeated Nurmaiya Brady to secure the NDP nomination. Goehring was first elected in 2015 and was re-elected in 2019. Former city councillor Jon Dziadyk is the nominated UCP candidate.

Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood: MLA Janis Irwin is expected to be nominated at a meeting on September 25 at the Bellevue Community Hall. Irwin was first elected in 2019 with 63.4 per cent of the vote.

Edmonton-South: Nasim Boroumand and Rhiannon Hoyle are seeking the NDP nomination in a vote today.

Lacombe-Ponoka: Paramedic and Alberta Paramedic’s Association president Dustin Marshrall is seeking the UCP nomination. Teacher Dave Dale is running for the NDP nomination at an October 19 nomination meeting.

Withdrawals: Usman Sadiq has withdrawn from the NDP nomination contest in Calgary-Foothills and Vivian Mills from the NDP contest in Sherwood Park.

I am tracking candidates and building a list of people running for nominations to run in Alberta’s next provincial election. If you know of someone running, please post a comment below or email me at david.cournoyer@gmail.com. Thank you!

(I am launching a Substack. Sign up at  Daveberta Substack).

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Alberta Politics

Nomination Updates: UCP races in Innisfail-Sylvan Lake, Camrose, and first NDP race in Central Peace-Notley since 1984

Candidate nominations appear to have slowed down a bit over the summer, but four hotly contest votes are coming up.

Dreeshen challenged in Innisfail-Sylvan Lake

Pharmacy owner Onsy Tawadrous will challenge United Conservative Party MLA Devin Dreeshen in a July 20 nomination vote in Innisfail-Sylvan Lake.

Tawadrous ran for town council in the 2021 Sylvan Lake municipal elections. UCP leadership candidate Danielle Smith thanked Tawadrous on Twitter for organizing a 300-person event for her campaign in Sylvan Lake on June 28.

Dreeshen was first elected in a 2018 by-election to replace Don MacIntyre, who resigned after he was charged with sexual assault and sexual interference.

Dreeshen served as Minister of Agriculture and Forestry from 2019 until his resignation in 2021 after facing allegations of excessive drinking in the Legislature by a former ministerial chief of staff. He is the son of five-term Conservative MP Earl Dreeshen.

Sylvan Lake town councillor Kjeryn Dakin announced her candidacy in June but was disqualified by the party when it was revealed she also held memberships in the NDP and Alberta Party.

First NDP race in Central Peace-Notley since 1984 

Environmental scientist, registered agrologist Lynn Lekisch and Northern Alberta Development Council analyst Megan Ciurysek are seeking the Alberta NDP nomination in Central Peace-Notley. A vote is scheduled for July 20, 2022.

December 8, 1984 was the last time the NDP held a contested nomination in this riding, well technically in its predecessor riding of Spirit River-Fairview.

At a 400-person meeting, School principal Jim Gurnett defeated Fairview school board chairperson Betty MacArthur, farmer Dave Ross and college instructor Bill Stephenson to win the nomination to replace the current riding’s namesake, Grant Notley, who died in a plane crash in 1984.

NDP nomination candidates in Spirit River-Fairview (Daily Herald Tribune, Nov. 23, 1984)
NDP nomination candidates in Spirit River-Fairview (Daily Herald Tribune, Nov. 23, 1984)

According to a Canadian Press report from Dec. 10, 1984, many delegates at the nomination meeting credited a rousing speech Gurnett delivered for his victory in which he attacked the Tories as “Robin Hoods in reverse.”

“We don’t need a government that increases taxes for ordinary people and then gives it back to the oil companies,” Gurnett said.

Gurnett won the February 1985 by-election for the NDP in a close three-way race that saw the Progressive Conservative and Western Canada Concept candidates as runners-up, but he was narrowly defeated by PC candidate Glen Clegg in the 1986 general election.

The Tories would dominate the riding for the next 29 years, with the exception of near-wins for the Liberals in 1993 and the Alberta Alliance in 2004, until New Democrat Marg McCuaig Boyd won in the 2015 Orange Wave.

Current UCP leadership candidate Todd Loewen unseated McCuaig Boyd in 2019 after the Dunvegan-Central Peace-Notley riding was merged with the Grande Prairie-Smoky riding to form the current Central Peace-Notley riding.

NDP race in Calgary-Cross

Gurinder Gill and Denis Ram are seeking the NDP nomination in Calgary-Cross at a July 25 candidate selection meeting.

Gill is a two-time federal NDP candidate in Calgary-Skyview, improving the party’s standing in the north east Calgary riding from 8 per cent in 2015 to 16 per cent in 2021.

Ram is a student-at-law and founder and executive director of the Complete Complaints Foundation. He is also a former intern editorial writer for The Hill Times in Ottawa.

The riding is currently represented by UCP MLA Mickey Amery and was held by NDP MLA Ricardo Miranda from 2015 to 2019.

