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Alberta Politics

Nomination Updates: Calgary-Currie, Calgary-Hays, Calgary-Peigan, and Highwood

Here are the latest updates to the list of nomination candidates running in Alberta’s next provincial election, which is expected to be held between March 1, 2019 and May 31, 2019:

Joseph Pimlott NDP Calgary Peigan election alberta daveberta
Joseph Pimlott

Calgary-Currie – Joshua Codd is seeking the Liberal Party nomination. Codd is currently a Constituency Assistant for Calgary-Mountain View Liberal MLA David Swann. A candidate selection meeting has been scheduled for Jan. 23, 2019.

Already nominated in this district are New Democratic Party MLA  Brian Malkinson, United Conservative Party candidate Nicholas Milliken, and Alberta Party candidate Lindsay Luhnau.

Calgary-Hays – Chris Nowell has been nominated as the Alberta Party candidate in this southeast Calgary district. The district is currently represented by UCP MLA Ric McIver, who was acclaimed as his party’s candidate on June 7, 2018.

Calgary-Peigan – Joseph Pimlott is seeking the NDP nomination in this south east Calgary district. Pimlott is a community liaison with Metis Calgary Family Services and the former executive director of the Aboriginal Friendship Centre of Calgary and provincial vice-president of the Metis Nation of Alberta. A candidate selection meeting is scheduled for January 19, 2019.

Highwood – Erik Overland is running for the NDP nomination in this district south of Calgary. Overland lives in Okotoks, is a Policy Studies student at Mount Royal University and a Governor of the Students’ Association of Mount Royal University. A nomination meeting is scheduled to take place on January 26, 2019.

RJ Sigurdson defeated incumbent MLA Wayne Anderson to secure the UCP nomination in Highwood in October 2018. The UCP contest was not without controversy, including complaints of irregularities and a recently released recording that allegedly captured local UPC constituency association officials discussing plans to defeat Anderson before the next election.

The UCP has officially opened nomination applications in the Calgary-North and Lethbridge-East districts. Applications are due on January 17, 2019.

And as noted in my previous update, the NDP nominated the following candidates on January 10, 2019:  Shawna Gawreluck in Morinville-St. Albert, Annie McKitrick in Sherwood Park, and  Erin Babcock in Spruce Grove-Stony Plain.

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!

Update: Controversy with NDP nomination in Calgary-North East

NDP members in the Calgary-North East district are calling for an investigation into alleged voter fraud at a nomination vote held in December 2018. Gurbachan Brar defeated Roop Rai to win the NDP nomination and now a member of Rai’s campaign says complaints about people from outside the riding voting fraudulently were not taken seriously by the party.

According to a report by the CBC, the complaints allege people voted using false addresses and documents, both ahead of the vote and on the day itself. 

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Thomas Dang nominated as NDP candidate in Edmonton-South, Shane Getson wins do-over UCP nomination in Lac Ste. Anne-Parkland

Thomas Dang with some of his NDP MLA colleagues at the recent party convention in Edmonton.
Thomas Dang with some of his NDP MLA colleagues at the recent party convention in Edmonton. (Source: Facebook)

MLA Thomas Dang was nominated as the New Democratic Party‘s candidate in the new Edmonton-South district. Dang was first elected as the MLA for Edmonton-South West in the 2015 election. 

Dang received a considerable amount of media attention in 2017 when he tabled the Alberta Standard Time Act, a private members’ bill which would have ended the observance of Daylight Savings Time in Alberta. While the idea was fairly popular among the public, strong pushback by Alberta’s two professional hockey teams and a major Alberta-based airline company are believed to be what stalled the bill before it could complete second reading in the Assembly.

Dang will face United Conservative Party candidate Tunde Obasan and Alberta Party candidate Pramod Kumar in the next election.

Shane Getson defeated Leah Wood to secure the UCP candidacy in the second nomination vote held by the main conservative party in Lac Ste. Anne-Parkland in less than six months.

