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Alberta Politics

Controlling Everything Everywhere All At Once

NDP’s Oscar-winning film inspired catch phrase captures the UCP moment in Alberta politics

“Danielle Smith wants to control everything, everywhere, all at once…”

In the middle of the weekly chaos of Alberta politics, a catch phrase inspired by an Academy Award winning film has captured one of the driving themes of Alberta politics today.

Danielle Smith wants to control everything. Pensions, police, health care, schools, local councils. Any dollar spent anywhere in the province, and any decision made by anyone. Everything,” NDP MLA Kyle Kasawski first said in an April 29 press release.

Kasawski is the rookie MLA from Sherwood Park who became the opposition’s sole Municipal Affairs critic when co-critic Sarah Hoffman joined the NDP leadership race earlier this year.

While Municipal Affairs can sometimes be a sleepy file, on both the ministerial and critic side, it has been front and centre over the past month as Premier Danielle Smith and Minister Ric McIver rein in municipal and university funding agreements with the federal government and expand the provincial cabinet’s power to fire locally elected officials and overturn municipal bylaws.

Read the rest on the Daveberta Substack.

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Categories
Alberta Politics

Garth Rowswell wins UCP nomination in Vermilion-Lloydminster-Wainwright, Spruce Grove-Stony Plain vote set for Friday

Garth Rowswell defeated Ben Acquaye, engineer Darrel Howell, past Battle River-Wainwright Progressive Conservative candidate Blake Prior, former mayor of Marwayne Jenelle Saskiw, and Eileen Taylor (who is married to the current MLA for Battle River-Wainwright) to secure the United Conservative Party candidacy in the new Vermilion-Lloydminster-Wainwright district.

Garth Rowswell Vermilion Lloydminster Wainwright United Conservative Party Election Alberta
Garth Rowswell

Rowswell is a Lloydminster-based financial advisor with Edward Jones. He previously served as the secretary of the local UCP association and as campaign manager for Vermilion-Lloydminster Wildrose Party candidate Danny Hozack in the 2015 election.

Two-time Wildrose candidate Hozack was seeking the UCP nomination in this new district, but was deemed ineligible to run by the UCP. A letter to Hozack from UCP executive director Janice Harrington stated “a background review of your social media accounts and other online statements has been completed and upon review of this research, the Nominations Committee has deemed you ineligible.

“…there was a significant number of posts and statements that you have made or shared that would harm the reputation of the UCP and cause great offence to a large number of Albertans if they were made public by our opponents,” wrote Harrington, who then listed examples of the offending material, which she states included a post that shares a request to “Save Europe, the West, the World from Islam” and the republishing of statements and writings of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.

Incumbents from both districts, UCP MLA Wes Taylor and lone-Progressive Conservative Richard Starke, have announced their plans to not seek re-election in 2019.

Searle Turton Spruce Grove Stony Plain United Conservative Party Alberta Election
Searle Turton

UCP members in Spruce Grove-Stony Plain will select a candidate on November 30, 2018. CLAC representative Mathew Clark, Jerry Semen, and Spruce Grove City Councillor Searle Turton are seeking the UCP nomination in this district. Semen has been endorsed by UCP MLA Tany Yao, Conservative Member of Parliament Garnett Genuis and former Wildrose Party leader Brian Jean.

Members of the New Democratic Party have nominated MLA David Eggen in Edmonton-North West and MLA Richard Feehan in Edmonton-Rutherford.


Here are a few of the latest updates to the list of candidates nominated and seeking nomination to run in Alberta’s next provincial election:

Airdrie-CochraneSteven Durrell is seeking the NDP nomination in this district north of Calgary. Durrell is a Telus dispatcher and trustee for the Telus Corporation pension plan. He has been a shop steward for the United Steel Workers. “My priorities lie in ensuring that our social services, like healthcare, education, or programs for people with disabilities, continue to receive the funding they require to be effective,” Durrell said in a press release from his campaign.

Airdrie-EastAlex Luterbach has been nominated as the Alberta Party candidate. Luterbach has worked as a Retail Development Regional Analyst with Nestlé.

Calgary-Glenmore: Scott Appleby has been nominated as the Alberta Party candidate in this district. He is the owner of Appleby Painting and co-founder of GrayApple Inc.

Calgary-Peigan – Herjinder Seran is no longer seeking the Alberta Party candidate in this district.

Camrose – Former Edmonton-Ellerslie Wildrose candidate Jackie Lovely defeated former Strathcona-Sherwood Park Wildrose candidate Rob Johnson, former Calgary-South East Wildrose candidate Brandon Lunty, and former Wetaskiwin-Camrose Wildrose candidate Trevor Miller will face casino manager Dawn Anderson to secure the UCP nomination.

Edmonton-EllerslieSherry Adams is seeking the UCP nomination. Adams is currently serving her second term representing Ward I on the Edmonton Public School Board.

Edmonton-RiverviewKara Barker was acclaimed as the UCP candidate after her challenger, Shawn McLeod, withdrew from the contest. Barker is a crown prosecutor with Alberta’s Department of Justice.