County Reeve challenging UCP MLA in Camrose

Jackie Lovely MLA Camrose UCP
Jackie Lovely

UCP MLA Jackie Lovely will face Beaver County Reeve Kevin Smook in a nomination vote in the Camrose riding on August 4, 5 and 6, 2022.

Lovely was first elected in 2019 after defeating four other candidates to secure the UCP nomination in 2018 and went on to win the 2019 election with 65 per cent of the vote. She previously ran as the Wildrose Party candidate in Edmonton-Ellerslie in 2012 and 2015. 

Smook was the Alberta Party candidate in the riding in 2019.

And here is some more nomination news:

I am tracking candidates and building a list of people running for nominations to run in Alberta’s next provincial election. If you know of someone running, please post a comment below or email me at david.cournoyer@gmail.com. Thank you!

(And I am launching a Substack this summer. Sign up at  Daveberta Substack.)

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Alberta Politics

Former City Councillor Jon Dziadyk considering a run for the UCP nomination in Edmonton-Castle Downs

Former Edmonton City Councillor Jon Dziadyk is considering a run for the United Conservative Party nomination in Edmonton-Castle Downs.

Jon Dziadyk Edmonton-Castle Downs United Conservative Party nomination UCP
An observant reader shared a flyer promoting Jon Dziadyk’s nomination candidacy that was circulated at a recent event in Edmonton.

When reached for comment, Dziadyk said he has not yet filled out any nomination papers with the UCP and provided the following statement:

“It is important for the different regions of Alberta to be well represented in government, and that includes Edmonton (woefully under-represented in the current government and, as a former city councillor, I see how that is not in Edmonton’s best interests).

I live in Edmonton-Castle Downs and hope that this riding is competitive to bring the best ideas forward. I do not want Castle Downs to be taken for granted and so I am engaging with folks who are dissatisfied with both the NDP and past actions of the UCP. No party should consider any seat as safe and strong local candidates can have direct influence on government policy/opposition priorities and that conversation has already started.

I hope that all parties put their best foot forward to have a direct and honest debate with the constituents on current matters and aspirations. I am willing to help the UCP in various roles and am currently in conversation with supports about if seeking the nomination is the best way in which I can contribute. No paperwork has been filed.”

A planner and naval reserve officer, Dziadyk was first elected to city council in 2017 in an upset win over incumbent Dave Loken in Ward 3, but four years later was defeated by Karen Principe in the redrawn and renamed Ward tastawiyiniwak. Principe was the UCP candidate in Edmonton-Decore in 2019.

He endorsed Mike Nickel in the 2021 mayoral election.

Dziadyk positioned himself as a champion of the north end during his time on city council, helping found the annual Top of the City soccer tournament and the “North End Hub” Facebook page.

But he attracted controversy early in his term when it became public that he planned to use $44,000 from his ward budget to pay his tuition for an Executive MBA program at the University of Alberta. After initially defending the expense, he apologized and promised to reimburse the city for the $11,000 he had already expensed for his tuition.

The north Edmonton riding has been represented by Alberta NDP MLA Nicole Goehring since 2015. She was re-elected in 2019 with 45 per cent of the vote. 

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Alberta Politics Daveberta Podcast

Episode 80: New Kids on the Political Block

Harnoor Kochar and Rajah Maggay join the Daveberta Podcast to talk about Edmonton’s recent municipal election, the historic wins that came out of it, and what comes next for Alberta’s capital city. 

Harnoor Kochar was the Director of Field Operations and Get Out the Vote co-chair on the successful Amarjeet Sohi for Mayor campaign. She is also a fifth-year Political Science student at the University of Alberta. 

Rajah Maggay is a research and policy advisor for City Councillor Andrew Knack, Vice-Chair of Research at ParityYeg, and co-founder of Political Divas.

The Daveberta Podcast is hosted by Dave Cournoyer and produced by the talented Adam Rozenhart.

The Daveberta Podcast is a member of the Alberta Podcast Network: Locally grown. Community supported.

You can listen and subscribe to the Daveberta Podcast on Apple PodcastsGoogle PlaySpotifyStitcher, or wherever you find podcasts online. We love feedback from our listeners, so let us know what you think of this episode and leave a review where you download.

Recommended Reading/Listening

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Alberta Politics

The race to become Edmonton’s next mayor is about to get crowded

Former City Councillor Kim Krushell has announced her candidacy in Edmonton’s 2021 Mayoral election at a press conference this week.

Krushell represented northwest Edmonton’s Ward 2 from 2004 to 2013 but her city hall career began in the mid-1990s when she worked as executive assistant to Councillor Lillian Staroszik and Larry Langley. She left municipal politics in 2013, becoming President of Lending Assist.