A previous nomination contest was held in August 2018 and resulted in a win for Onoway business owner Dale Johnson, who was later disqualified after it was reported that he was alleged to have paid $5,584.60 to an employee he fired with whom he was in a romantic relationship.

Getson is a manager of a pipeline construction and maintenance company. He will face NDP MLA and Minister of Agriculture and Forestry  Oneil Carlier and Alberta Party candidate Don McCargar. 

Speaker Wanner not seeking re-election

Medicine Hat NDP MLA Bob Wanner announced that he will not be seeking re-election when the next vote is called. Wanner, who was elected as Speaker of the Legislative Assembly in 2015, was first elected in 2015, earning 38 percent of the vote. He previously ran for the NDP in this district in the 1993 election. The current Medicine Hat district faces a significant redistribution in the next election and has been redrawn into the new Brooks-Medicine Hat and Cypress-Medicine Hat districts.

Questions raised about UCP nomination in Highwood

Former local Progressive Conservative association president RJ Sigurdson secured the UCP nomination in Highwood in October 2018, but his win is now being challenged by two unsuccessful candidates. Okotoks town councillor Carrie Fischer, who was the PC Party candidate in the 2015 election, filed a complain with the UCP, and Wayne Anderson, the current UCP MLA who was elected as a Wildrose Party candidate in 2015, have filed a complaint with Elections Alberta, questioning the validity of the nomination process.

Fildebrandt nominated as a Fildebrandt Party candidate 

Freedom Conservative Party MLA and leader Derek Fildebrandt was nominated as his party’s candidate in the Chestermere-Strathmore district. Fildebrandt was first elected as a Wildrose MLA in 2015 and is now expected to face his former caucus colleague Leela Aheer in the next election. 

With Christmas less than one week away, nominations appear to have ended for 2018, but the first few months of 2019 are expected to included a flurry of nomination activity. The UCP have eight remaining districts in which to nominate candidates and the NDP have already scheduled nomination contests in January in Airdrie-Cochrane, Maskwaskis-Wetaskiwin, Morinville-St. Albert, Sherwood Park, and Spruce Grove-Stony Plain. 

Here are some of the latest updates to the growing list of nomination candidates: 

Calgary-Bow – Paul Godard defeated Frank Penkala to secure the Alberta Party nomination in this northwest Calgary district. 

Calgary-North East – Gurbachan Brar defeated Roop Rai to secure the NDP nomination in this district. Brar is the former President of the Punjabi Likhari Sabha and is a former Broadcaster at RED FM 106.7.

Camrose – Morgan Bamford is seeking the NDP nomination in this central Alberta district. Bamford is the Acting Supervisor of Indigenous Relations with the City of Edmonton and is the co-founder of Bamford & Henbest Research and Consulting Partners Ltd. He is vice-president of the board of directors of Volunteer Alberta.

Drayton Valley-Devon – Ronald Brochu is seeking the Liberal Party nomination. Brochu was the Liberal Party candidate in Edmonton-Gold Bar in the 2015 election, earning 3.1 percent of the vote.

Edmonton-Castle Downs – MLA Nicole Goehring is seeking the NDP nomination for re-election in this north Edmonton district. Goehring was first elected in 2015, earning 64.5 percent of the vote. Goehring’s main challenger in the next election is expected to be Ed Ammar, a UCP activist who ran for the Liberal Party in Edmonton-Decore in the 2012 election.

Edmonton-North West – Brandon Teixeira has been nominated as the Liberal Party candidate in this district. 

Edmonton-West Henday – Leah McRorie has been nominated as the Liberal Party candidate in this west Edmonton district. McRorie is a certified facilitator with the Alberta Caregivers Association.

Leduc-Beaumont – Coreina Hubert’s candidacy for the Alberta Party nomination is listed  by Elections Alberta as not having been accepted by the party or constituency association. Hubert is the third candidacy to depart the Alberta Party nomination contest in this district, leaving Robb Connolly as the sole candidate. Connolly previously attempted to seek the Alberta Party nomination in the neighbouring Strathcona-Sherwood Park.

