Tag: Shelley Tupper

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Alberta Politics

Look who’s running in the UCP AGM Board elections

Rick Orman announces the results of the 2022 UCP Leadership Review (Source: United Conservative Party / Facebook)
Rick Orman announces the results of the 2022 UCP Leadership Review (Source: United Conservative Party / Facebook)

What to make of Take Back Alberta, the Unity Slate, and everybody else on the ballot.

With the United Conservative Party’s November 3 and 4 Annual General Meetingfast approaching, the party’s Board of Director elections are a major focus of attention.

The UCP board is the governing body of the organization and is made up of seventeen elected directors, party leader Premier Danielle Smith, and two non-voting MLAs who serve as Caucus liaisons. The two MLA spots, which are chosen through a vote of UCP MLAs, are currently filled by Camrose MLA Jackie Lovely and Lac Ste. Anne-Parkland MLA Shane Getson.

Half of the UCP director positions are up for election this year and the sweeping success of the slate of candidates backed by the social conservative Take Back Alberta group at last year’s AGM has fuelled a lot of speculation about what might happen in this election.

Read the rest on the Daveberta Substack.

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Alberta Politics

Ten candidates have already filed to run in Edmonton’s 2017 elections

Michael Walters and a team of supporters at the Edmonton Municipal Election Nomination Day in 2013.
Michael Walters and a team of supporters at the Edmonton Municipal Election Nomination Day in 2013.

There are 455 days until Edmontonians go to the polls to vote in the next municipal elections and some candidates are already starting to organize their campaigns.

I dropped by the Office of the City Clerk yesterday and discovered that ten candidates have officially registered their intent to run in Edmonton’s 2017 municipal election. Prospective candidates need to file their intentions to run in order to fundraise for their campaigns but they do not need to identify what position they plan to run for until they submit their papers to the City Clerk on the official nomination day.

Five incumbent city councillors Bev Esslinger, Dave Loken, Scott McKeen, Michael Walters and Mike Nickel have filed their papers. I suspect that the five incumbents will run for re-election in their respective Wards. It was suspected that Mr. Nickel could make a third attempt at running for mayor (he did in 1998 and 2001) but a rape joke published on his now-former online talk show’s Facebook page may have convinced him to focus on re-election in Ward 11.

The five challengers who have filed their intentions are:

  • Kris Andreychuk, a Supervisor of Community Safety with the City of Edmonton and 2015 Avenue Magazine Top 40 Under 40, announced at a BBQ event at his home in Highlands last weekend that he will run as a candidate for City Council in Ward 7. He has previously worked as a social worker with Neighbourhood Empowerment Teams on 118th Avenue.
  • Rob Bernshaw ran for city council in north Edmonton’s Ward 3 in 2013 and in the Public School Board Ward G by-election in 2015.
  • Sam Hachem was the sole candidate to challenge Councillor Ed Gibbons in Ward 4 in 2013. He earned 22.8 percent of the vote.
  • Shelley Tupper has been a candidate for City Council in north west Edmonton wards in 2007, 2010 and 2013. In 2013 she ran in Ward 2, finishing 5th with 9 percent of the vote. She has previously served as president of the Kensington Community League and is the current Secretary of the Edmonton-Griesbach Conservative Association.
  • Matthew (Matty) Wray, about whom I could not find any information online.

The next Municipal Elections will be held on Monday, October 16, 2017.

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Alberta Politics

Scott McKeen, Bev Esslinger enter open city council races

With three of Edmonton’s City Councillors in the mayoral election and two councillors retiring, there are now five open Wards in this year’s municipal election. With five out of twelve city councillors not running for re-election, the open races are attracting a handful of eager candidates.

Scott McKeen Edmonton Ward 6
Scott McKeen

As first reported on this blog, former Edmonton Journal columnist Scott McKeen is seeking election in the downtown Ward 6. Mr. McKeen announced his candidacy to a crowd of supporters at the Westmount Community League hall this afternoon. Also recently announced their candidacies in Ward 6 are Kyle Brown and past-candidate Bryan Kapitza.

Twitter diva Kathleen Smith is rumoured to be preparing to launch her candidacy in southwest Edmonton’s Ward 5. Known on Twitter as @kikkiplanet, the feisty Mrs. Smith has developed a loyal following online. Can she translate her social media capital into a real world campaign?

With three-term City Councillor Kim Krushell not seeking re-election, two candidates have stepped up in Ward 2. Past candidate Shelley Tupper and former trustee Bev Esslinger announced their entries into the Ward 2 City Council race this week. Ms. Esslinger served on the public school board, representing north Edmonton’s Ward A from 2004 until 2010. In 2012, she was the Progressive Conservative candidate in the provincial constituency of Edmonton-Calder, where she placed second to New Democrat David Eggen.

Past candidate Don Koziak is rumoured to be interested in running in Ward 2. In 2010, Mr. Koziak earned a close second place finish behind Councillor Krushell.

Click here for the latest list of Edmonton municipal election candidates

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