Lac Ste. Anne-ParklandLeah Wood is once again is seeking the UCP nomination in this district. Wood ran in the UCP nomination contest held in August 2018 before Dale Johnson was removed as a candidateWood was a member of the UCP interim board and was widely considered to be the favourite of the party establishment in the first nomination contest. Shane Getson is also seeking the UCP nomination in this district.

Lesser Slave Lake: Pat Rehn defeated Brenda Derkoch, John Middelkoop, and Juliette Noskey to secure the UCP nomination in this rural northern Alberta district. Jim Sparks candidacy was not accepted by the UCP and Garrett Tomlinson withdrawn and endorsed Rehn. Rehn is the owner of AAA Precision Industries and Precision Crane and Rentals.

Lesser Slave Lake is one of two electoral districts that have been given special status under Section 15(2) of Electoral Boundaries Commission Act, which permits a geographic size that yields a population between 25% and 50% below the average electoral division.

Livingstone-Macleod – Allen Maclennan and Justin Murphy have withdrawn from the UCP nomination contest.

St. Albert – Cameron Jefferies has been nominated as the Green Party candidate. Jefferies is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Law and the University of Alberta where he researches environmental law, natural resource law, ocean law and animal law and sustainability law.

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!

Categories
Alberta Politics

Candidate Nomination Update: Innisfail-Sylvan Lake by-election and more

Photo: Tom Olsen, Michaela Glasgo, Thana Boonlert, and Nathan Cooper

With just over one year left until the next provincial election is expected to be called, I am continuing to track potential candidates as they step up to run for party nominations. While some New Democratic Party MLAs have announced their intentions to seek re-election, most activity on the nomination front has come from prospective United Conservative Party nominees.

In Innisfail-Sylvan Lake, where a by-election will be held in the next six months to replace former UCP MLA Don MacIntyre, four candidates have stepped up to run for the UCP nomination. MacIntyre resigned in February after being charged with sexual assault and sexual interference.

The two newest candidates to join the UCP nomination in Innisfail-Sylvan Lake are lawyer Gayle Langford and former Sylvan Lake town councillor Joan Barnes.

More candidates have stepped up to run for party nominations in other districts across the province:

Brooks-Medicine HatMichaela Glasgo is seeking the UCP nomination in this newly redrawn southeastern Alberta district. Glasgo is a Constituency Assistant for Cypress-Medicine Hat UCP MLA Drew Barnes and is a contributor to the Story of a Tory blog.

Calgary-Bow – Demetrios Nicolaides is seeking the UCP nomination. Nicolaides is an Associate with the Humphrey Group and is the former vice president of communications for the Progressive Conservative Party and the former president of the PC association in this district. According to his online bio, he holds a PhD in Political Science and Conflict Resolution from the University of Cyprus.

Calgary-Buffalo – Lobbyist Tom Olsen is seeking the UCP nomination in this downtown Calgary district. Olsen is a former Calgary Herald reporter and columnist, and a former Press Secretary for premier Ed Stelmach. He is also the lead singer of Tom Olsen and the Wreckage, who headlined the 2014 PC leadership vote results party.

Calgary-Foothills – Connor Staus is seeking this UCP nomination in this northwest Calgary district. Staus works as a Constituency Assistant for Calgary-Shepard Conservative Member of Parliament Tom Kmiec. This district is currently represented by UCP MLA Prasad Panda, who was elected as a Wildrose Party MLA in a 2015 by-election.

Calgary-Glenmore – Christopher Grabill is seeking the UCP nomination.

Calgary-Mountain ViewThana Boonlert has been nominated as the Green Party candidate in this district. Boonlert was his party’s candidate in the 2016 Calgary-Greenway by-election.

Edmonton-Riverview – Shawn McLeod is seeking the UCP nomination in this district which includes the University of Alberta.

Morinville-St. Albert – Former Sturgeon County mayor Don Rigney is seeking the UCP nomination. Rigney served as mayor from 2007 to 2013. He mounted an unsuccessful campaign for the Wildrose nomination in the Athabasca-Redwater district ahead of the 2012 election and was reported as being an applicant in a legal challenge launched in 2015 to prevent then-premier Jim Prentice from calling an early election.

Olds-Didsbury-Three HillsNathan Cooper is seeking the UCP nomination. Cooper has served as the MLA for this district since 2015 and was previously elected to Carstairs town council. He served as the interim leader of the UCP in 2017.

Red Deer-South – Matt Chapin is seeking the UCP nomination. He ran for the PC nomination in Red Deer-North in 2015 and has run for Red Deer City Council numerous times over the past decade.

Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-SundreJason Nixon is seeking the UCP nomination. He has served as the MLA for his district since 2015 and served as the UCP leader in the Legislature in late 2017.

Sherwood Park – Wildrose and UCP caucus researcher Maureen Gough is seeking the UCP nomination in this suburban district east of Edmonton.

Spruce Grove-Stony Plain – Spruce Grove City Councillor Searle Turton is the third candidate to join the UCP nomination race in this district west 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.