Lethbridge-East – Nathan Neudorf has re-entered the UCP nomination contest in this district. He previously dropped out of this contest to run for the UCP nomination in the Livingstone-Macleod district located west of Lethbridge, but was unsuccessful in that contest.

Lethbridge-West – Patricia Chizek is seeking the Liberal Party nomination.

Morinville-St. Albert – Cass Romyn is seeking the Green Party nomination in this district north of Edmonton. 

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!

Photo: Thomas Dang with some of his NDP MLA colleagues at the recent party convention in Edmonton. (Source: Facebook)

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Caylan Ford wins UCP nomination in Calgary-Mountain View. Calgary-East UCP nomination blows-up with allegations of fraud, forgery and bribery.

Alberta Election Candidates Caylan Ford, Peter Singh, Parmeet Singh Boparai, and Kaycee Madu
Alberta Election Candidates Caylan Ford, Peter Singh, Parmeet Singh Boparai, and Kaycee Madu

Photo: Caylan Ford, Peter Singh, Parmeet Singh, and Kaycee Madu

Former Global Affairs Canada senior policy advisor Caylan Ford defeated Becca Polak and Jeremy Wong to win the United Conservative Party nomination in Calgary-Mountain View.

This nomination contest was contentious, with questions about the eligibility of Ford and former MLA Mark Hlady in the contest. Ford’s candidacy was ultimately accepted and Hlady, who represented his district as a Progressive Conservative MLA from 1993 to 2004 and as the PC Party candidate in 2015, was not approved by the UCP to run. 

Liberal Party MLA David Swann has represented this district since 2004 and announced he will not seek re-election when the next provincial election is called. With Swann out of the race, Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley, who currently represents Calgary-Buffalo as a New Democratic Party MLA, is seeking re-election in this neighbouring district (where she lives). Also running is Swann’s successor in the Liberal Party leadership, David Khan, who ran against Ganley in Calgary-Buffalo in the 2015 election, and Green Party candidate Thana Boonlert. 

Trouble in Calgary-East

Defeated UCP nomination contestants in Calgary-East have levelled allegations of fraud, forgery, improper inducement and bribery in the race won by Peter Singh on November 3, 2018. A letter signed by Andre Chabot, Jamie Lall, Issa Moussa and Matthew Dirk sent to UCP Leader Jason Kenney and deputy leader Leela Aheer have asked for the results of the contest to be overturned.

According to Postmedia, one woman in Calgary-East “said she was solicited by Singh at his auto shop while getting her vehicle repaired last July, and soon after discovered her credit card number had been used to purchase a party membership.”

Singh is the past president of the Fiji Canada Association of Calgary and he ran for the PC nomination in Calgary-Fort ahead of the 2015 election.

The district is currently represented by Independent MLA Robyn Luff, who was first elected in 2015 and was removed from the NDP caucus in November 2018.

Here are some more of the latest updates to this list of candidates nominated to run in Alberta’s next provincial election:

Calgary-Falconridge – Parmeet Singh was nominated as the NDP candidate in this northeast Calgary district.

Edmonton-South West – Kaycee Madu defeated Kevin Greco and former PC MLA Sohail Quadri to secure the UCP nomination on December 6, 2018.

Livingstone-Macleod – Roger Reid defeated Nathan Neudorf and Thomas Schneider to win the UCP nomination on December 8, 2018. Reid is the owner of Tim Hortons franchises in Nanton and Claresholm. He is the second Tim Horton’s franchaise owner to win a UCP nomination, along with Grande Prairie UCP candidate Tracy Allard. 

Sherwood Park – Jordan Walker defeated Maureen Gough, Sean Kenny, and Len Thom to secure the UCP nomination in Sherwood Park. Walker is a conservative party activist and an Assessment Consultant in the Alberta Department of Labour. 

Upcoming nomination meetings

With the end of the year approaching, Alberta’s political parties have begun winding down nomination meetings scheduled for this year. By the end of 2018, the UCP will have nominated candidates in 77 of Alberta’s 87 districts, the NDP will have nominated candidates in 33 districts, and the Alberta Party in around 50 districts. Here are the remaining nomination meetings being held in 2018:

December 12, 2018 – Richard Dempsey, Karri Flatla, and George Rigaux are seeking the UCP nomination in Lethbridge-West.