While Krushell never ran for provincial political office, she has past ties to the now defunct Progressive Conservative Party. She was the President of the PC Party association in Edmonton-Calder in the early 2000s and later served as Edmonton regional director and budget director for the PC Party until Jason Kenney became party leader in 2017.

With current Mayor Don Iveson not running for re-election, Krushell joins already announced candidates Cheryl Watson, Brian Gregg, Greg Zawaski, and, as was first reported on this website on Jan. 19, Councillor Mike Nickel.

Another former city councillor, Michael Oshry, is also said to be assembling a mayoral campaign team, and former councillor and Member of Parliament Amarjeet Sohi is rumoured to be considering a run for mayor.

And a number of new candidates have announced their plans to run for City Council:

Gino Akbari, Gabrielle Battiste and Tony Caterina have announced their plans to run in in the central Edmonton Ward O-day’min. 

Tony Caterina City Councillor PC MLA Candidate
Tony Caterina

Caterina is a four-term City Councillor from northeast Edmonton who is running in the new downtown Ward because his current Ward 7 is being heavily redistributed between the new Ward Metis and Ward tastawiyiniwak (ᑕᐢᑕᐃᐧᔨᓂᐊᐧᐠ).

The boundary change puts Caterina in a position where if he did not choose a brand new ward to run in, he could have either run in the north half of his current ward, facing off against Councillor Jon Dziadyk, or in the south side of his current ward, which now stretches south of the North Saskatchewan River to Bonnie Doon and King Edward Park. He previously ran in downtown as the Alberta Alliance candidate in Edmonton-Centre in the 2004 provincial election.

Caterina will be running in the area vacated by two-term Councillor Scott McKeen, who announced this month that he will not be seeking re-election. McKeen ran against Caterina in Ward 7 in 2010 and endorsed his main challenger, Kris Andreychuk, in the 2017 campaign. 

Edmonton City Council's new Ward boundaries with new Indigenous names.
Edmonton City Council’s new Ward boundaries with new Indigenous names.

In Ward Metis, which includes the southern half of Caterina’s current ward, Ashley Salvador and Liz John-West have filed their nomination papers. Salvador is an urban planner and President and Chair of YEGarden Suites. John-West is the Regional Service Director for WJS Canada and was a candidate in the 2017 municipal election.

In Edmonton’s south west Ward sipiwiyiniwak, first-term Councillor Sarah Hamilton has announced her plans to seek re-election. 

Ashley Salvador Ward Métis City Council candidate Edmonton
Ashley Salvador

And in Edmonton’s northeast, Lana Palmer and Tricia Velthuizen are running in the new Ward Dene. Palmer is a local photographer. Velthuizen is Press Secretary to Minister of Service Alberta Nate Glubish, and previously worked for the United Conservative Party and Wildrose Party caucuses.

Recently announced candidates in Ward Papastew include student Haruun Ali (who had previously announced his candidacy in Ward Ipiihkoohkanipiaohtsi), DJ and entertainment company owner Tarcy Schindelka, and Byron Vass.

Local celebrity Dan Johnstone has announced his plans to run in Ward Ipiihkoohkanipiaohtsi. Johnstone, who also goes by the nickname “Can Man Dan,” previously ran for city council in Ward 10 in 2013, in Ward 12 in a 2016 by-election, and mounted a brief campaign for the Alberta Party nomination in Edmonton-South ahead of the 2019 provincial election.

Edmonton Public School Board Trustee Michelle Draper announced she will not be seeking re-election. Draper has represented Ward B on the Edmonton Public School Board since 2013.

For the Edmonton Catholic School District, Sandra Palazzo is running for re-election in Ward 72, Carla Smiley in Ward 73, Alene Mutala in Ward 75, and Lisa Turchansky is running in Ward 76.

As with previous elections, I am maintaining a list of people who have declared their intentions to run for mayor, city council, or school board in the October 18, 2021 municipal elections. 

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Alberta Politics

Small money can sometimes go a long way in Edmonton’s municipal elections

Photo: Jon Dziadyk spent $9,950.00 on his campaign and unseated a two-term city councillor who spent $119,937.69.

Released this week, the financial disclosures from Edmonton’s municipal elections detail how much each mayoral and councillor candidate raised and expensed during the October 2017 campaign.

The most notable race in terms of money spent was north Edmonton’s Ward 3, where a campaign budget of $119,937.69 could not save two-term councillor Dave Loken from defeat. Loken placed second to Jon Dziadyk, whose campaign only expensed $9,950.00, and he finished narrowly ahead of third place candidate Karen Principe, whose campaign expensed $4,941.54.

Aside from Dziadyk, only two other winning candidates did not to spend the most money in their races. In Ward 6, councillor Scott McKeen’s expenses of $68,833.84 were overshadowed by the $85,469.35 expensed by second place challenger Bill Knight. And in Ward 4, Aaron Paquette’s $58,018.93 campaign was narrowly outspent by second place finisher Rocco Caterina, whose campaign expensed $59,998.97.