December 12, 2018 – Two NDP MLAs are challenging each other for their party’s nomination in the newly redrawn St. Albert district. Current Spruce Grove-St. Albert MLA Trevor Horne and current St. Albert MLA Marie Renaud are seeking the NDP candidacy. Both MLAs were first elected in 2015.

Renaud has been endorsed by eleven of her caucus colleagues, including Stony Plain MLA Erin Babcock, Calgary-Hawkwood MLA Michael Connolly, Calgary-Klein MLA Craig Coolahan, Calgary-Bow MLA Deborah Drever, Lethbridge-East MLA Maria Fitzpatrick, Edmonton-Castle Downs MLA Nicole Goehring, Edmonton-Ellerslie MLA Rod Loyola, Sherwood Park MLA Annie McKitrick, Athabasca-Sturgeon-Redwater MLA Colin Piquette, Edmonton-Centre MLA David Shepherd, and Edmonton-Whitemud MLA Bob Turner. 

December 13, 2018 – NDP MLA Thomas Dang is expected to be nominated as his party’s candidate in Edmonton-South. Dang was first elected in 2015 in Edmonton-South West, where he earned 53 percent of the vote and unseated PC MLA Matt Jeneroux. 

December 15, 2018 – Manwar Khan and Keli Tamaklo are seeking the Alberta Party nomination in Edmonton-Manning. Tamaklo is a former member of Edmonton Police Commission, Vice-Chair of the Africa Centre, and former Chief Administrative Officer for the Town of High Prairie. Khan is a Business Coordinator in the provincial Department of Community and Social Services and founded Do Not Be a Bystander, after witnessing and attempting to intervene to prevent a murder on Edmonton’s LRT.

December 15, 2018 – “Mulligan!” Shane Getson and Leah Wood are facing off in the second UCP nomination contest in Lac Ste. Anne-Parkland. A previous nomination contest held in August 2018 resulted in a win for Onoway business owner Dale Johnson, who was later disqualified after the UCP discovered he was alleged to have paid $5,584.60 to an employee he fired with whom he was in a romantic relationship. A former member of the UCP interim board of directors, Wood was widely seen as the establishment favourite in the first contest and is in a similar position in this second nomination contest. 

December 16, 2018 – Gurbachan Brar and Roop Rai are seeking the NDP nomination in Calgary-North East. Brar is the former President of the Punjabi Likhari Sabha and is a former Broadcaster at RED FM 106.7. Rai is a constituency assistant to Calgary-McCall NDP MLA Irfan Sabir and was her party’s candidate in the 2016 by-election in Calgary-Greenway. In that contest she earned 20.17 percent of the vote in a competitive four-way race that saw PC candidate Prab Gill win with 27.7 percent.

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!

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Alberta Election Update: Lorne Dach running for re-election in Edmonton-McClung, Mickey Amery seeks UCP nomination in Calgary-Cross

Lorne Dach Allie Tulick Roop Rai Mickey Amery Alberta Election 2019
Photo: Lorne Dach, Allie Tulick, Roop Rai, and Mickey Amery.

Photo: Lorne Dach, Allie Tulick, Roop Rai, and Mickey Amery.

Here are some of the latest updates to the list of candidates running for party nominations ahead of the 2019 Alberta provincial general election:

Banff-Kananaskis – Scott Wagner is seeking the United Conservative Party nomination in this district. Wagner was the Wildrose Party candidate in this district in the 2015 election, where he placed a distant second to New Democratic Party candidate Cameron Westhead. Wagner also ran for the Conservative Party of Canada nomination in the Macleod district ahead of the 2014 by-election.

Former Progressive Conservative MLA Ron Casey, who was unseated in 2015, is now the president of the local Alberta Party association in this district.

Calgary-Cross – Lawyer Mickey Amery is seeking the UCP nomination in this east Calgary district. Amery is the son of former PC MLA Moe Amery, who represented the Calgary-East district from 1993 to 2015. The senior Amery recently withdrew his federal nomination campaign against long-time Conservative Member of Parliament Deepak Obhrai in Calgary-Forest Lawn.

Calgary-Glenmore– Allie Tulick has been nominated as the Green Party candidate in this district. Tulick is the former president of the Lakeview Community Association and spokesperson for YYC Cares.

Calgary-North East – Roop Rai will challenge Gurbachan Brar for the NDP nomination in this new north east Calgary district. Rai works as a constituency assistant to Calgary-McCall NDP MLA Irfan Sabir and was her party’s candidate in the 2016 by-election in Calgary-Greenway.

Edmonton-Manning – Jitender Sahni has withdrawn from the Alberta Party nomination contest.

Edmonton-McClung – MLA Lorne Dach will seek the NDP nomination on October 10, 2018. Dach was elected in 2015 in his fourth time as the NDP candidate in this affluent southwest Edmonton district. He currently serves as deputy chair of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts. If nominated, he will face Alberta Party leader Stephen Mandel and UCP candidate Laurie Mozeson in the next election.

Edmonton-Mill Woods – Heather Sworin is seeking the UCP nomination. She is the Human Resources Manager of the CodeHatch Corporation. Walter Espinoza is seeking the Alberta Party nomination and James Moore has withdrawn from that nomination contest.

Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche – Gail Broadbent-Ludwig will challenge recently elected MLA Laila Goodridge for the UCP nomination in this new district. Goodridge was elected earlier this year in the Fort McMurray-Conklin distirct, which will redrawn to include Lac La Biche County when the 2019 election is called.

Broadbent-Ludwig is Treasurer of the UCP, president of the Lac La Biche & District Chamber of Commerce and served on Lac La Biche County Council from 2009 to 2013. She was a candidate for mayor of Lac La Biche County in 2013 and 2017. Her most recent campaign for mayor in October 2017 was overshadowed by anti-Islamic comments made by her husband on Facebook. She finished second in the election to incumbent Mayor Omer Moghrabi.

Leduc-Beaumont – Jan Becker has withdrawn from the Alberta Party nomination.

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!

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Elections Alberta releases Calgary-Greenway by-election campaign financials

PC candidate Prabhdeep Gill on election night after winning the Calgary-Greenway by-election on March 22, 2016.
PC candidate Prabhdeep Gill on election night after winning the Calgary-Greenway by-election on March 22, 2016.

Elections Alberta has released initial campaign finance disclosures from the March 22, 2016 by-election in the Calgary-Greenway constituency. The by-election was held following the death of PC MLA Manmeet Bhullar, who had represented the area in the Legislative Assembly since 2008.

Here is a brief description of what the initial submissions show us:

  • The campaign of Progressive Conservative candidate Prabhdeep Gill spent $78,886.45, including a $23,000 transfer from the PC Party. His campaign ended with a $538.55 surplus.
  • The campaign of Wildrose candidate candidate Devinder Toor spent $53,903.06 and received a $25,000 transfer from the Wildrose Party. His campaign ended with a $500 surplus.
  • The campaign of Liberal candidate Khalil Karbani reported $56,963.34 in expenses while only receiving $11,300 in revenue. His campaign ended with a $45,663.34 deficit.
  • The campaign of New Democratic Party candidate Roop Rai spent $85,613.51, which was entirely a transfer from the provincial party.
  • The campaign of Green Party candidate Thana Boonlert reported expenses of $6,749.52, which was the same as the campaign’s revenue.

Mr. Gill was elected on March 22 with 27 percent of the vote, holding the seat for the PCs in a close four way race. A mere 625 votes separated Mr. Gill from Mr. Toor (23 percent), Mr. Karbani (22 percent) and Ms. Rai (20 percent). Turnout by eligible voters was estimated to be at 29 percent.