While money is still necessary to run a political campaign, as the race in Ward 3 demonstrated, it is sometimes not a factor in determining how voters will act when they reach their voting station.

Below is the breakdown of the revenue and expenses of the for the top three mayoral candidates by votes.

Edmonton Mayoral Election 2013, Financial Disclosure
Candidate Total Revenue Total Expenses Surplus/(Deficit)
Don Iveson $369,775.67 $366.477.52 $30,298.15
Don Koziak $2,500.00 $2,500.00 $0
Steven Shewchuk $2,734.58 $2,734.58 $0

Fourth place mayoral candidate Fahad Mughal claimed revenue and expenses of $22,793.00, and a number of other mayor candidates self-financed their campaigns. None came close to raising or spending the amount that Iveson’s campaign did.

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

Edmonton City Council Election 2013, Financial Disclosure
Candidate Total Revenue Total Expenses Surplus/(Deficit)
Andrew Knack $17,772.95 $17.772.95 $0
Bev Esslinger $63,141.40 $53,807.19 $9,334.21
Jon Dziadyk $17,040.00 $9,950.00 $7,120.00
Aaron Paquette $58,018.93 $56,521.04 $1,497.89
Sarah Hamilton $95,592.00 $84,409.21 $11,182.79
Scott McKeen $77,401.63 $68,833.84 $8,657.79
Tony Caterina $67,873.00 $67,173.30 $698.70
Ben Henderson $61,789.83 $39,930.58 $21,859.25
Tim Cartmell $95,177.54 $94,276.44 $857.50
Michael Walters $96,119.06 $96,018.68 $100.38
Mike Nickel $110,086.17 $108,891.15 $1,195.02
Moe Banga $89,241.00 $85,672.12 $3,568.88

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

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Alberta Politics

Edmonton Election Results – A big Iveson landslide and few City Council surprises

Photo: Don Iveson celebrates his re-election victory with his family (photo: Twitter)

As expected, Don Iveson was re-elected Mayor of Edmonton in a huge landslide with 141,182 votes – 72 percent of the total votes cast in that race – increasing his total vote count from the 2013 election. Placing a very, very distant second was perennial candidate and pro-smoker advocate Don Koziak, who earned 6.7 percent.

Jon Dziadyk Edmonton City Council Ward 3
Jon Dziadyk

Of the City Council races, the most notable ended up being the surprise defeat of incumbent councillor Dave Loken in Ward 3, who was unseated by Jon Dziadyk by 464 votes. Karen Principe placed a strong third-place in this race. Loken, who was running for his third-term on council, becomes the first incumbent councillor to lose re-election since Don Iveson defeated Mike Nickel in 2007.

In neighbouring Ward 7, Kris Andreychuk ran an incredible first-time campaign placing 165 votes behind three-term councillor Tony Caterina. Caterina saw his share of the vote drop from 42 percent in 2013 to 33 percent in this year’s election.

Three new councillors were elected in Wards without incumbents. In Ward 4, Aaron Paquette finished first in a twelve-person race with 23 percent of the vote. Sarah Hamilton earned 35 percent of the vote in a nine-person race in Ward 5 to succeed retiring one-term councillor Michael Oshry. And in Ward 9, Tim Cartmell was elected with 41 percent of the vote over four challengers.

Sarah Hamilton Ward 5 Edmonton
Sarah Hamilton

Running what appeared to be a stealth re-election campaign in Ward 8, three-term Councillor Ben Henderson was re-elected with 36 percent of the vote. This is a 38 percent drop in support from 2013, when he was re-elected with 74 percent of the vote. Challengers Kirsten Goa placed second with 22 percent, James Kosowan with 19 percent and Eli Schrader with 11 percent.

In the Public School Board races, Michael Janz was re-elected in a landslide in Ward F. With 15,671 votes and 71.4 percent of the total vote, Janz earned the most votes of any trustee and council candidate and the highest percentage of any candidate in this election except Don Iveson.

In Ward C, Shelagh Dunn earned 45 percent of the vote, unseating incumbent Orville Chubb, who earned 18 percent of the vote. In Ward D, former CBC broadcaster Trisha Estabrooks was elected with 44 percent.

In Ward G, Bridget Stirling appeared to be in a tough race for re-election, but she defeated conservative activist Tyler Duce by a 33 percent margin. Duce’s campaign had broadcast a robocall endorsement from former Edmonton-Gold Bar MLA David Dorward in the final weekend of the campaign.

And in Calgary, Naheed Nenshi appears to have been re-elected as mayor, despite recent polls that showed him 13-points behind challenger Bill Smith.

I will have more analysis of the results and what they could mean for the next four years tomorrow (after I get some sleep).