When the initial expenses are broken down, each candidate’s campaign spent the following amount of money per vote received:

  • Mr. Gill: $34.40 per vote.
  • Mr. Toor: $27.54 per vote
  • Mr. Karbani: $30.46 per vote
  • Ms. Rai: $51.35 per vote.
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Wildrose defeated by “Justin Trudeau Liberal” in Calgary-Greenway by-election

A Wildrose Party flyer attacking PC candidate Prab Gill for being a "Justin Trudeau Liberal." Mr. Gill was elected on March 22, 2016.
A Wildrose Party flyer attacking PC candidate Prab Gill for being a "Justin Trudeau Liberal." Mr. Gill was elected on March 22, 2016.

Prab Gill won today’s by-election in Calgary-Greenway with 27 percent of the vote, holding the northeast Calgary electoral district for his Progressive Conservative Party. The by-election was triggered after the death of popular MLA Manmeet Bhullar in November 2015.

Devinder Toor Wildrose
Devinder Toor

Perhaps demonstrating how high the political stakes were for the conservative opposition parties, the right-wing Wildrose Party delivered a last minute flyer to houses across Greenway attacking Mr. Gill for being a “Justin Trudeau Liberal.”

The braintrust at Wildrose Party headquarters, all federal Conservative loyalists, probably didn’t consider that Albertans are smart enough to know the difference between federal and provincial politics. And then there is the possibility that Mr. Trudeau, and local Liberal MP Darshan Kang, might actually be popular among voters in northeast Calgary.

Khalil Karbani, the actual Liberal Party candidate (who ran for a Wildrose Party nomination in 2012), placed third with an impressive 22 percent of the vote. As the provincial Liberals have essentially been non-existant in this constituency for some time (they did not run a candidate in 2015), the longtime community association president likely benefited from his own personal popularity and that of Mr. Kang (and Mr. Trudeau, I am sure).

Khalil Karbani Liberal
Khalil Karbani

Wildrose candidate Devinder Toor placed second with 23 percent, only three points higher than he placed in last year’s general election. Mr. Toor faced allegations of questionable business practices during the campaign which may have hurt his chances. But the loss can also be seen as a rebuke of the Wildrose Party’s no holds barred ideological and negative attacks against anyone who disagrees with its positions.

The Wildrose Party’s attacks on Mr. Gill probably do not bode well for Wildrose leader Brian Jean‘s fumbling attempts to convince the PCs to merge with them before the next election. With one by-election win under their belt, the PCs could feel a renewed sense of optimism for their own future electoral prospects.

Roop Rai NDP Calgary Greenway
Roop Rai

New Democratic Party candidate Roop Rai placed fourth with 20 percent. Premier Rachel Notley played down expectations in this by-election but a fourth place finish by the NDP candidate, even if was only seven points behind the victor, is a poor finish for a governing party.

The by-election will likely contribute to the narrative that the NDP have lost popularity in Alberta, regardless of the party never actually having won an election in Calgary-Greenway. It is also the start of the narrative that, despite their claims, the Wildrose Party is not the only party that can defeat the NDP – the PCs and the Liberals can now claim they can defeat the NDP as well.

As I wrote earlier this week, it is difficult to tell what impact a single by-election will have on future general elections. An abysmally low voter turnout, at 29 percent, suggests that none of the parties have meaningfully connected with voters in this constituency.

We do know two things. First, the PCs blocked the Wildrose Party from grabbing one of their nine remaining constituencies, which is an important victory for a party that was written off as dead less than one year ago. Second, attacking Justin Trudeau in Calgary might have actually hurt Wildrose chances of winning this by-election.

Unofficial results of the Calgary-Greenway by-election from Elections Alberta:

Prab Gill, PC: 2,292 (27.7%)
Devinder Toor, Wildrose: 1,957 (23.6%)
Khalil Karbani, Liberal: 1,870 (22.6)
Roop Rai, NDP: 1,667 (20.1%)
Thana Boonlert, Green: 166 (2%)
Said Abdulbaki, Independent: 146 (1.7%)
Larry Heather, Independent: 106 (1.2%)
Sukhi Rai, Independent: 61 (0.7%)

 
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Expect the unexpected in the Calgary-Greenway by-election

Premier Rachel Notley (centre), Human Services Minister Irfan Sabir (fourth from left) and NDP candidate Roop Rai (third from left) at a campaign stop in Calgary-Greenway.
Premier Rachel Notley (centre), Human Services Minister Irfan Sabir (fourth from left) and NDP candidate Roop Rai (third from left) at a campaign stop in Calgary-Greenway. (Photo from Roop Rai's Facebook page)

The second by-election since Alberta’s May 2015 election will be held on March 22, 2016 in the northeast Calgary constituency of Calgary-Greenway. With the re-election of Manmeet Bhullar, this constituency was one of eight in Calgary to elect a Progressive Conservative candidate in that election. His death in November 2015 triggered this by-election.

By-elections can produce unexpected results. While they are important snapshots of the political mood of an electorate at a certain point in time, the results can be poor indicators of outcomes of future general elections.

In October 2014, four by-election wins by the PC Party made Premier Jim Prentice look like a political juggernaut. His party was swept out of office by Rachel Notley’s New Democratic Party seven months later. A by-election win by the Wildrose Party in 2009 did not produce a Danielle Smith-led government in 2012 and an important by-election win by the Liberals in Ralph Klein’s Calgary-Elbow constituency in 2007 also ended up being a false start for that party in the next election.

Last year’s by-election in Calgary-Foothills, triggered by Mr. Prentice’s election night resignation, was the first in Alberta’s dramatically new political environment. The NDP poured significant resources in their campaign to elect former MLA  Bob Hawkesworth and his loss to Wildroser Prasad Panda was a blow to the NDP, which is likely why the NDP appear to have done a better job managing expectations for Roop Rai‘s campaign in Greenway.

Alternatively, the Calgary-Greenway by-election is a must-win for the PC Party, which has dropped down to eight MLAs from 70 MLAs before the 2015 election. PC candidate Prab Gill needs to retain this by-election to signal his party will continue to be a viable alternative to the NDP.

A win by the PC Party would also throw a wrench into the plans of the official opposition Wildrose Party, which has been aggressively attacking the new NDP government since it took office less than a year ago. A Wildrose win might be a final nail in the coffin of the PC Party.

A win by the Liberals would be, well, unexpected.

One poll, released by Mainstreet Research on March 12, projected a four-way race between the PC Party, NDP, Wildrose and Liberals.

Unlike most of the 44-years of PC Party government, Albertans no longer live in a political environment where we can expect the governing party to win every seat. And that’s a good thing.

The following candidates will be listed on the ballot on the March 22, 2016 by-election in Calgary-Greenway:

Green Party: Thana Boonlert [Facebook, Twitter]
Liberal Party: Khalil Karbani [Facebook, Twitter]
Independent: Said Abdulbaki
Independent: Larry Heather
Independent: Sukhi Rai
New Democratic Party: Roop Rai [Facebook, Twitter]
Progressive Conservative: Prab Gill [Facebook, Twitter]
Wildrose Party: Devinder Toor [Facebook]

 

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Calgary-Greenway Update: Alberta Party sits it out, Larry Heather and Said Abdulbaki run as Independents.

Alberta Party leader Greg Clark with supporters in Calgary-Elbow.
Alberta Party leader Greg Clark with supporters in Calgary-Elbow during the 2015 election.

The Alberta Party has decided to not run a candidate in the March 22, 2016 by-election in the Calgary-Greenway constituency. It was a strange choice by the small political party, which brands itself as a centrist alternative. Its leader, Greg Clark, was elected to the Legislative Assembly in May 2015.

The Alberta Party said the decision to not run a candidate was based on its choice to focus on preparing for the 2019 general election, but the party cannot brand themselves as the “de-facto official opposition,” as it did in a press release yesterday, if they do not participate in by-elections.

By sitting out the by-election, the Alberta Party is ceding ground to the other opposition parties ahead of the 2019 election. What else could this political party be doing that is more important than running a candidate in a by-election?

Here are a list of the other candidates nominated and registered to run in the March 22 by-election:

  • Perennial election candidate and social conservative advocate Larry Heather will run as an Independent candidate. Mr. Heather has run in at least 17 elections since 1984, including as an Independent candidate in Calgary-Heritage in the 2015 federal election and as a Social Credit candidate in the 2014 Calgary-Elbow by-election.
  • Said Abdulbaki will run as an Independent candidate. Mr. Abdulbaki stood as a Liberal candidate in the 2012 and 2015 provincial elections in the neighbouring Calgary-Fort constituency. He also ran as a Wildrose Alliance candidate in the 2008 provincial election in the Calgary-Montrose constituency, which became Calgary-Greenway in 2012.
  • New Democratic Party members nominated Roop Rai at a February 20, 2016 nomination meeting. Ms. Rai is a former radio host and constituency staffer for Calgary-McCall MLA Irfan Sabir.
  • After initially appointing Prabhdeep Gill as a candidate, the Progressive Conservatives changed course and held a nomination vote on February 27, 2016, the day the nomination vote was initially scheduled to happen. The previously appointed candidate, Mr. Gill, defeated three other candidates in the nomination vote.
  • Thana Boonlert, running for the Green Party, was the first candidate to be nominated in February 2016.
  • Past candidate Devinder Toor defeated Robin Martin to win the Wildrose Party nomination on February 26, 2016. Mr. Toor was his party’s candidate in the 2015 election when he placed third with 20 percent of the vote. Mr. Martin is the son-in-law of Calgary-Forest Lawn Member of Parliament Deepak Obhrai.
  • Khalil Karbani defeated Saima Jamal to win the Liberal Party nomination. Mr. Karbani is the president of the Taradale Community Association and was a candidate for the Wildrose Party nomination in the neighbouring Calgary-McCall constituency before the 2012 election. Liberals are hoping to translate some of the federal party’s recent success in Calgary, including former Liberal MLA Darshan Kang’s win in Calgary-Skyview, to this by-election.

  • The Reform Party of Alberta announced on its Facebook Page that it would not be officially registered as a political party with Elections Alberta in time to contest the by-election. There will not be a Reform Party candidate running in this by-election.

A full list of nomination candidates and their social media links can be found here.

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Two in race for NDP nomination in Calgary-Greenway by-election

NDP leader Rachel Notley, surrounded by her party's Calgary candidates in the 2015 election.
NDP leader Rachel Notley was surrounded by her Calgary candidates during a press conference announcing her party's plan for an Infrastructure Sunshine List.

Two candidates are seeking the New Democratic Party nomination to run in the Calgary-Greenway provincial by-election, which will need to be called before the end of May 2016. The NDP nomination meeting will be held on Feb. 20, 2016.

  • Roop Rai is known in northeast Calgary from her time as a host of the Roshni program on Red FM radio station. She is now constituency assistant for MLA Irfan Sabir in the neighbouring Calgary-McCall constituency.
  • Mattie McMillan is the manager of MLA Ricardo Miranda‘s constituency office in the neighbouring of Calgary-Cross. McMillan is a former vice-president external of the University of Calgary Students’ Union and, according to his linkedin profile, a Reserve Officer in the Royal Canadian Sea Cadets. McMillan sought the NDP nomination to run in the Calgary-Centre federal by-election in 2012. I am now told that McMillan is no longer a candidate in the nomination race.
  • I am told that John Phillips, a Calgary lawyer, has now entered the nomination contest.

According to the Calgary Herald, 2015 candidate Devinder Toor will challenge Robin Martin for the March 5, 2016 Wildrose Party nomination. Mr. Toor placed third and earned 20 percent of the vote in the May 2015 election.

Dan Sidhu, Jamie Lall, Prabhdeep Gill and Tushar Yadav are seeking the Progressive Conservative nomination, which is scheduled to take place on Feb. 27, 2016.

Two candidates are contesting the Liberal Party nomination, which is scheduled to take place on Feb. 29, 2016.

A full list of nomination candidates and their social media links can be found here.

(Post edited on Jan. 25, 2022)

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